Bing Slamet
Bing Slamet Ahmad Syech Albar was born in Cilegon, West Java, on 27 September 1927 to R. Achmad and his wife. As a child he was known as a class clown, often joking and winking. Although his father wanted him to be a doctor or an engineer, Albar decided to be an entertainer. At the age of twelve he began singing in the Terang Boelan orchestra in 1939. In 1944, he joined the Pantja Warna stage group and travelled through Yogyakarta, Malang, and Surabaya. Albar took the name Bing Slamet in 1948 as a tribute to Bing Crosby, whom he respected; Bing was a reference to Crosby, and Slamet was his own nickname. Aside from singing, he also began to participate in comedy, forming the "Los Gilos" comic group together with Tjepot and Udel. On 29 July 1953, he won a comedy competition in the Jakarta Art Building, which gave him the nickname "Bintang Pelawak", and two years later he was chosen as the best radio entertainer by the Radio Republik Indonesia branch in Jakarta. He ...