Ronald Arnold Rosbeek passed away |
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| Written by: Thomas Hauerslev | Date: 02.02.2021 |
 Ronald Rosbeek
passed away January 29, 2021 from complications from cancer. Picture from Emmy Rosbeek - HeidaI am sad to report the passing of a friend of in70mm.com, Mr. Ronald Rosbeek (67) of Holland. News of his passing was announce today, and has shaken the Dutch cinema- and film industry. He was a respected person with more than 100 cinema installations to his credit. He will be missed. Ronald was diagnosed with cancer in December 2019, and despite the terrible diagnose, he continued to work cheerfully in his workshop, and occasionally in cinemas until two weeks ago. He passed away in a hospital Friday 29. January 2021. Ronald began his life in cinemas around age 20 in 1973, and very quickly he advanced into projection and further on into being a cinema technician. He remained a cinema technician for the rest of his life. Simply "Ronald" to his friends, he was also famous abroad. Many of his innovations and improvements for the DP70 projector were highly sought after items. Innovations like new adjustable motors, a three-bladed shutter, dowsers, improved optical sound heads etc etc. His clients were in highly prestigious cinema museums and cinematheques in the USA, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Scotland and England, and of course in his native Holland, where he had his own business called Rosbeek Techniek in his own home. I cannot claim that I knew Ronald very well, but we had corresponded for some years. We shared a common interest for the Philips DP70 projector, and I really felt his highly contagious passion for all things projectors. In October 2019 we finally met for a few days at the Schauburg Cinerama, and I like to believe we hit it off immediately. My first impression of Ronald was a very enthusiastic, joyful and happy man. He loved film projectors and the history of analogue cinema. Ronald kindly allowed me to interview him about his career. The interview was published in March 2020. • Go to Ronald Rosbeek in Conversation Ronald is survived by his wife Emmy Rosbeek - Heida, children and grand children.
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More in 70mm reading: Ronald Rosbeek in Conversation A new film gate for the DP70 projector in70mm.com Remembers Internet link: |
Jerry Axelsson (Sweden) Remembers Ronald |
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 Ronald
and friends in Swedish Film House, Stockholm, Sweden. Picture: Jerry
AxelssonI became acquainted with Ronald about 10 years ago through a mutual friend and archival colleague. During his first visit to Stockholm a short time there after Ronald became an immediate good friend. We always had a lot to talk about on both a professional and personal level. Ronald assisted and played an important part with strategically planning and practical work to secure analog film projection for the future at the Swedish Film Institute. His profound knowledge, sense for perfection and attention to detail is what separated Ronald from the rest on a professional level. We both shared a great passion for film and analog film projection. We spoke on a regular basis throughout the years. Shared many experiences and each others good company. Ronald's knowledge in the field of analog film is among the very best I have ever seen. One of the last projects he did was the renovation and conversion of the Philips DP70:s now residing at the Swedish Film House in Stockholm. After decades of research he succeeded in building a solution for a three-blade shutter to the DP70. This makes the projector viable with handling frame rates from 16-30fps without flicker. A calm and steady image in both 35mm & 70mm projection with new developed mechanics as well as taking full benefit of the three-blade shutter. He called this project his "Crown Jewel", the one they will remember me for he said. I will miss him greatly as friend with his humour, good spirit and sense of perfection for all he did Jerry Axelsson / Cinema manager Swedish Film Institute, Stockholm 2021-02-02 |
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Stefan Scholz (Germany) Remembers Ronald |
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 Ronald
in Karlsruhe, Germany, October 2019. Picture: Thomas HauerslevIt is really so sad, that my oldest friend in cinema, Ronald Rosbeek passed away, and too early. The first time I met him was in 1979 on a summer school trip to the Netherlands. Mainly our ’68 generation teacher wanted to introduce us to Amsterdam “Coffee Shops”, so cannabis and beers and free love, but there had to be an official program around it. So we went to Haarlem and The Hague also. Lots of museums to see, but I was more interested in Cinemas. And so I met a young man in The Hague, about 7 or 8 years older than I was, running a small workshop in an old cinema, I remember called Asta (Nielsen) cinema. He was so nice to support me with Dolby test loops and a film reel, so I could start playing at home with my stereo experiments. We talked a long afternoon in English, and knew, we shared many interests in common. Back then, we didn’t have mobile phones, internet or free (uncharged) European phone calls, so there wasn’t much communication afterwards. Some years later, travelling to friends in Holland, we met again, and still felt the friendship from the 1979 afternoon, we both had nearly forgotten. Ronald was great technician, an ingenious character, that had so many nice ideas he not only theoretically thought of, but also realized in practical projects. He was the man to know Philips projectors more than anybody else, and really brought the AAII/DP70 projectors forward, from an unfinished prototype produced from 1956 on to a fully engineered precision piece of the finest. I knew, he was suffering from cancer, and hoped so much, that I can make trip to The Hague, but Covid and a personal accident in August last year made this impossible. Best regards Stefan Scholz |
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