Richard Kimura van der Laan

Richard Tsuchihashi Kimura Wilhelmus van der Laan (né van Hoogstraten; born May 10, 1962) is a Japanese born Dutch-American writer and voice artist.

He is very known for voicing Winnie the Pooh/Winnie de Poeh in English and Dutch, and is the direct descendant of Japanese actor and composer Makoto Kimura.

Early Life
Richard was born as Tsuchihashi Kimura Wilhelmus van Hoogstraten on May 10, 1962 in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. His mother is of Japanese, Chinese and Portuguese descent, and his father is of French, Italian, Native American and Dutch descent. His father picked "Richard" as his first name, mainly because of his half-brother, Richard Williams Kimura. However, his Japanese name is Tsuchihashi Kimura (木村椎橋), meaning he is belonging to the second-generation Kimura family. He studied Dutch in Windesheim Honors College near Zwolle, Overijssel Province, Netherlands during his high school days. On June 30, 1986, at age 24, he learned to speak fluent American English at the Valencia College near Metro West, Orlando, Florida. Upon arrival at the Hague (Den Haag), Netherlands on May 2, 1990, he played a performing role as Winnie de Poeh (a Dutch Winnie the Pooh) in the Dutch version of Makoto Kimura's written play, titled:  Winnie de Poeh en de Honingboom  (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree) at the Leiden University.

This gained him a Fine Arts degree and the earning of Dutch citizenship, having his last name changed from van Hoogstraten to  van der Laan , thus alternately known as  Wilhelmus van der Laan  (meaning William of Laan). He required permission from the Dutch prime minister Ruud Lubbers to stay in the Hague for 25 years. Richard quoted: ' "Wilhelmus van der Laan ben ik van Duitsen bloed." ' (William of Laan I am, of Dutch blood.) On April 20, 1996, Richard began working as a writer for Dutch versions of Makoto Kimura's Winnie the Pooh book series (last printed by Eri Kimura on June 20, 1994; given to Heiko Wildiek on May 10, 1998).

Career
Richard currently works as a voice artist for both Dutch and English versions of Winnie the Pooh/Winnie de Poeh. His career began right after he left the Hague on May 10, 2015 upon arrival to Sanford, Florida in order to acquire US citizenship. He did an additional role as the Living Books host, Simon (which was acquired by Kimura Associates USA and Broderbund, now The Learning Company) in the remastered PC game of Dr. Seuss's ABC. His soothful whispery Winnie the Pooh-like voice nurtured many fans of both A. A. Milne and Walt Disney.

Personal Life
Richard married Mickey Lillian Kimura (Miki Kimura; 木村美樹) (born November 27, 1961) on April 10, 2016 in Sanford, Florida. Richard fathered 1 son: Patrick Hiroto Kimura Maurits van den Kerkdijk (half brother, shared mother) (born April 16, 2016).

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