Gaston Berghmans

Gaston Petrus Bernardina Berghmans (11 March 1926 – 21 May 2016) was a Belgian actor and comedian. Between 1972 and 1993 he and Leo Martin formed a comic duo called Gaston and Leo.

Youth

Gaston Berghmans was the eldest son in a family with two children. His sister, Paula, is four years younger and has lived in the U.S. since 1959. Berghmans's father was an independent diamond cutter, his mother worked as an assistant in her sister's butcher shop.

Early career

He performed at the Ancienne Belgique concert hall.

Berghmans married in 1960; his daughter was born in 1961.

Early film career

In the late 1950s he also appeared in several films directed by Flemish comic Jan Vanderheyden:

• Een zonde waard "Worth a sin"
• Den duivel te slim "Too smart for the devil"
• Hoe zotter hoe liever "The crazier the better"
• De stille genieter "The silent hedonist"

They were all successful in Flanders and increased Gaston's reputation and work efforts.

Gaston and Leo

Gaston first met Leo Martin in 1957 in the Billiard Palace, where the orchestra of Willy Rockin played. Martin played the saxophone and clarinet and Gaston performed sketches with him. In the 1960s Martin got his own orchestra and it became easier to invite Gaston to come perform sketches. Their performances were often comic prologues for Martin's musical moments. These performances were the foundation for what would be later evolve into their double act Gaston and Leo.