Shireen Strooker was a celebrated Dutch stage and screen actress, writer, stage director and filmmaker. With a father from Holland and mother from India she excelled as a different and exotic artist. in 1954 she was admitted to the Academy of Theatre and Dance in Amsterdam. "The Gardeners Dog / De hond van de tuinman" (1960) was Shireen Strooker's film debut. Some 33 roles in feature films and television productions followed. She was a member of the progressive pioneering theater group Het Werkteater in Amsterdam during the 70's and the 80's. She directed theatre plays, musicals, and films. Among them "Alcestis" and "Shirley Valentine" (1988) at The National Theatre, and "La Cage Aux Folles" (1995) at the Stardust Theatre, Amsterdam, and even appeared in the offbeat Cheech & Chong production "Still Smokin'" (1983). 2010 became Shireen Strooker's last active year, directing two plays, one cabaret and appearing in the television series "Levenslied".