Gustav Frands Wilzeck Winckler (October 13, 1925-January 20, 1979) was a popular Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 singer, composer and music publisher. He grew up in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

 and started his career as a decorator.

In 1948 as a young man he won a talent competition at National Scala Theatre in Copenhagen, as well as many others in Copenhagen. He was often compared to Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

.

He finally broke through in 1950 with engagements, regular appearances on Danmarks Radio

Danmarks Radio

DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...

 and his first professional recording. Through the 1950s he recorded and toured in Denmark, Germany (under the name Gunnar Winkler) and England (under the name Sam Payne).

In 1957 after qualifying in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix to represent Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...

, he participated in Eurovision Song Contest 1957

Eurovision Song Contest 1957

The Eurovision Song Contest 1957 was the 2nd Eurovision Song Contest. Like the first contest, this one was still mainly a radio programme, but there was a noticeable increase in the number of people with televisions....

 where he sung "Skibet skal sejle i nat

Skibet Skal Sejle I Nat

"Skibet skal sejle i nat" was the Danish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, performed in Danish by Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler and consequently the first time Danish was heard in the Eurovision....

" ("The ship is leaving tonight") with Birthe Wilke

Birthe Wilke

Birthe Wilke is a popular Danish singer. She grew up in a musical family in Copenhagen's Vesterbro area.When she was in her teens, she won a talent competition at the National Scala Theatre in Copenhagen, sang as soloist with Bruno Henriksen's Orchestra at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, made her...

. They ranked number 3, and stunned television audiences with a 13-second long kiss at the end of their performance.

He participated in the Danish Melodi Grand Prix twice afterwards— in 1964 with "Ugler i mosen", and then in 1966 with "Salami".

He died in a car accident in 1979.

His brother Jørgen Winckler also recorded songs in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Literature

• Laursen, Carsten Michael (1999). 'Top-Pop: Navne i dansk pop 1950-2000"' ("Top-Pop: Names in Danish Pop 1950-2000"). L&R Fakta. ISBN 87-614-0086-6.