Born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, his father was the Egyptian ambassador in Paris. Ramses spent the first six years of his life in Cannes, together with his mother, a Polish countess of Russian origin. They had no contact with Ramses' father. Ramses will meet him for the first time in his life half a century later, during the 1980s.

After his mother, who was seriously ill, sent him to the Netherlands, he lived with an aunt in Utrecht and in a children's home in Zeist. From the age of six he was brought up in Leiden by foster parents. Between 1952 and 1961 he attented lessons at the school for stage acting in Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam, he started his own music club: Shaffy Chantant. Together with other gifted young musicians and actors he ssang his own songs and recites poems. During the 1970s alcohol more and more dominated Shaffy's life. Ten years later he won his battle with the vodka, but inspiration left him.

Hits: Sammy (1966) Pastorale (1969) In de armen van de stad (1970) Zing, Vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder (1971) Aan de andere kant van de heuvels (1971) Wij zullen doorgaan (1975) Laat me (1978) LPs & CDs: Sunrise Sunkiss (1969) Zonder bagage (1971) We leven nog (1975) Dag en nacht (1978) Liesbeth List en Ramses Shaffy (1987) Sterven van geluk (1988) Z'n grootste successen (1991) Het mooiste van Ramses Shaffy (1997) Ramses (2002)

Theatre: Shaffy Chantant Shaffy Cantate Ramses '97 Musical: Pol (1988) De man van La Mancha Film: De verloedering van de Swieps (1967) Liefdesbekentenissen (1967) Een vreemde vogel (1967) Kind van de zon Cha Cha Nachtvlinder Documentary: Ramses (2002, by Pieter Fleury)