Alfred Biolek

Alfred Biolek, 2004

Alfred Franz Maria Biolek (often called Bio for short ; * July 10, 1934 in Freistadt , Czechoslovakia ; † July 23, 2021 in Cologne ) was a German lawyer , television presenter and producer , talk show host , entertainer and cookbook author . From the late 1970s onwards, it was featured in television programs such as Bio's Bahnhof , Boulevard Bio and alfredissimo! famous.

Life

Childhood and adolescence

Alfred Biolek was born in 1934 in Freistadt in what was then Czechoslovakia as the son of Joseph Biolek, who holds a doctorate in law, and his wife Hedwig Lerch, a convent student and amateur actress . According to his own account, he spent a happy and sheltered childhood there, grew up with two older brothers in a wealthy middle-class family, was raised Roman Catholic and was an altar boy .

His father was a member of the Sudeten German Party (SdP) and second mayor of Freistadt. Towards the end of the Second World War , the family was expelled after the city was taken by the Red Army and Joseph Biolek and Alfred Biolek's eldest brother were taken prisoner. The brother was soon released again, the father was accused, presumably because of his mayor's office and his membership in the SdP, which was close to the NSDAP and was absorbed into it in 1938, but was later acquitted. 1946 moved the family to Waiblingen with Stuttgart , where his father continued to work as a lawyer. Biolek's eldest brother died of a brain tumor in 1952. His other older brother was a radio journalist.

legal studies

Biolek attended the Waiblinger Staufer-Gymnasium up to the Abitur in 1954 , spent the school year 1951/52 as one of the first German exchange students with AFS in the USA and then studied law in Freiburg im Breisgau , Munich and Vienna . In the fifth semester he founded the student cabaret Das Trojanische Pferd with a few fellow students . His fellow students at the time also included Rolf Böhme , Freiburg's future mayor, with whom he had a long-standing friendship.

During a semester abroad in Vienna, he joined the Catholic student association KÖHV Nordgau Wien in the Austrian Cartell Association , to which his father had already belonged. After his return from Vienna to Freiburg in 1957, Biolek was a temporary member of the KDStV Hercynia Freiburg . Later he also became a member of the KDStV Vandalia Prague in Munich , to which his two brothers already belonged. In 1966 he resigned from there. At times he was also a member of the CDU .

In 1958, Biolek passed the first state examination with distinction (third-best examination of his class in Baden-Württemberg). He then worked as a research assistant at Ernst von Caemmerer at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg and was established in 1962 with a thesis on defective goods under English law obligation to indemnify the seller and the manufacturer for Dr. iur. PhD . As a trainee lawyer , he represented his father, who was suffering from cancer , in his office. In 1963 he passed the second state examination in law.

Television productions

In February 1963, Biolek was initially hired as a legal advisor in the ZDF's legal department , but he soon switched to editorial activities, which appealed to him more. Among other things, he now worked as a presenter in programs such as Tips for Drivers , Customized Holidays , Nightclub and The Turntable . In 1970 he switched to Bavaria Film , moved from Waiblingen to Munich and radically changed his previously conservative way of life and views.

He took part in the life of Munich bohemians ; the circle of friends around Rainer Werner Fassbinder was one of his acquaintances. In 1971/72 he brought the British comedian Monty Python to Munich for a German version of their show ( Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus ) . From 1974 onwards he produced the program Amlauf Band with Rudi Carrell ; with this he achieved his professional breakthrough.

On January 25, 1976, Biolek started the talk show Kölner Treff with journalist Dieter Thoma for WDR in Cologne . It was based on the same format that he had presented since 1973 under the title Who comes, comes in the cabaret and cabaret theater Senftöpfchen in Cologne . On February 9, 1978, the program he produced and moderated ran under the title Bio's Bahnhof . Here he was able to prove his talent as a talent discoverer. In this program he promoted talents such as Anke Engelke . He also introduced foreign artists to German-speaking audiences, including Helen Schneider , Kate Bush , The Police and Herman van Veen .

The talk show Bei Bio (1983-85), the show Show Bühne (1983-87) and the game show Mensch Meier (1985-91) followed in the 1980s . From 1991 to 2003 Biolek was seen with his weekly talk show Boulevard Bio . Here he developed a form that was recognized as the “high mass of cultivated entertainment”.

At the end of December 1994 his cooking show alfredissimo started! . Prominent guests presented their favorite dishes here, while Biolek chatted with them, cooked a mostly suitable dish and poured them wine. In autumn 2006 the last season of alfredissimo! produced.

company

With his company Pro GmbH , founded in 1979, Biolek held a 25 percent stake in the Cologne restaurant Alter Wartesaal with the associated discotheque . In 2010 he sold his share. As an entrepreneur, Biolek was also responsible for the artist management of Dirk Bach and Ralph Morgenstern through Pro GmbH and developed and produced series such as Mitternachtsspitzen , Nightwash , Kaffeeklatsch, Blond am Freitag , Menschen bei Maischberger and the sitcom Lukas . In May 2010, bankruptcy proceedings were opened against the assets of the production company.

Other activities

Alfred Biolek with Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schröder in the TV program Boulevard Bio , 2002

Alfred Biolek with Luzia Braun at the Frankfurt Book Fair , 2006

Mayor Henriette Reker and Alfred Biolek on the occasion of the reception on his 85th birthday in the Muschelsaal of the historic city hall of Cologne , 2019

In addition to his television productions, Biolek presented numerous talk shows for companies and associations. Since October 1990 he has also been an honorary professor at the Art Academy for Media in Cologne . He was the first German to be appointed UN Special Envoy for the World Population in New York City in November 2000 . The AIDS situation in Africa was particularly close to his heart . In addition, he supported the intercultural work of the American Field Service Deutschland e. V., through whom he was one of the first German exchange students to spend a year in Oak Hill, USA, in 1951/52.

In October 2005, Biolek founded the “Alfred Biolek Foundation - Aid for Africa”, which worked to give young people in Africa a good start in life. After retiring from active foundation business, in July 2015 he converted the foundation into an endowment fund at the German Foundation for World Population (DSW). In 2005 he was a guest on Sesame Street . He donated the fee for his appearance to the Unicef children's aid organization .

Biolek was also involved in the field of cabaret . He was one of the patrons of the Wilmersdorfer Varieté Bar every reason . From October 2006 he was on tour nationwide with the stage program Mein Theater mit dem Fernsehen , in which he showed and explained excerpts from his career. In every city he was also supported by a prominent guest (e.g. Harald Schmidt ), with whom he had a spontaneous conversation based on the example of Boulevard Bio .

From January 2009 Biolek slipped into the role of a historian in the musical Monty Python's Spamalot in the Cologne Musical Dome . In July 2009, on the occasion of his 75th birthday, a gala entitled Thank you, Bio took place in Cologne's E-Werk , which was broadcast by ARD . In 2012 he moderated a monthly round table called Biogram in the Contra-Kreis-Theater in Bonn , where he had been a guest 35 years earlier.

Private

Alfred Biolek, 2019

Biolek, who mostly lived in Cologne, distinguished himself and his guests between “open or public” and “private or personal”. Private matters were never discussed in the family, nor was love and sexuality; his homosexual orientation was taboo anyway. He fell in love with a man for the first time in the mid-1960s and has been sure to be gay ever since .

In 1969 he quit his secure position at ZDF, broke his bourgeois life, threw away all suits, began to live openly homosexually and moved to Munich in 1970, also because of the better job prospects. He described the personal coming-out as difficult, but liberating. The repeal of Section 175 of the Criminal Code for relationships between adult men in 1969 also played a major role . He did not hide, but visited relevant bars and showed himself "in public with young, good-looking men". Nevertheless, he never addressed his homosexuality because that would not have been easily socially possible at the time.

In December 1991, Biolek was outed in the RTL-plus talk show Explosiv - the hot seat by the filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim with the words : "Why doesn't Biolek say he's gay?" This situation was uncomfortable for Biolek, but ultimately also beneficial : "I got a blow that hurt a lot, but somewhere this blow released a tension that was gone afterwards." At the time, he was upset mainly because of the shape, but later forgave von Praunheim. Biolek was delighted with the immediate positive effects when people told him, for example, how his outing had helped them to come out themselves or to be accepted by their parents.

Alfred Biolek stated that his career aspirations were priest , ringmaster and conductor . “And I've become something of everything.” The Catholic faith played a major role for Biolek, as he said in an interview with the Catholic News Agency in 2011 . In addition to his criticism of the Church's positions, such as the negative attitude towards contraception , he was also influenced by his Catholic upbringing throughout his life, above all “the respectful behavior towards other people”.

In 2010, Biolek fell on a spiral staircase and was in a coma for a while with severe skull injuries . He was supported by his long-time friend Scott Ritchie (* 1969), whom he adopted in 2014. Around 30 years earlier, he had already adopted another friend who died in April 2021. Alfred Biolek died on July 23, 2021 at the age of 87 in his Cologne apartment.

Television (selection)

• 1971–1972: Speaker , actor , producer of the German special editions of Monty Python's Flying Circus ( Monty Python's flying circus )
• 1974–1976: Producer of the Rudi Carrell show Amlauf Band
• 1976–1980: Kölner Treff (with Dieter Thoma )
• 1978–1982: Bio's Bahnhof , first own entertainment show
• 1983–1984: At Bio
• 1985–1991: Mensch Meier
• 1991–2003: Talk show Boulevard Bio
• 1994–2006: alfredissimo! , Celebrity cooking show

Quotes about Biolek

“How did Biolek do it in one of his great moments? He made his “ station ”, addressing a similarly large audience as “ Roncalli ”, an unfamiliar level of confrontation. Two very different artist temperaments such as Lora Logic and Reinhild Hoffmann met on the , the first with her catchy new wave pop song “Sleeping Beauty”, the other with her strange ballet performance “Couch” - the loud applause of the studio guests but applied to both. EE Cummings would have called such a desire for experimentation " making roses and locomotives" . "

- Natias Neutert , 1984

“The Munich psychologist Colin Goldner has known Alfred Biolek for a long time. For him, Bio has made the handicap that is inherent in him, barely being able to finish a sentence correctly, a personal trademark. If he had to plead in court as a lawyer, as his father would have liked to see, it would often have ended in dubio contra bio. Because being partisan, i.e. having to speak against someone, would have prevented his limitless need for harmony. This quality of basically wanting to please everyone may disqualify the lawyer. However, as you can see, it is a guarantee of success on television, as a medium that tries to mediate and balance things out. "

- Ulrich Spies, Adolf Grimme Institute , 1998

Publications

• 1962: The liability of the seller and the manufacturer of defective goods to pay damages under English law. Freiburg im Breisgau 1962, DNB 481135456 , ( Dissertation University of Freiburg im Breisgau , Faculty of Law and Political Science, February 21, 1962).
• 1982: Stephan Sulkes book biscuits . Arena, Würzburg, ISBN 3-401-04014-6 . 134 pages. Proverbs, aphorisms and inconsistent poems. With a foreword by Alfred Biolek.
• 1995: Self-portrait of childhood and adolescence. In: Florian Langenscheidt (Ed.): At home with us. Celebrities talk about their childhood. Econ, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-430-15945-8 .
• 1998: With John Cleese : Monty Python's Flying Circus . All German shows (both of them). With a prehistoric introduction by Alfred Biolek and Thomas Woitkewitsch. [According to the orig. Manuscripts - as they were available before shooting began - first published. and from the English by Heiko Arntz.] Haffmans, Zurich 1998.
• 2002: Ute Büsing, David Baltzer: Bar every reason: The art of entertainment. With a declaration of love from Alfred Biolek. Contributions by Otto Sander , Cora Frost , Gerd Wameling and others, Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-8218-0724-5 .
• 2002: pasta. Spaghetti, Penne & Co. Pasta recipes from the alfredissimo! Kitchen. Pabel-Moewig, Rastatt, 96 pages, ISBN 978-3-8118-1758-6 .
• 2002: my recipes. Illustrated by Franziska Becker , Papan , photographs by Christian von Alvensleben . Zabert Sandmann, Munich, hardback, ISBN 978-3-924678-71-5 .
• 2003: Breakfast for fair living. The most beautiful recipes with ingredients from fair trade. Published by Forum Fairer Handel , Detmold 2003.
• 2003: With Eckart Witzigmann : Recipes the way we like them. Old and new classics. Zabert Sandmann, Munich, hardback, ISBN 978-3-89883-074-4 .
• 2003: Cartography of the Boulevard. Preface by Bettina Pfeil. Chorus, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-931876-51-9 .
• 2005: With Eckart Witzigmann: Our cookbook. Alternatives to fish and meat. Tre Torri, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-937963-18-9 .
• 2006: My new recipes and wine the way I like it. Illustrated by Franziska Becker , photographs by Christian von Alvensleben . Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich, 152 pages, ISBN 978-3-423-34271-1 .
• 2006: With Veit Schmidinger: Bio. My life. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-462-03725-0 , review :.
• 2010: With Nahuel Lopez : My home Europe. Travel - encounter - remember. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2010, ISBN 978-3-579-06868-8 .
• 2018: The recipes of my life. Edited by Ralf Frenzel. Tre Torri Verlag, Wiesbaden, 480 pp., Hardback, ISBN 978-3-96033-047-9 .

Awards

• 1983 - Adolf Grimme Prize with gold for Bio's Bahnhof
• 1993 - German Critics' Prize
• 1994 - Golden Camera for Best Television Entertainment for Boulevard Bio
• 1994 - Bambi
• 1994 - Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
• 1995 - Golden Rascal
• 2000 - Bobby
• 2002 - German Book Prize
• 2002 - German Wine Culture Award
• 2003 - Karl Valentin Order
• 2003 - Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2004 - Golden VDP badge of honor "for his services to top German wine"
• 2008 - Golden camera for his life's work
• 2009 - German Television Award - Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement
• 2009 - Warsteiner Prize - the German Gastronomy Prize - Lifetime Award
• 2010 - Steiger Award
• 2010 - Culture Prize of the Otmar Alt Foundation
• 2013 - Emperor Augustus Order for Alfred Biolek - founder of the Alfred Biolek Foundation

Literature (selection)

• Norbert Thomas : Alfred Biolek and his train station. C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-570-01863-6 .
• Lukas Bernhardt: Alfred Biolek. Change of scene: from television maker to television star. A biography. Dirk Lehrach Verlag, Düsseldorf 2000, ISBN 3-9806151-4-6 .
• Klaus Michael Heinz (Ed.): Boulevard Bio - The first ten years. Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-462-02986-X .

Filmography

• Alfred Franz Maria Biolek - Almost a self-portrait. Documentary, Germany, 1999, 60 min., Written and directed by Klaus Michael Heinz , series: Fast a self-portrait , first broadcast: ARD , July 10, 1999, updates 2001 and 2004.
• Bahnhof für Bio - Alfred Biolek turns 70. Homage, Germany, 2004, 100 min., Script and director: Klaus Michael Heinz , moderation: Anke Engelke and Hape Kerkeling , first broadcast: WDR , NDR , July 10, 2004.
• “In person” - Alfred Biolek. Documentary, Germany, 2007, 30 min., Script and director: Claudia Müller , production: Radio Bremen , broadcast date: May 26, 2007, summary by Radio Bremen. ( Memento from June 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• Thank you, Bio! Television gala, Germany, 2009, 90 min., Moderation: Reinhold Beckmann , production: WDR , broadcast date: ARD , July 9, 2009, announcement. ( Memento from July 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• Man, organic! Documentary, Germany, 2014, 88:40 min., Script and direction: Sandra Maischberger and Hendrik Fritzler, production: WDR , first broadcast: June 24, 2014 on ARD , synopsis by ARD. ( Memento from June 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Alfred Biolek  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Alfred Biolek in the catalog of the German National Library
• Alfred Biolek in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The magic of casual chat , obituary, Spiegel Online , July 23, 2021
• alfredissimo! ( Memento from July 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

pictures

• Interview excerpt and picture gallery. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , September 25, 2006, article

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lukas Bernhardt: Alfred Biolek. Change of scene , p. 14.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Britta Stuff: Mr. Biolek, are you beautiful? In: Die Welt , September 25, 2006.
3. ↑ Joseph Bioloek: Parkinson's drama about Bios older brother. June 22, 2014, accessed July 24, 2021 . 
4. ^ Bernhardt, p. 55.
5. ↑ Alumni Freiburg - Newsletter. (PDF) In: alumni.uni-freiburg.de. March 1, 2004, accessed July 23, 2021 . 
6. ↑ On the Kölner Treff and the stage predecessor see Harald Keller: The history of the talk show in Germany. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2009, pp. 254 ff.
7. ↑ On the documentation of Bio's Bahnhof with numerous photos: see Norbert Thomas: Alfred Biolek und seine Bahnhof . Bertelsmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-570-01863-6 .
8. ↑ Regina Goldlücke: The Chippendale dresser of the talk . In: Die Welt , June 12, 2001
9. ↑ New attempt in the Rheinauhafen: the old waiting room moves into the Playboy Club. In: City of Cologne , October 30, 2013. From Koeln.de, accessed on January 9, 2021.
10. ↑ Station for Bio. Alfred Biolek turns 70 ( Memento from September 13, 2004 in the Internet Archive ). In: WDR , July 9, 2004.
11. ↑ Peter-Philipp Schmitt: UN Ambassador Biolek. In bio-stress . In: FAZ , January 28, 2005.
12. ↑ UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador Wins Germany's Highest Honor. In: UNFPA , October 31, 2003.
13. Jump up ↑ Help Africa Before It's Too Late , Die Welt , December 15, 2006
14. ↑ Sadiah Meiselbach: Alfred Biolek - Prominent support for our youth projects in Africa. In: German Foundation for World Population , August 23, 2016, accessed on August 26, 2018.
15. ^ ^{A b} Alfred Biolek Foundation • Help for Africa. ( Memento from February 10, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ 80 years of Biolek: As soft as butter and tender. In: spiegel.de. June 24, 2014, accessed July 23, 2021 . 
17. ^ "My theater with television." An evening with Alfred Biolek. ( Memento of May 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). In: biosbuehne.de .
18. ↑ Susanne Schnabel: Premiere of Bio's stage show. "We will miss him on TV." ( Memento from November 5, 2006 in the Internet Archive ). In: WDR , October 15, 2006.
19. ↑ dpa : “Spamalot” musical. Alfred Biolek and King Arthur. ( Memento from April 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) In: Frankfurter Rundschau , November 28, 2008.
20. ^ WDR: Alfred Biolek celebrates his 75th birthday. ( Memento of July 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
21. ↑ biogram. The new talk show with Alfred Biolek. ( Memento from July 23, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ). In: Contra-Kreis-Theater , 2012.
22. ↑ Gunild Lohmann: Contra-Kreis-Theater - Tired talk at Biolek's "Biogram". In: General-Anzeiger (Bonn) , February 28, 2012.
23. ↑ ^{a b} dpa : I am a cook. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , September 28, 2006.
24. ^ ^{A b} Alfred Biolek from Johannes B. Kerner , ZDF, Thursday, August 27, 1998; quoted by:
    Alfred Biolek: “My friend is great.” ( Memento from April 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). In: wien123.portal.eroco.at , accessed on February 23, 2008.
25. ↑ ^{a b} Alexandros Stefanidis: I never hid behind a wig or sunglasses. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin , September 22, 2006, issue 38, interview.
26. ↑ The whole world in a saucepan. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger , September 24, 2007.
27. ↑ Axel Schock, Karen-Susan Fessel: OUT! - 800 famous lesbians, gays and bisexuals . Querverlag, Berlin 2004, 320 pages, ISBN 3-89656-111-1 .
28. ↑ Jörg Irsinghaus: The last charmer . In: Rheinische Post . July 24, 2021, p. A8 .
29. ↑ Thomas Gehringer: The boulevard is empty . In: Der Tagesspiegel . July 24, 2021, p. 3 .
30. ↑ spiegel.de: Homosexuals - Noble Intention
31. ↑ ^{a b} Peter Lückemeier : Autobiography: Loosened hearts beat quickly. In: FAZ , November 13, 2006, p. 37.
32. ↑ Alfred Biolek wrote his autobiography. ( Memento of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). In: MDR , September 10, 2006.
33. ↑ "I wanted to be a priest ..." TV presenter and talk show host Alfred Biolek died. In: domradio.de. July 23, 2021, accessed July 24, 2021 . 
34. ↑ Christmas with Alfred Biolek and son Scott , klatsch-tratsch.de, December 24, 2018
35. ↑ Scott Ritchie as son. Alfred Biolek: "Adoption has changed absolutely nothing." In: Abendzeitung Munich, March 26, 2014, accessed on June 3, 2017.
36. ↑ Alfred Biolek is 85 years old “It hurt, but it released the tension” , tagesspiegel.de , July 10, 2019
37. ↑ Talea de Freese: He mourns the adopted son Keith († 58). In: Bunte , April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
38. ↑ TV legend: Alfred Biolek died at the age of 87. In: Kölner Stadtanzeiger. July 23, 2021, accessed July 23, 2021 . 
39. ↑ Natias Neutert : Where is the circus? - Somewhere else! In: Die Zeit , November 16, 1984, No. 47.
40. ↑ Ulrich Spies: In Dubio pro Bio… legal careers in film and television . ( Memento from February 19, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 112 kB) In: Jürgen Brand, Dieter Strempel (Ed.): Sociology of Law. Festschrift for Erhard Blankenburg on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, Baden Baden 1998, pp. 457–466.
41. ↑ Merit holders since 1986. (PDF) In: State Chancellery of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia . Retrieved March 11, 2017 . 
42. ↑ Who else will receive the Federal Cross of Merit today. In: Der Tagesspiegel , October 1, 2003, accessed on February 1, 2017.
43. ↑ Alfred Biolek comes to the "Ball des Weines". ( Memento of September 30, 2004 in the Internet Archive ). In: VDP - Die Prädikatsweingüter .
44. ↑ Alfred Biolek receives the Donors' Honorary Prize in 2009. In: Deutscher Fernsehpreis , September 15, 2009, with picture gallery.
45. ↑ Warsteiner Prize - the German Gastronomy Prize, Prize Winner 2009. ( Memento from February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: warsteiner-preis.de .
46. ↑ Steiger Awards in Bochum: These are the winners! In: Bild , March 13, 2010.
47. ↑ https://www.pressarbeit-bockow.de/alfredbiolek.htm
48. ↑ Honor for Biolek. ( Memento of February 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), March 15, 2010.
49. ↑ dpa : Biolek awarded the Emperor Augustus Order. In: Schwaebische.de , January 6, 2013, accessed on August 26, 2018.