Fred Schmidt (entertainer)

Fred Schmidt (born January 30, 1935 in Berlin ; † September 6, 2010 in Arnstadt ) was a German entertainer and popular singer. Schmidt became known on GDR television for his show Oberhofer Bauernmarkt .

Life

Schmidt grew up in Erfurt . After three years of training at the music school in the 1950s, he first learned to be a bookseller. After that, the tenor Schmidt intended to study classical music at the Weimar Conservatory. A temporary job as a singer in a regional country band in 1956 resulted in two years of musical activity. Then, in 1960, Schmidt switched to the Wolf-Hanssen-Terzett as a singer and guitarist , with Hans-Wolfgang Libbertz and Joachim Meißner , with whom he a. a. went on a four month tour of South America. On this tour of South America, Hans-Wolfgang Libbertz disappeared on the last evening before his return flight and never returned to the GDR; like everyone else in the ensemble, he was a member of the SED. Meißner and Schmidt stayed together and Vlady Slezak from Prague joined the team. From 1966 to 1970 the "allegros" were created. The group was expanded and modernized in terms of repertoire and instruments. She got the highest rating. The Berlin Friedrichstadtpalast , 8 times the Steintor-Varieté Halle and guest performances at home and abroad, radio, TV and Amiga were the other stops. From 1970 Schmidt worked as a soloist, his songs were a. a. composed by Gerhard Siebholz , Rudi Werion and Gerhard Honig . At this time he switched to the popular subject.

Schmidt reached the climax of his solo career with the popular music show Oberhofer Bauernmarkt on GDR television. In the first episode on January 30, 1974, he appeared as a singer. Later he took over the moderation of the show with Rosemarie Ambé , in which u. a. Stefanie Hertel and Gaby Albrecht had their first television appearances. Fred Schmidt worked on all of the 99 episodes of the Oberhof farmers' market until the show was canceled in 1991. After that he toured live with the farmers market and his solo program Sing with Fred Schmidt through East German halls, but he was hardly present on television. Schmidt had lived in Elxleben with his family since 1997 . Despite his leukemia, he had his last appearances in the summer of 2010. A little later he died of his illness in Arnstadt.

His marriage to his wife Heidi in 1977 resulted in a son.

Web links

• Literature by and about Fred Schmidt in the catalog of the German National Library
• Fred Schmidt on music legends of the east