Götz George

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Götz George (2001)

Götz Karl August George (born July 23, 1938 in Berlin ; † June 19, 2016 in Hamburg ) was a German actor . He was known for more than five decades, especially in German-speaking countries, through his roles in film and television , and was also established on various theater stages . In the 1980s he was mainly as a performer unkonventionell- nonconformity occurring Duisburg commissioner Horst Schimanski in the TV crime series Tatort popular.

As early as the 1960s, at the age of mid-twenties, he became known to a wider public through supporting roles in several Karl May films . In his later career, George increasingly demonstrated an acting versatility. He appeared as a character actor in both demanding tragic (e.g. Der Totmacher , 1995) and satirical - comedic roles (e.g. Schtonk ! , 1992) and has received several awards, including the film volume in Gold des German Film Prize , the Grimme Prize , the Golden Camera and the German Actor Prize for his life's work. In 2014 he received the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In one of his last film appearances in 2013 he portrayed his father, the actor Heinrich George , against the background of the question of the artist's responsibility in a dictatorship in the TV docudrama George .

Life

Origin, childhood and youth

Götz George came from a family of actors. His father Heinrich George was already a famous film and theater star during the Weimar Republic . Despite his initially oppositional stance, he came to terms with the Nazi dictatorship , in which he was able to establish himself as a character actor in Nazi film propaganda . The father, who gave him his first name based on his favorite role Götz von Berlichingen , died in 1946 as a prisoner in the Sachsenhausen special camp operated by the Soviet Union .

Götz's mother Berta Drews was also a well-known actress. Götz and his brother Jan, who were seven years older than him, grew up with their mother in Berlin, first attending the Berthold Otto School in Berlin-Lichterfelde and then, up to secondary school, the Lyceum Alpinum in Zuoz, Switzerland . Jan George works as a photographer, documentary and commercial filmmaker.

Acting career

Götz George as Horst Schimanski (2007)
George with Janina Stopper while filming Dad Home Alone (2009)

Götz George made his stage debut at the age of twelve in 1950 in William Saroyan's Mein Herz ist im Hochland at the Hebbel Theater in Berlin . In 1953, 15-year-old George got his first small film role alongside Romy Schneider in When the White Lilac Blossoms Again . In the same year he played for the first time, as often later, at the side of his mother Berta Drews in Shakespeare's Richard III. From 1955 to 1958 he studied with Else Bongers at the UFA junior studio in Berlin . In 1956, he played a leading role in front of the camera for the first time in the DEFA film Alter Kahn and Junge Liebe . With the film Jacqueline , George made his breakthrough among critics and audiences in 1959. For his role he was awarded the German Film Critics' Prize and the German Film Prize ( Best Young Actor ). He received his decisive acting training from 1958 to 1963. On his mother's advice, he played at the Deutsches Theater in Göttingen under the direction of Heinz Hilpert . After his death he never rejoined a permanent ensemble, but he was regularly on stage on tours or guest performances.

In the 1960s, George starred in films such as Kirmes and Herrenpartie . He became known to a wide audience through films in the Karl May series . He began it in 1962 with the role of the farmer's son Fred Engel in Der Schatz im Silbersee and in the same year received the Bambi award for best young actor. George did all of his stunts himself, including in his leading role as sheriff in They Called Him Gringo .

In the 1970s he mainly played theater and took part in television productions, including many episodes of Der Kommissar , Tatort , Derrick and Der Alte . Hansgünther Heyme engaged him in 1972 at the Cologne Schauspielhaus , where he played Martin Luther in Dieter Fortes Martin Luther and Thomas Münzer . It was not until 1977 that he was cast again in a leading role in the cinema for Aus einer Deutschen Leben - as Franz Lang, a character that was developed from the biography of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höß . In 1988 he was again in front of the camera at DEFA in Der Bruch, together with Rolf Hoppe and Otto Sander . In 1978 he starred in The Tattooed Rose of Tennessee Williams on the side of Sonja Ziemann . In 1981 he had the title role in Büchner's Danton's death at the Salzburg Festival . In 1986/87 George directed Gogol's auditor together with Eberhard Feik and Helmut Stauss . With Chekhov's Platonov , George went on a theater tour for the last time in 1990.

George had his greatest audience success on television in the 1980s: with the Schimanski crime series on WDR, which could be seen from 1981 to 1991. In this role he also appeared in the television crime film Unter Brüdern in 1990 , the only crossover between the West German crime series Tatort and the GDR crime series Polizeiruf 110 .

In the 1990s he played the supposed serial killer and writer Henry Kupfer in The Sandman . In The Bubi-Scholz-Story George portrayed the aged, broken boxer. In Der Totmacher he was the serial killer Fritz Haarmann , which earned him, among other things, the actor's award at the Venice Film Festival and the last of four German film awards. In nothing but the truth , he took on the role of the Nazi doctor and mass murderer Josef Mengele - with the help of a latex mask . His roles in several of Helmut Dietl's films were comedy : as Hamburg reporter Hermann Willié in Schtonk! , as director Uhu Zigeuner in Rossini - or the murderous question of who slept with whom and as the terminally ill Federal Chancellor in Zettl .

On the occasion of his death, Michael Hanfeld described him in an obituary as an acting jack-of-all-trades :

“Tragedy, comedy, chamber play, classics, thriller, action - George could do all genres and he put himself skin and hair into each and every role, approaching his characters with every fiber in a way that his teammates, the Directors and producers, everything required. "

- Michael Hanfeld : FAZ.net

Private life

George was married to actress Loni von Friedl from 1966 to 1976 . They met each other as the best young actor and player in 1962 when they were awarded the Bambi . The marriage comes from their daughter Tanja George, born in 1967, who directed several short films from 1991 to 1995.

Since 1998 the actor has lived with the Hamburg journalist Marika Ullrich; the couple married in 2014. Since 1986 he was a member of TSV 1860 Munich . He had a villa in Berlin-Zehlendorf and an attic apartment in Hamburg-St. Georg , because his wife Marika comes from the Hanseatic city. He also owned a house in northeastern Sardinia .

Grave of Götz George in the Zehlendorf cemetery

Götz George died on June 19, 2016 at the age of 77 in Hamburg. He was buried in the closest family circle in his native Berlin at the Zehlendorf cemetery a few meters from his father's grave.

social commitment

From 2010 Götz George got involved in the German Cancer Aid and the fight against cancer diseases and worked free of charge in the charity project "Rainer Wahnsinn". He also took part in a White Ring campaign. In addition, he supported the association Mach mein Kumpel , which was founded as a result of a trade union initiative ! - for equal treatment, against xenophobia and racism eV in its work against xenophobia, racism and right-wing extremism. In 1988 Götz George wore a button with the yellow hand logo on the lapel of his famous light brown jacket in his role as Commissioner Horst Schimanski in the Tatort episode Broken Flowers .

Filmography

cinemamovies

TV films and series

Awards

George at the Romy Awards 2009 in Vienna, where he was recognized for his life's work
Star by Götz George on the Boulevard der Stars in Berlin

literature

Documentaries

  • Götz George: Life, Art and a German Mime. Conversation, 7:49 min., Ttt - title, theses, temperaments , first broadcast: May 4, 2008
  • Beckmann in conversation with Götz George. NDR , first broadcast: May 12, 2008
  • All the best, Götz George! Documentation, 45 min., First broadcast: July 23, 2008
  • Don't talk, do - a meeting with Götz George on his 70th birthday. WDR , 45 min., Script and direction: Marika Ullrich, first broadcast: July 25, 2008, summary of the ARD
  • He just wants to play - Götz George. WDR, 44 min., Written and directed: Frank Bürgin, first broadcast: July 19, 2013, summary of the ARD

Web links

Commons : Götz George  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Götz George  - Quotes

items

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Don't talk, do - an encounter with Götz George on his 70th birthday ( memento from July 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive ).
    Documentation, 2008, 45 min., Script and direction: Marika Ullrich, production: WDR, first broadcast: July 25, 2008. Accessed on February 2, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b BAMBI's forest whispers . In: Bambi.de. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  3. ↑ Michael Hanfeld: Hard on hard . In: FAZ.net of June 27, 2016. Retrieved on February 2, 2019.
  4. ^ Tanja George - The Screen Guide - Screen Australia. In: screenaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved June 29, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Götz George turns 65 . In: Sueddeutsche.de of July 2, 2009. Retrieved on February 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ Late Night: Horst Schimanski remains tough with Beckmann . In: Welt.de on May 13, 2008. Retrieved on February 2, 2019.
  7. ↑ Götz George no longer wants: "I've kicked enough" . In: Hamburger Abendblatt of October 17, 2014. Retrieved on February 2, 2019
  8. ↑ Why the TSV 1860 congratulates Götz George. In: TZ Munich of July 23, 2013. Retrieved on February 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ Götz George becomes a member of life in 1860 (August 13, 1986) ( Memento from August 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: The lion bomber archive of August 13, 2012.
  10. ^ "Lion" for life - George paid 1,860 marks ( Memento from February 2, 2019 in the Internet Archive ). Gong article on Loewen-bar.de from June 26, 2016.
  11. ↑ Götz George - Schatzl . In: Sueddeutsche.de of December 14, 2008. Retrieved on February 2, 2019.
  12. ↑ GÖTZ GEORGE (†) New details about his death , Gala June 28, 2016
  13. ↑ Götz George buried in Zehlendorf - near his father Heinrich George . In: Tagesspiegel.de of July 12, 2016. Retrieved on February 2, 2019.
  14. ↑ The grave of Götz George with stone . In: Knerger.de. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  15. ↑ Taking part means helping ( memento from February 2, 2019 in the Internet Archive ). German Cancer Aid, "Rainer Wahnsinn" project.
personal data
SURNAME George, Götz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES George, Götz Karl August (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION German actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH 19th June 2016
PLACE OF DEATH Hamburg