Georg Thomalla

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Georg Thomalla in 1946 during the performance of Der Mustergatte at the Jürgen-Fehling-Theater Berlin

Georg Valentin Thomalla (born February 14, 1915 in Katowice ; † August 25, 1999 in Starnberg ) was a German actor and voice actor .

Life

Thomalla was the son of the judicial inspector Blasius Thomalla and his wife Maria, née Damas. After the referendum in Upper Silesia and the division of the area, the family moved to Opole . He lost his parents at an early age and initially learned the profession of cook , but then joined a traveling theater as an actor. In 1932 he made his debut in Dömitz as a servant in the operetta The Land of Smiles . In 1935 he was engaged by the Theater am Nollendorfplatz , from 1936 to 1938 he played at the Stadttheater Gelsenkirchen and from 1938 to 1939 at the Reussisches Theater Gera . At the same time, Thomalla found his way to his later home theaters as a tabloid actor, comedy and the theater on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin . In the summer months he played on smaller stages, such as B. 1937 on the Waldbühne Heessen .

While he was still shooting his first film role in Josef von Báky's literary film adaptation of Your First Experience , he was drafted, but soon afterwards he was released for film and theater work. Thomalla gave Karl Ritter's propagandistic aviator films - such as Stukas (1941) - cheerful accents. His comedic talent was already shown to advantage in small non-commissioned officer roles and then especially in Helmut Käutner's film We Make Music .

In 1945/46 he appeared at the cabaret of comedians , of which he was a member from 1948 to 1956. In the Haus am Waldsee and in the Theater am Kurfürstendamm he played the puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream and in 1950 at the Schlosspark Theater the civil servant Chlestakov in Der Auditor . As a film actor, he had his breakthrough in 1951 in fanfare of love at the side of Dieter Borsche . The "little man" quickly became popular, mainly through slapstick roles. When Carl Boese , who had entrusted him with the main role in the musical comedy Bezierendes Fräulein (1953), fell ill, Thomalla directed it for the only time in his career. In addition, he continued to play theater in Berlin. At the beginning of his career he also sang. In 1958 he took part in the German preliminary decision for the Eurovision Song Contest .

In the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, the lively Thomalla was one of the most important players in the German film amusement. Thomalla remained a comedian throughout his life and was never able to establish himself in the character subject . In Fritz Kortner's film drama The City is Full of Secrets and in Käutner's romantic East-West drama Sky Without Stars , he can be seen in serious roles for once. He acted as the main actor in the film comedies Reverend turns a blind eye and Always Trouble with Reverend and One Is Always Crazy . In addition, he continued to play the theater and celebrated great success in the tabloid plays Father of a Daughter and The Man Who Doesn't Dare, which Curth Flatow tailored to his needs .

The beginning of television as a mass medium finally helped his breakthrough. His television series Comical Stories with Georg Thomalla (1961–1971) was one of the most popular programs among German viewers. He also had great success with the embodiment of the title role in the family television series Our Pauker , which was broadcast in 1965 and 1966 in the evening program of ZDF in 20 episodes. Also on ZDF ran from 1982 to 1985 the series An Evening with Georg Thomalla , which was based on a concept similar to that of the comic stories . Thomalla was last seen on screen in the 1992 generation drama Lilies on the Bench .

Voice actor

Thomalla's filmmaking includes more than 120 films and is also linked to the synchronization of many Hollywood stars. He was the German voice of Jack Lemmon , Danny Kaye , Peter Sellers and Bob Hope . Thomalla dubbed Sellers in most of the films in the Inspektor Clouseau series and Jack Lemmon in 42 films between 1955 and 1998, including Some Like It Hot , A Strange Couple and Extra Sheet . In 1996 Lemmon and Thomalla met when the American actor was awarded the Honorary Golden Bear for his life's work during the 1996 Berlinale and Thomalla gave the laudation on the occasion .

Thomalla was also the German voice of the Wizard of Oz in The Magic Land (USA, 1939) and lent his voice to the cartoon character Jiminy Grille in the 1940 Disney film Pinocchio . In 1969 he spoke the lions in the animated film The Conference of Animals .

Private

Georg Thomalla was temporarily in a relationship with the actress Germaine Damar . Since 1957 he was married to Margit Mayrl, a pension owner from Bad Gastein (Austria). Thomalla was the father of two sons. The actor died of pneumonia at the age of 84 . The actresses Sophia and Simone Thomalla are not related to him.

Thomalla spent the last years of his life in Munich-Schwabing on Hohenzollernplatz, also in Spain near Alicante and in Bad Gastein, in whose cemetery he was buried. He was interested in religious questions and Far Eastern philosophy . From the mid-1980s he was a member of the ISKCON (Hare Krishna movement).

Filmography (selection)

cinemamovies

Television (selection)

Radio plays

Awards

literature

Web links

Commons : Georg Thomalla  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Reference to: Discovering - History, see Georg Thomalla on the site waldbuehne heessen.de. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c d The great German film classics: We make music , Verlag De Agostini Deutschland GmbH, Hamburg, editors: Holger Neuhaus, Joachim Seidel, 2006, pp. 9, 10.
  3. ↑ Note on: The great Thomalla is dead In: Hamburger Abendblatt , August 26, 1999. Retrieved on October 5, 2019.
  4. ^ Biography of Simone Thomalla in the IMDb
  5. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Georg Thomalla
  6. ↑ Comedian Georg Thomalla (84) died of heart failure - As a Krishna disciple, he firmly believed in rebirth "My body is coming back" In: Hamburger Morgenpost , August 26, 1999. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Thomalla, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thomalla, Georg Valentin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor and voice actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Katowice
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 1999
Place of death Starnberg