Gerry Wolff

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gerhard "Gerry" Wolff (born June 23, 1920 in Bremen ; † February 16, 2005 in Oranienburg ) was a German actor and voice actor . He became known as a character actor in film and television in the GDR as well as in television series after the fall of the Berlin Wall .

Life

Gerry Wolff was born to the actor Martin Wolff and the soubrette Grete Lilien. At the age of eleven, Wolff became an orphan and grew up with his grandmother. In 1935 he emigrated to England because of his Jewish origins and thus survived the Holocaust . When the war broke out, he was interned on the Isle of Man as an " enemy alien " . In the camp theater he was on stage for the first time as an actor. During the war he was released and volunteered for the civil defense and worked as an editor for a London publishing house until the end of the war . In his free time he worked in the choir and drama group of the FDJ in London.

In 1947 Gerry Wolff returned to Germany and became a member of the ensemble in East Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm (1949) and then at the newly founded Volksbühne (1956). In 1961 he became a member of the DEFA ensemble , where he made his debut in a supporting role in the novel of a young marriage in 1951 .

Wolff became known with the DEFA films Nackt unter Wölfen (1963, directed by Frank Beyer ) and Anton the magician . He was involved in many GDR television productions . After the reunification, Gerry Wolff was seen in series such as Tatort , Polizeiruf 110 , Praxis Bülowbogen , Der Havelkaiser and The Court Reporter. He was also able to establish himself as a character actor in reunified Germany in television films such as the two Frank Beyer productions When all Germans sleep and Der Hauptmann von Köpenick . In 2001 Wolff retired from working life after a stroke .

Gerry Wolff was seen as a versatile episode actor, but he was rarely seen in leading roles. He was in the GDR as Chanson -Interpret ( "The rose was red") or presenter on TV ( From tune to tune ) known. Wolff also worked as a dubbing , radio play / audio book and commentary in documentaries . Wolff's voice is likely to be familiar to a wide audience, especially as Yoda in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace .

His son Thomas Wolff also works as an actor and voice actor.

Filmography (selection)

Radio plays

DVDs

  • Naked among wolves. 118 minutes, b / w, with an interview with Gerry Wolff (19 min.), Icestorm Entertainment .

CDs

  • Mark Twain : Tom Sawyer's great adventure. Audio book, speaker: Gerry Wolff, 2000 (recording: 1962), ISBN 3-89830-171-0 .
  • Mark Twain: Huckleberry Finn . Audio book, speaker: Gerry Wolff, 2000 (recording: 1965), ISBN 3-89830-173-7 .
  • Jewish jokes. Audio book, told by Angelika Waller and Gerry Wolff, 1999, ISBN 3-359-01019-1 .
  • "THE PUZZLE". (as Friedrich Engels) 2003; Audio book based on the novel by Norbert Viertel about the disappearance of the Berlin Marx-Engels monument in 1989 and the appearance of two strange old men in the GDR - transition period, 18 other speakers, including Jaecki Schwarz and Dieter Mann, ISBN 3-930064-14-6 .

Records

  • 1962: I kiss your hand, Madame / Melancholie (Single, VEB Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin - AMIGA 4 50 320).
  • 1966: The rose was red / moon over the Mekong (single, VEB Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin - AMIGA 4 50 565).
  • 1969: Portrait in sheet music (AMIGA - 855171).
  • 1972: The Drunk Sun Speaker (Nova - 885019).

Synchronous rollers (selection)

Movies

Series

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wolff, Gerry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wolff, Gerald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Bremen
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 2005
Place of death Oranienburg