Heidi Pawellek

Heidi Pawellek , actually Heidrun Pawellek (born January 22, 1944 in Ortelsburg , † September 4, 2006 in the United States ) was a German former child actress and pop singer .

Life

She was a member of the entertainment group The Six Pawelleks in early childhood and a child star between 1959 (under her first name as a pop singer) and 1962 (under her full name as a child actress). At that time, Rosemarie (later Mary Roos ) and Gabriele were younger competitors. She was also the third cousin of the former German soccer player Rolf Pawellek .

Based on his own painful experience, Heidi Pawellek's father wanted to avoid his children taking up artistic professions because, coming from a family of estate officials in Masuria , despite his musical talents, he had not made the jump to the radio or a theater orchestra. And later, as the head of a family of seven, it was difficult to make a living with artistic performances. The industry is too tough, he said. Nevertheless, the eldest daughter, Sigrid, became a stage actress and the youngest, Heidi, became a child star for at least four years.

Heidi's mother came from Buer in Westphalia , but after her father's death had to move in with five siblings in the grandparents' farm in Masuria. She also had artistic inclinations, but could not pursue them in the remote village. That's why she had more understanding for the wishes and dreams of the baby, Heidi.

While fleeing from the Russians, the family left their East Prussian homeland and headed west. It should go back to Buer. The first stopover was the Friedland camp . For a few more plates of soup she offered an entertainment program there. The next reception camp was in Northeim near Göttingen . They did not stay in the camp itself; they were moved from one poor, cramped accommodation to the next. They couldn't get any further west. Father Pawellek found work in the local tax office , but there was not enough money. So they remembered the method that was successful in Friedland. At first, the father only performed with the oldest daughter Sigrid, a lovely soprano voice that quickly got around in Northeim. They started with a five- mark fee. Then son Udo joined the team as a piano accompanist, and with the routine the fees rose to 20, 40, 60 marks. The mother found this scary mainly because of the rough handling and rude tone in the inns and cellars. Later Sigrid and the second oldest, Astrid, went to the ballet lesson and enriched the program with dance and tap interludes , which improved the engagements and locations, especially in the large cities of Hanover and Göttingen. They also expressed their attachment to their lost homeland through folk dance performances at expellees' meetings.

In the summer of 1948, Sigrid was discovered for the film . As a newcomer, she played in Thirteen under one hat at the side of another newcomer, Ruth Leuwerik . While the Leuwerik rose to a great career, Sigrid Pawellek was stopped by the education authority after another film. Acting out the artistic urge remained largely a family matter.

At her own request, Heidi, around nine years old, was the last of the five siblings to join the family ensemble (only her mother didn't get involved). The nosy girl delighted the audience with singing, chatter, parodies and spontaneous actions. The heyday of the "Six Pawelleks", as they now called themselves, dawned, and they expanded their repertoire with acrobatic numbers . In large-checked trousers, with patterned flat caps plus ties for the men, they appeared in health resorts and bathing resorts, but fought for their existence throughout.

Heidi received ballet lessons from 1952. In 1954, at the age of ten, she composed her first song: Riding is funny . Singing lessons were added in 1958 and acting lessons in Göttingen in 1959 . In April 1959, the music publisher Erich Storz recognized Heidi's potential. He made himself her manager and referred her to the singer and quartet leader Karl Golgowsky at the Telefunken Society in Hamburg . As early as May 1959, the single Why does the sun shine so beautifully was available under the artist name “Heidi & Günter Fuhlisch and his soloists”. The music and lyrics came from Heidi himself. The B-side Penny-Rock had written none other than Wyn Hoop . She chose the groovy, somewhat rebellious "hiccups style" because she preferred them to the worn, sappy hits. In July 1959, the teenager appeared on the cover of the Teldec record magazine Klingende Post .

Heidi introduced herself to the television audience live in the broadcasters in Munich , Bremen and Zurich . She also sang in front of 14,000 visitors to the Federal Garden Show in the Westfalenpark in Dortmund . But the year was not over when there was a real dispute between Wilhelm Pawellek and Erich Storz about details of the contract. He was resolved in disagreement, father Pawellek took over the management. With Storz you had practically cut the wire to Telefunken. But the trend has just changed: away from “fast” and towards “soft”. For the Conny cut Heidi, this was the early hit-out. She had 20 more or less elaborated songs of the same style in the drawer, which is why she had registered with GEMA as a composer .

She turned her back on a singing career and purposefully turned to acting. In 1961 she was cast for the supporting role of the pupil Paula in the melodramatic film The Shadows Are Longer , a German-Swiss production by Artur Brauner . Hansjörg Felmy , Barbara Rütting and Luise Ullrich are the main characters. 1962 followed alongside Peter van Eyck and Lilli Palmer Do you think Constanze is behaving correctly? as well as in the episode film Guard your daughters, which only started on May 29, 1964 after the production company went bankrupt. She embodied the teenage Lydia on the wrong track in the vacation chapter .

In 1966 she married a US soldier in Munich , with whom she moved to the USA, where she occasionally appeared as a rodeo rider.

On September 4, 2006, she had a fatal car accident. She left a daughter and a son.

Discography

• 1959: Why is the sun shining so beautifully today / Penny-Rock

Filmography

• 1961: The shadows grow longer
• 1962: Do you think Constanze is behaving correctly?
• 1962/1964: Guard your daughters!

Web links

• Heidi Pawellek in the Internet Movie Database (English)