Herwart Grosse

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Herwart Willy Grosse (born April 17, 1908 in Berlin ; † October 27, 1982 there ) was a German actor , speaker and theater director .

life and work

Early years

Herwart Willy Grosse was born in Berlin in 1908 as the son of an office worker. At the request of his parents, he completed a commercial apprenticeship in a machine shop, later became involved in a youth movement and joined the hiking section of the “Fichte” workers ' sports club, in whose agitprop group he appeared as a member of the choir at various meetings. This group later joined the communist Junge Volksbühne. After his apprenticeship, Grosse worked briefly as a sales representative, button dyer and casual worker until he finally became unemployed. In 1932 he joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and worked in the communist book club Universum. In addition, he discovered his passion for acting and worked as an amateur actor. He appeared in Hans Rodenberg's Red Revue , as well as in Kurt Bork's 1933 satirical comedy It's not about the sausage, which was staged with him in the lead role at the Junge Volksbühne until the venue was banned.

When Paul Bildt , he knew his daughter from the last staging of the Young People's stage, he then took acting lessons, which he signed in September 1933 with an examination. He could not find a permanent engagement at the time, initially played at the Prussian State Theater through the mediation of his teacher and from 1934 to 1938 at the Theater der Jugend, when he came to the Schiller Theater in 1938 , where he played mostly small roles for several years under the direction of Heinrich George played. He also had his first small film roles, for example in Herbert Maisch's Andreas Schlüter (1942) and Werner Klingler's Die Degenhardts (1944).

In 1944 the Schillertheater was closed and Grosse, who from then on was no longer exempt from military service, was drafted into the Wehrmacht as a tank grenadier . As a soldier, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets.

In the 1950s he resigned from the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) .

Theater work

After the end of World War II and his release from Soviet captivity, Grosse returned to Berlin where he played in The Threepenny Opera at the Hebbeltheater . Paul Bildt finally brought him to the Deutsches Theater in 1946 , where he made his debut in the small role of court hairdresser Pomaret in the world premiere of Friedrich Wolf's Beaumarchais on March 9, 1946, and he was a member of the ensemble until his death.

On August 7, 1946, he played the worm in the premiere of Kabale und Liebe directed by Gustav von Wangenheim , who earned him favorable reviews, so that theater, film, radio and television became aware of him and initially focused on the subject of Villains and schemers committed. Grosse played in many classic plays at the Deutsches Theater, such as the dervish in Lessing's Nathan the Wise , the leading role in Maxim Gorki's Somow and others or George Bernhard Shaw in Jerome Kilty's lover Liar .

In 1951 Grosse staged a stage play for the first time, Maria Stuart , as a director, followed by works such as Bunbury after Oscar Wilde or the satire Shakespeare urgently wanted by Heinar Kipphardt . In 1971, a good 20 years later, Der Parasit was his last production as a theater director. As an actor he embodied more mature characters as he got older, like the fool in King Lear after Shakespeare . Herwart Grosse was a member of the Artistic Council of the German Theater in Berlin for several years.

Film work

From 1947 Grosse was cast in numerous DEFA films, mostly in small roles, often as “villain No. 1”. Nevertheless, the actor, who preferred to work in the theater, also managed to set accents in the film, for example in the role of IG Farben director of ceiling in Maetzig's DEFA film The Council of Gods . Big DEFA films followed, such as his role as senior physician Dr. Carlsen in Professor Mamlock or Gestapo chief Müller in The Gleiwitz case . He also starred in the satirical short films of the Stacheltier series, some of which he directed in 1960, and was seen in the children 's film Turli's Adventures in 1967 . He had his last television role in 1982 in the television series Martin Luther , where he played Vicar General Johann von Staupitz.

Herwart Grosse was married and had two children. His son Michael Grosse is a director and theater manager.

Filmography (selection)

1976 The old model

theatre

Director
  • 1951: Friedrich Schiller : Maria Stuart ( Deutsches Theater Berlin - Kammerspiele)
  • 1951: Adam Tarn : an ordinary case (Deutsches Theater Berlin - Kammerspiele)
  • 1953: Roger Vailland : Colonel Foster is guilty - Direction with Wolfgang Langhoff (Deutsches Theater Berlin - Kammerspiele)
  • 1953: Heinar Kipphardt : Shakespeare urgently wanted - Direction with Wolfgang Langhoff (Deutsches Theater Berlin - Kammerspiele)
  • 1953: Alexander Kron : The Dead Valley (Deutsches Theater Berlin)
  • 1956: Oscar Wilde : Bunbury (Deutsches Theater Berlin - Kammerspiele)
  • 1959: Unknown author: The trickster and other strange incidents (Deutsches Theater Berlin - Kammerspiele)
  • 1971: Friedrich Schiller: The Parasite (Minister Narbonne) (Deutsches Theater Berlin - Small Comedy)
actor

Radio plays

Director
speaker

Awards

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Ursula Frölich in Cinema and TV Almanac 4 , page 75
  2. ↑ cf. http://www.defa-sternstunden.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=297&Itemid=4
  3. ↑ cf. Review of Cabal and Love in Freie Tribüne from August 11, 1946
  4. ↑ a b cf. Ursula Frölich in Cinema and TV Almanac 4, page 76
personal data
SURNAME Grosse, Herwart
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grosse, Herwart Willy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor, speaker and director
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 1982
Place of death Berlin