Jürgen Graf (journalist)

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Jürgen Graf (born December 29, 1927 in Berlin ; † October 20, 2007 there ) was a German radio journalist , one of the "first reporters" of the RIAS , and film actor in the 1950s. He later also acted as a television presenter for various ARD channels.

Life

Burial place Jürgen Graf

Graf was the son of a manufacturer. He grew up in Berlin-Dahlem , first attended the Heinrich-von-Kleist-Gymnasium in Berlin and from 1937 to 1939 various private boarding schools in Switzerland ( Davos and Arosa ).

During the Second World War, he lived in Schondorf am Ammersee from 1940 to 1943 , where he was among other things deployed as an air force helper and finished school with the so-called maturity mark (so-called war high school diploma ).

After the end of the war, Graf was initially a reporter for the Soviet Berlin Radio from May to July 1945 . From August 11, 1945 he was involved in the "US Information Control Division" in setting up the radio station in Berlin, initially called DIAS and later RIAS. He stayed with RIAS for 37 years in a row; In 1964 he was promoted to Head of Politics and Current Affairs. He was nicknamed “Mr. RIAS ”.

From 1949 to 1951 Graf studied German and journalism for four semesters at the Free University of Berlin .

He was best known for his several hours of live reports on the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the visit of US President John F. Kennedy to Berlin in 1963; the latter was the first live broadcast from a moving car.

Since 1952 he has also worked as a permanent freelancer on around 600 of his own television programs on ARD ( NDR Hamburg, Südwestfunk Baden-Baden, Sender Freies Berlin ). His longstanding moderation of the youth quiz format Die six Siebeng'scheiten on ARD deserves special mention ; from 1958 to 1979 he hosted 260 episodes, a record in Europe at the time.

From 1954 to 1959 Graf also appeared in front of cinema cameras six times and took on small to medium-sized supporting roles in entertainment productions such as Auf der Reeperbahn at half past twelve , The early tires , oops, now comes Eddie and Freddy, the guitar and the sea . There he was seen at the side of stars like Hans Albers , Heinz Rühmann , Eddie Constantine and Freddy Quinn . In 1962 he appeared in the Helmut Käutner television revue Annoncentheater - An Evening Program of German Television in 1776 as a speaker, three years later he directed the 13-minute short documentary Do you know this city? For the Press and Information Office of the State of Berlin . .

On May 1, 1982, he retired early for health reasons. Graf had the mid-1960s during a reportage stay in Vietnam a viral hepatitis contracted, so worsened over the years that in 1998 a liver transplant was performed. At the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century he was also operated on several times on the coronary arteries .

Graf was a member of the SFB Broadcasting Council. Since his retirement he was a member and later chairman of the “RIAS Berlin Commission” foundation. He was also chairman of the international jury for the award of the " RIAS Media Prize ".

In addition, Graf was involved in organizations of German-American friendship for decades. He was deputy chairman of the board of trustees of the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation , member of the boards of trustees of the American Academy in Berlin and the Atlantikbrücke eV, the “Initiative Berlin-USA”, and the city ​​partnership between Berlin and Los Angeles . He was also active in the "Society of Friends of the Bundeswehr" and on the board of the Friends' Association of the city of Rheinsberg.

Graf was married twice, but both marriages were divorced. He leaves behind two grown children, Christian and Daniela. Jürgen Graf found his final resting place in the Dahlem forest cemetery in Berlin . (Field 001-541)

cinemamovies

as an actor (complete)

Honors (selection)

Individual proof

  1. ↑ Another Jürgen Graf, who played several roles in the GDR film of the 1970s and 1980s, is not identical to the West German journalist Jürgen Graf

literature

  • Johann Caspar Glenzdorf: Glenzdorf's international film lexicon. Biographical manual for the entire film industry. Volume 1: A-Heck. Prominent-Filmverlag, Bad Münder 1960, DNB 451560736 , p. 529.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Graf, Jürgen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German radio and television journalist
DATE OF BIRTH December 29, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 20, 2007
Place of death Berlin