Martin Rickelt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martin Rickelt (born September 2, 1915 in Friedenau near Berlin ; † April 9, 2004 in Karlsruhe ) was a German actor who became known to a wide audience through his role as "Uncle Franz" in the television series Lindenstrasse .

Life

The early years

Martin Rickelt was born as the son of the actor Gustav Rickelt , an active union member and later president of the German Stage Members' Cooperative (GDBA), in the then still independent rural community of Friedenau near Berlin. At the age of five he was already working - at that time still under the name of Martin Baumann - in the silent film strip Schmied von Kochel (1920). After attending a “free school” with theater activities, Rickelt applied at the age of 16 to a newspaper advertisement looking for actors for the first film adaptation of Erich Kästner's book Emil and the Detectives . In the role of the bellboy, he met Erich Kästner and other celebrities in German cinema.

At the age of eight he was an eyewitness to the Hitler coup on November 8, 1923 in Munich . Ten years later, on May 10, 1933, he witnessed the book burning in Berlin . He recognized Erich Kästner, who was present incognito in the crowd, whom he still knew from the Emil film adaptation.

time of the nationalsocialism

Rickelt began his stage training and career in Berlin, where he made his debut on various stages in 1933. This was followed by stage engagements at the Grenztheater Görlitz, the Heidelberg Festival, the Berlin Theater der Jugend and at the Schiller Theater . In the acting ensemble of the great Heinrich George at the Heidelberg Festival, he went through a tough school, because he cleaned him down in front of the assembled ensemble because he was late. According to Rickelt in an interview, this shaped him for life. Previously a little "brother of light feet", from now on discipline has become the most important thing in life.

Since he was not one of the big stars of German theater and film of that era, he was soon drafted into the Wehrmacht as a normal soldier and was involved in the attack on Poland in 1939 right at the beginning of the Second World War . Later he built a front theater on the Eastern Front in Ukraine . In search of capable actors , he also had locals audition and immediately fell in love with his future wife Tamara Renko, a talented young singer whom he hired, secretly married and, during the war, using all the tricks and falsifying documents as a "work aid" by train sent to an English-born piano teacher in Berlin. After three years of imprisonment, the couple met again. Martin Rickelt then tried, according to his own words, to reconnect with his acting career after twelve years of non-professional activity.

post war period

After the end of the Second World War, he worked for two years in DEFA film productions such as Quartett zu five (1949), Family Benthin (1950) and The Last Heuer (1951), before he worked exclusively in Germany as a film and theater actor has been.

Rickelt played for many years at the Schiller Theater and, as a member of the Karlsruhe Ensemble, held a seat on the Broadcasting Council of the SDR .

As "Uncle Franz" Wittich family Beimer he played in the ARD - TV series Lindenstraße 1987 (episode 95: Air Date 27 September 1987) until his death in 2004 (episode 965: Air Date: May 30, 2004) a grumpy diehards who nevertheless has a certain rascal charm - indispensable for political and family entanglements. Rickelt had literally torn the role because he was able to portray precisely those guys in the best possible way due to his war experience.

“When I was offered the role of Uncle Franz, I was absolutely thrilled by this character, who is exactly the opposite of who I am personally. I was never a Nazi. "

- Martin Rickelt on the subject of "Young Nazis" from November 8, 1999

He played other roles in Tatort , Der Forellenhof and All my animals . The last years of his life were overshadowed by his wife 's Alzheimer's disease . He died of complications from an intestinal disease.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Quotes

"How he - as a staunch democrat - embodied the incorrigible right-wing 'uncle of opinion' was unique, as was his lovable and credible portrayal of Alzheimer's in recent years"

- Fritz Pleitgen : Obituary for the death of Martin Rickelt

“Martin Rickelt was not just an exceptionally talented and committed actor. With his shrewdness, paired with self-irony and silent pride, he was one of the few people I got to know for whom 'honor and loyalty' were more important than success. He was a kind person with an always alert and critical mind. He was an honest fighter against injustice and oppression, which he has proven time and again, for example with his years of union work and his constant commitment to the profession of actor. He set strong political accents. I learned a lot from him. Anyone who was also able to experience how much they were involved in their work for and with Lindenstrasse can gauge what great colleagues, mentors and, above all, good friends we have lost. "

- Hans W. Geissendörfer : Obituary for the death of Martin Rickelt

literature

  • Joachim Christian Huth (Ed.): The Lindenstrasse Universe. Data, facts, background. Cologne 1998, pages 177-180. ISBN 3-8025-2614-7 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rickelt, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Baumann, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor
DATE OF BIRTH September 2, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin-Friedenau
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 2004
Place of death Karlsruhe