Michael Kroecher

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Michael Kroecher (* 1912 in Saarburg ; † February 10, 2004 in Munich ) was a German dancer and actor .

Life

The uncle of the later RAF - terrorists Andreas Baader trained as an expression dancer at the Macarova School in Cologne . After smaller engagements in Wuppertal and Cottbus , he came to the Theater am Nollendorfplatz in Berlin as a solo dancer . After he was briefly drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1940, he went to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich as a soloist in 1941 , where he was engaged with interruptions until 1946 and appeared in both classical and modern pieces. He danced, among other things, the 'Franzl' in Franz Schubert's Seasons of Love , the 'Fool' in Werner Egk's Joan von Zarissa and the title role in Prometheus by Ludwig van Beethoven .

After his attempts to establish himself as a freelance dancer after the end of the war failed, he returned to the State Opera as a temporary dancer in the early 1950s, where he last appeared in 1966. At the end of the 1960s he appeared as an actor in productions of the modern theater under the direction of Ute Emmer and made contact with the alternative art and theater scene in Munich. In 1974 Kroecher, who had already acted as a dancer in a number of films in the 1940s and 1950s, was hired by Werner Herzog for the role of the idiosyncratic 'Lord Stanhope' in the Kasper Hauser film Everyone for himself and God against all . This film made Kroecher known to a larger audience and led to further engagements in German and international film productions. Usually Kroecher played small (and smallest) roles as an eccentric nobleman or clergyman. His best-known appearances include the eerie figure of 'The Violette' in Manfred Purzer's film The Elixirs of the Devil (1976) based on ETA Hoffmann and the mysterious priest 'Don Gaspare' in Dino Risi's The Two Faces of a Woman (1981) at the side of Marcello Mastroianni and Romy Schneider . In 2000, when he was almost 90, Kroecher appeared as 'Black Death' in an episode of Ghostbusters John Sinclair .

Shortly after his death, Dominique Müller made a documentary about Kroecher and his admirer Daniel:

“Daniel is the last fan of the forgotten actor Michael Kroecher. As a young boy, he discovered his star on television. Kroecher never played a leading role, but something was different about this actor with the mysterious face. After years of writing, Daniel is suddenly invited by his star. He is delighted to find that his Michael is exactly the same in real life as he is in his film roles. From then on, he films and photographs him for four years until his deathbed. The symbiosis between a fan and his star. "

Filmography

literature

  • Klaus Stern, Jörg Herrmann: Andreas Baader. Das Leben eines Staatsfeindes , Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 3-423-24584-0 , pp. 35–42

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ http://www.dominiquemueller.ch/
  2. ↑ http://www.filmbuero-bremen.de/691.0.html
personal data
SURNAME Kroecher, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kröcker, Michael; Serpail
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German dancer and actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Saarburg
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 2004
Place of death Munich