Rolf Henniger (actor)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rolf Henniger (fourth from left), 1964

Rolf Henniger (born August 30, 1925 in Erfurt ; † August 15, 2015 in Berlin ) was a German actor , director and professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts .

Working at the theater

His career began as a classical theater actor. He made his debut in Nordhausen in 1945 . This was followed by engagements in Erfurt (1946/47 season), at the Städtische Bühnen Köln (1947 to 1949), in Bochum (under Hans Schalla 1949/50), Zurich, Stuttgart and Munich .

In Zurich he was cast by directors Oskar Wältin , Kurt Hirschfeld , Leopold Lindtberg and Leonhard Steckel in leading roles from Hamlet to Goethe's Torquato Tasso . He gave the priest in the world premiere of Max Frisch's Andorra .

Rolf Henniger made guest appearances at the Ruhr Festival in Recklinghausen and at the Komödie am Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. From 1957 he belonged to the ensemble of the Berlin Schiller- und Schloßpark Theater . In Fritz Kortner's stagings of the robbers he played Karl Moor , later Franz Moor . In 1963 he played the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III. In 1964 Rolf Henniger was awarded the Berlin Art Prize.

Work in film and television

He became known to the wider public primarily through his roles in numerous television films, including crime series such as Der Alte , Der Kommissar and Sonderdezernat K1 . In 1968 Henniger played the brother Benn in The Death of the Salesman alongside Heinz Rühmann on ZDF . In the lavish two-part film adaptation of the Nibelung by Harald Reinl from 1966/1967, he played King Gunther . Both films turned out to be great audiences. Henniger called it "never succeeded". He also directed three television films, such as the comedy Eine Dummheit macht den Gescheiteste (1963) with Therese Giehse .

Teaching at the Folkwang University

Folkwang Theater Center in Bochum, classrooms for the drama course

From 1977 to 1986 Rolf Henniger headed the acting department at the Folkwang University in Essen . He staged challenging plays with the youngsters such as Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew or Peter Brook's The Empty Room . His former pupil Heinrich Schafmeister explained this extensive change of Henniger as professor to the drama school in his obituary: “Rolf Henniger mistrusted the theater of the 70s and 80s dominated by the subversive authorities. ... His unforgettable role was as head of the acting department ... to have given us courage on the tortuous path of the eternal search. "

Henniger was married to the actress Eleonore Hessenland († 1961) and his second marriage to the actress Eva Katharina Schultz († 2007).

Filmography (selection)

Awards

literature

Audio

Rolf Henniger speaks:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Actor and director: Rolf Henninger is dead . Spiegel Online , August 17, 2015. </> Actor Rolf Henniger has died . dpa article in the Rheinische Post , August 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ Who's Who 1987
personal data
SURNAME Henniger, Rolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor, director and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Erfurt , German Empire
DATE OF DEATH 15th August 2015
Place of death Berlin , Germany