Siegfried Höchst

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Siegfried Höchst (born July 26, 1939 in Neu Trakehnen , East Prussia (today Furmanowka, Kaliningrad Oblast , Russia ), † probably December 13, 1991 in Berlin , exact date of death unknown) was a German actor and director .

Life

Childhood and studies

Höchst was born the youngest of three children into a farm worker family. The father died on the Eastern Front in World War II . The family fled East Prussia in the winter of 1944 and came to Tannenbergsthal in the Vogtland .

With the establishment of the GDR , Höchst became involved in the SED and joined the National People's Army for three years . He began studying acting at the State Drama School in Berlin and was asked by the State Security about a collaboration that he probably entered into because of fear for his professional career, because shortly afterwards he tried to distance himself from the Stasi. His file was eventually closed without Höchst ever being informed.

job

Immediately after completing his studies, Wolfgang Langhoff engaged him as an actor at the Deutsches Theater Berlin in 1962 , where he only stayed two years. Parallel to his theater work, he started a film and television career that made him known to a larger audience. Above all, the role of Johannes Hörder in Becher's film adaptation of the winter battle made him popular as a television actor. Höchst went on to the Hans Otto Theater Potsdam , where he advanced to become a protagonist and gained his first experience as a director. In 1969 he returned to the Deutsches Theater, in 1971 staged together with Horst Sübers Dona Rosita remains single by Federico García Lorca and thus experienced his final breakthrough. In addition to his theater work, Höchst received several teaching positions at various drama schools.

This was followed by engagements in Rostock and Schwerin , but already by Hoechst's alcoholism were overshadowed. Successes and crashes alternated. Gerhard Meyer , director of the Städtische Theater Karl-Marx-Stadt , intervened and sent Höchst on a rehab and then signed him to his house in 1980 as a director and actor, where Höchst achieved great successes in both fields. He then staged again in Berlin, where he presented highly acclaimed directorial work at the Volksbühne and the Maxim-Gorki-Theater , but the alcohol problem again got out of hand. His theatrical productions Optimistic Tragedy (1987) and Schluck und Jau (1989) were adopted by GDR television and later filmed. After the collapse of the GDR, Höchst withdrew completely from the theater world. He was found dead in his apartment on December 13, 1991, the exact time of death remains unclear.

Private

Höchst has a daughter and three sons, including the actor Alexander Höchst (* 1962).

Awards

Höchst received first prize at the Venice Theater Festival in 1971 for his production of Lorca's Dona Rosita remains single . He was also the winner of the Goethe Prize of the City of Berlin First Class, the Critics' Prize of the Berliner Zeitung in 1987 and the GDR Art Prize in 1988.

Filmography

theatre

Director

actor

Radio plays

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Frank-Burkhard Habel , Volker Wachter : The large lexicon of the GDR stars. The actors from film and television. Extended new edition. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89602-391-8 .
personal data
SURNAME Highest, Siegfried
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actor and director
DATE OF BIRTH July 28, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Alt Kattenau , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: December 13, 1991
Place of death Berlin