Theo Lingen

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Theo Lingen, caricature by Hans Pfannmüller , 1976

Theo Lingen (born June 10, 1903 in Hanover as Franz Theodor Schmitz , † November 10, 1978 in Vienna ) was a German-Austrian actor , director and author .

Life

Genia Nikolajewa and Theo Lingen in the Berlin Scala (1936)

Theo Lingen was the son of a judiciary and was born in Hanover in the List district. He grew up in Hanover on Hagenstrasse near the city center and attended the former Königliche Goethegymnasium (predecessor of the Goethe School ), which he left without a degree. At the school theater there, one of his stage partners was Gretha von Jeinsen , who later became the first wife of the writer Ernst Jünger .

Lingen's talent for acting was discovered during rehearsals for a school performance in the Schauburg Boulevard Theater . For his stage name, he used the name of his father's birthplace, Lingen (Ems) . In 1922 he played at the Residenztheater Hannover , 1923 in Halberstadt , 1924 in Münster and Bad Oeynhausen , and 1926 in Recklinghausen . On the stage he acquired the reputation of a superb character comedian early on, whose virtuoso- puppet- like punch line work was admired.

In 1928 he married the singer Marianne Zoff , Bertolt Brecht's first wife . In 1929 in Frankfurt am Main he played Mr. Macheath in the second production of Brecht's The Threepenny Opera . He was then brought to Berlin to take on the role in the original production, which is still very successful. The film director Fritz Lang was also convinced of Lingen's qualities: In M (1931) and Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1933) impressed Lingen in serious roles.

Theo Lingen was best known to the general public as a film comedian. All in all, he worked in over 200 films from 1929 (first screen role in Ins Blaue) . From 1933 he only took on comic roles. Together with Hans Moser , he formed an unequal comedian couple in numerous films . He was also often an important supporting actor in films with Heinz Rühmann . His nasal voice was his trademark.

Since his wife was of Jewish origin and he was therefore regarded by the National Socialists as " Jewish ", which usually amounted to a professional ban, Lingen toyed with the idea of going into exile . But thanks to his popularity, he received a special permit and was able to continue performing. From 1939 to 1960 he lived with interruptions in Strobl on Wolfgangsee in the Salzburg area .

In 1944 he moved to Vienna , where he made contact with a small resistance cell through Paul Hörbiger . At the beginning of 1945 he retired to Strobl on Lake Wolfgang. There he was not elected First Mayor in June 1945, as is sometimes erroneously reported. In 1946 he acquired Austrian citizenship.

From 1948 he worked as a character actor at the Vienna Burgtheater . He was also seen as a guest on German theater stages. From 1951 he played at the Berlin Renaissance Theater . His embodiment of bourgeois characters in comedies by Carl Sternheim , directed by Rudolf Noelte, became legendary . He made his last theater appearance on December 30, 1971 at the Hamburg State Opera as Styx in Orpheus in the Underworld .

Lingen occasionally directed the film himself, for the first time in 1936 in the four-part Eulenspiegel short film series, and later, for example, in 1955 in the mistaken comedy Die Wirtin zur Goldenen Krone . Lingen, who is privately described as serious, withdrawn and well-read, wrote the comedy Johann , published in 1942 , which was filmed with him in a double role by R. A. Stemmle , and also the volume of short stories That can't be true .

Bust in Strobl on the local Theo-Lingen-Platz

In the late 1950s he played the role of Sir David Lindsay in the first two Karl May color films The Slave Caravan and The Lion of Babylon . He gradually changed his roles from shrewd subordinate to nervous superior. In the 1960s and 1970s he was often seen in comedy series like Klimbim , in movie clothes like Die Lümmel von der Erste Bank and in the remake of the Feuerzangenbowle . From October 1963 to January 1964 Theo Lingen was seen in the six-part television series Das alten Hotel , which was broadcast on Thursdays in the regional program of the NDR of the First German Television. There he played the main role of the teacher Stuhlbein, who inherited a hotel in Vienna that was not doing very well. Towards the end of his career, Lingen appeared again in non-comedic roles, such as Sergeant Cuff in the television adaptation of Wilkie Collins ' The Moon Diamond (1973).

In 1975 and 1976 he presented the two shows Schlagerfestival 1925 and 1926 with Hans Rosenthal . In both shows, Rosenthal and Lingen presented hits that were relevant exactly 50 years earlier, as well as jokes from those years. Lingen also reported on interesting events from that time. From September 1975 until shortly before his death he hosted the series Lachen Sie mit Stan and Ollie on ZDF , in which he announced original films by the comedian duo Dick and Doof and described the lives of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy . Most of the introductions are also included on the DVDs with the two comedians.

Death and afterlife

Honorary grave of Theo Lingen in the Vienna Central Cemetery

Lingen collapsed in October 1978 as a result of cancer and died on November 10, 1978 in a hospital in Vienna. The city dedicated a grave of honor to Theo Lingen, who was elected from Vienna, in Vienna's central cemetery (group 32 C, number 46). For unknown reasons, his grave slab contained the year of death 1979; the date was corrected in spring 2012.

Lingen's written estate is in the archive of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. In 2006, the Strobl community dedicated a sculpture designed by the artist Eva Mazzucco to the actor , which was set up on the specially named Theo-Lingen-Platz . In 2007, in Lingen , where his parents lived, a newly created square in front of a new underpass was named after him. His daughter Ursula Lingen (1928-2014) was also an actress.

Works

  • Johann . Comedy in 3 acts. Ahn & Simrock, Berlin 1942. - Printed as a manuscript
  • I about myself. Interview of an actor with himself. Velber (Friedrich-Verlag) 1963, 76 pages
  • Theophanes . Radio play (comedy); Director: Walter Jokisch . Radio Bremen , 1949.
  • One minute to seven . Detective radio play; Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm . Bayerischer Rundfunk , Munich 1972 - Broadcast several times.
  • Fine against fine . Radio play in letters; Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm. Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich 1974.
  • Kidnapping . Detective radio play; Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm. Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich 1974 - broadcast several times.

Filmography (selection)

Radio plays

  • 1949: Theo - Director: Kurt Wilhelm
  • 1950: A Midsummer Night's Dream (based on William Shakespeare ) - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm
  • 1953: Romance in Doll - Director: Hanns Korngiebel
  • 1953: The Apollo von Bellac - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm
  • 1953: One, two, three - Director: Peter Hamel
  • 1954: Rendez-vous with success - Director: Peter Hamel
  • 1954: Minna von Barnhelm (based on Gotthold Ephraim Lessing ) - Director: Willi Schmidt
  • 1959: Be Insured (You Can Be Insured) - Director: Peter Hamel
  • 1962: Lily Dafon - A Parisian Comedy - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm
  • 1963: Memoirs of a Butler - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm
  • 1964: Brave Thieves - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm
  • 1965: Duel for Aimée - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm
  • 1972: One minute to seven (also author) - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm
  • 1974: Fein gegen Fein (also author) - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm
  • 1974: Kidnapping (also author) - Director: Heinz Günter Stamm

literature

Web links

Commons : Theo Lingen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jörg Magenau: Brothers under the stars. Friedrich Georg and Ernst Jünger. A biography. Stuttgart 2012, p. 94.
  2. ↑ Theo Lingen in Salzburgwiki, accessed on August 4, 2013
  3. ↑ How Austrian audience favorites came to terms with the Nazi regime In: profil from February 23, 2010.
  4. ↑ The old hotel. In: wunschliste.de . Retrieved April 18, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Theo Lingen's grave. In: knerger.de. Klaus Nerger, accessed on September 8, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Theo-Lingen-Archiv inventory overview on the website of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.
personal data
SURNAME Lingen, Theo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmitz, Franz Theodor (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian actor, director and author
DATE OF BIRTH June 10, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover
DATE OF DEATH November 10, 1978
Place of death Vienna