Wilhelm Semmelroth

Wilhelm Semmelroth (born May 4, 1914 in Bitburg ; † July 1, 1992 near Munich ) was a German director .

Life

Wilhelm Semmelroth grew up in Bonn and studied in Cologne and Berlin. 1945/1946 he worked for the German department of the BBC London, then he came to the NWDR Cologne as a director . In 1949 he became head of the radio play department there . In 1960 he became head of the television game department at WDR .

In this role, he was responsible for the five-part Rex Stout TV crime thriller “Too many cooks” (1960, with Heinz Klevenow and Joachim Fuchsberger ) and the Francis Durbridge classics “ Tim Frazer ” (1963), “ Tim Frazer and the Salinger case ”(1964), each with Max Eckard and Konrad Georg , and“ The Keys ”(1964, with Harald Leipnitz and Albert Lieven ). In the Durbridge ripper " The Knife " (1971, with Hardy Krüger ) he played a key figure: the kidnapped scientist Dr. Hamilton. The cast took place as an insider gag by the director Rolf von Sydow , because Semmelroth was responsible for the Durbridge classics himself in the 1960s.

In the same year he began filming classics of the crime novel year after year as a director together with his author Herbert Asmodi . It started with three films based on Wilkie Collins , followed by two crime classics based on Émile Gaboriau . All the multi-part series became so-called street sweepers and featured top-class cast: Heidelinde Weis , Christoph Bantzer , Pinkas Braun , Eric Pohlmann , Theo Lingen , Siegfried Lowitz , Paul Dahlke , Dieter Borsche , Hans Caninenberg , Walter Jokisch , Susanne Uhlen , René Deltgen , Ellen Schwiers , Helmut Käutner : these are just a few of the many stars who were involved at the time.

Similar to Alfred Hitchcock , Semmelroth had a small guest appearance in almost all films. He worked with the composer Hans Jönsson (" Paul Temple radio plays ") on all of the classic crime films . His partner Jutta Kammann also starred in most of the films.

Works

Director

• William Shakespeare : King Lear. Tragedy in five acts with Fritz Kortner . Prod .: WDR, 1958. ISBN 3-934012-01-9
• Thomas Wolfe : mansion with Gustaf Gründgens . Prod .: NWDR, 1954
• Erik Reger : Schiffer im Strom with Harald Dornseiff . Prod .: WDR, 1961
• Fyodor Dostoyevsky : Bright nights with Wolfgang Forester . Prod .: WDR, 1964
• Friedrich Hebbel : The Nibelungs with Gerd Keil , Hans Caninenberg , Antje Weisgerber , Prod .: WDR 1967, 2 parts
• Marc Brandel : Always only murder stories with Krista Keller , Sieghardt Rupp , Prod .: WDR, 1968
• José Maria Eça de Queiroz : The cousin Basilio with Diana Körner . Prod .: WDR, 1969
• Jürgen Gütt: Death after midnight with Herbert Tiede , Horst Niendorf . Prod .: WDR, 1970
• Wilkie Collins : The Woman in White with Heidelinde Weis . Prod .: WDR, 1971, 3 parts
• Wilkie Collins: The red scarf with Ellen Schwiers . Prod .: WDR, 1972, 3 parts
• Wilkie Collins: The moon diamond with Theo Lingen . Prod .: WDR, 1973, 2 parts
• Émile Gaboriau : The rope around the neck with Dieter Borsche . Prod .: WDR, 1974, 3 parts
• Émile Gaboriau: The Lerouge affair with René Deltgen . Prod .: WDR, 1976, 2 parts
• Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu : Uncle Silas with Hannes Messemer . Prod .: WDR, 1977, 2 parts
• Mary Elizabeth Braddon : Lady Audley's secret with Susanne Uhlen . Prod .: WDR, 1978, 2 parts
• Wilkie Collins: Lucilla with Ellen Schwiers , Gertraud Jesserer and Gerd Böckmann . Prod .: WDR, 1979, 2 parts
• Lawrence Edward Watkin : Death in the Apple Tree with Carl Wery , Richard Münch , Wolfgang Büttner , Manfred Kunst

producer

• Gerdt von Bassewitz : Peter's journey to the moon with Cora Freifrau von dem Bottlenberg . Prod .: NWDR, 1959, director: Gerhard F. Hering
• Rex Stout : Too many cooks with Joachim Fuchsberger . Prod .: NWDR, 1960, 5 parts, director: Kurt Wilhelm
• Francis Durbridge : The scarf with Heinz Drache and Albert Lieven . Prod .: WDR, 1962, 6 parts, director: Hans Quest
• Francis Durbridge: Tim Frazer with Max Eckard and Konrad Georg . Prod .: WDR, 1963, 6 parts, director: Hans Quest
• Francis Durbridge: Tim Frazer - The Salinger case with Max Eckard and Konrad Georg . Prod .: WDR, 1964, 6 parts, director: Hans Quest
• Francis Durbridge: The Keys with Harald Leipnitz and Albert Lieven . Prod .: WDR, 1965, 3 parts, director: Paul May
• Wolfgang Quantity : Interrogation in the afternoon with Anaid Iplicjan , Hans Nielsen . Prod .: WDR, 1965, 1 part, director: Walter Davy

Editorial responsibility:

• Hans Scholz : On the green beach of the Spree , with Bum Krüger , Werner Lieven , Malte Jaeger and Günter Pfitzmann . Prod .: NWDR, 1960, 5 parts, director: Fritz Umgelter

actor

• Francis Durbridge: The Knife with Hardy Kruger . Prod .: WDR, 1971, 3 parts, director: Rolf von Sydow

Web links

• Literature by and about Wilhelm Semmelroth in the catalog of the German National Library
• Wilhelm Semmelroth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Wilhelm Semmelroth at filmportal.de
• Died - Wilhelm Semmelroth . In: Der Spiegel . No. 28 , 1992 ( online - brief portrait).