Willy Maertens
Wilhelm Hermann August Maertens (born October 30, 1893 in Braunschweig , † November 28, 1967 in Hamburg ) was a German actor , theater director , theater director and acting teacher.
Life
Willy Maertens, who was born in Braunschweig, turned to acting at an early age. Before the First World War he began his career in Berlin , where he received his acting training. Then he came to Nuremberg ("Intimate Theater"). This was followed by an engagement at the Salzgitter summer theater . The other stations before his conscription to the military and thus to the war effort were Sondershausen , Rudolstadt and Arnstadt in Thuringia . After the end of the war, the other stations were Wismar , Bromberg , Elbing , Salzbrunn from 1918, Hanover , Saarbrücken and Braunschweig .
In 1927 he went to Hamburg to the Thalia Theater there . There he worked exclusively as an actor for 12 years, from 1939 also often as a director. When the theater was destroyed by bombing in 1945, he took over the management of the house from Robert Meyn . A year later, the venue was provisionally reopened with What you want by William Shakespeare . On December 3, 1960, the fully restored building opened with the play St. Joan by George Bernard Shaw . In addition, the versatile artist also worked as an acting teacher. His students included, for example, Manfred Steffen and the Ohnsorg actors Karl-Heinz Kreienbaum and Heinz Lanker . In 1964 Maertens handed over the management of the house to Kurt Raeck .
The most famous leading roles he played on stage included:
- Emanuel Striese In The Rape of the Sabine Women by Franz and Paul von Schönthan ,
- Gabriel Fabre in My Son, the Minister by André Birabeau
- Beringer in I - first person singular by Lewis Grant Wallace and
- Mr. Orgon in The Tartuffe of Molière .
After the Second World War, his career began in film and later also in television. Before that, he only played a supporting role in the film Attack on Baku in 1940/1941 . He embodied leading roles in Arche Nora (1948), Just One Night (1950), Under the Thousand Laterns (The Voice of the Other) (1952), Biedermann and the Brandstifter (1958) or The Robbery of the Sabine Women (1959). He was also seen in many larger and smaller supporting roles in popular films, such as the episode film In those days (1947), No fear of large animals (1953), The captain of Köpenick (1956) or Night fell over Gotenhafen (1959).
In what was probably the first radio play produced after the war, Maertens played the title role of Captain von Köpenick . The first broadcast took place on September 3, 1945 on what was then Radio Hamburg. In this medium he played leading roles more often than in film and television. He is also said to have worked as a voice actor in the 1940s and 1950s.
The Senate awarded him the Medal for Art and Science of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in 1967 .
Willy Maertens was married to his colleague Charlotte Kramm (1900–1971). Like her husband, she was a member of the Thalia Theater from 1932 until her death. However, because of her Jewish descent, she was banned from performing during the Nazi era . She survived the Holocaust because the President of the Reich Theater Chamber, who was friends with the couple, marked Mrs. Kramm's “Aryan” descent with the note “Already done”. The son Peter Maertens (1931-2020) was like his parents an actor and was also engaged at the Thalia Theater. The grandchildren Michael , Kai and Miriam Maertens also work as actors.
Willy Maertens died on November 28, 1967 in Hamburg and, like his wife four years later, was buried in the Ohlsdorf cemetery. The tomb has since been closed, but the tombstone has been put back in the women's garden .
Filmography
- 1942: Attack on Baku - Director: Fritz Kirchhoff
- 1947: In those days - Director: Helmut Käutner
- 1948: Arche Nora - Director: Werner Klingler
- 1948: The apple is off - Director: Helmut Käutner
- 1950: Sender unknown - Director: Ákos Ráthonyi
- 1950: Just one night - Director: Fritz Kirchhoff
- 1950: The Shadow of the Lord Monitor - Director: Eugen York
- 1951: You have to be beautiful - Director: Ákos Ráthonyi
- 1951: Angel in Evening Dress - Director: Ákos Ráthonyi
- 1952: The Voice of the Other - Director: Erich Engel
- 1952: Toxi - Director: Robert A. Stemmle
- 1952: Oh, you dear Fridolin - Director: Peter Hamel
- 1952: I'm waiting for you - Director: Volker von Collande
- 1953: The dog in the brain - Director: Carl-Heinz Schroth (TV movie)
- 1953: Don't be afraid of big animals - Director: Ulrich Erfurth
- 1954: Private confession - Director: André Michel
- 1954: It was always so nice for you - Director: Hans Wolff
- 1954: On the sixth floor - Director: John Olden (TV movie)
- 1954: Konsul Strotthoff - Director: Erich Engel
- 1954: Drei vom Varieté - Director: Kurt Neumann
- 1955: Music, music and just music - Director: Ernst Matray
- 1955: How do I become a movie star? - Director: Georg Dammann
- 1956: If we were all angels - Director: Günther Lüders
- 1956: The marriage of Dr. med. Danwitz - Director: Arthur Maria Rabenalt
- 1956: Girls with bad memories - directed by Géza von Cziffra
- 1956: The Captain of Köpenick - Director: Helmut Käutner
- 1956: Dr. Vlimmen / Veterinarian Dr. Vlimmen - Director: Arthur Maria Rabenalt
- 1957: Night in the Green Kakadu - Director: Georg Jacoby
- 1958: Biedermann and the arsonists - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn (TV movie)
- 1958: The man who couldn't say no - Director: Kurt Früh
- 1958: That doesn't knock a seaman away - Director: Arthur Maria Rabenalt
- 1959: Night fell over Gotenhafen - Director: Frank Wisbar
- 1959: Woman in her prime - directed by Axel von Ambesser
- 1959: The Rape of the Sabine Women - Director: Hermann Pfeiffer (TV movie)
- 1959: The drivers , of course - Director: Erich Engels
- 1959: The Beautiful Liar - Director: Axel von Ambesser
- 1960: After all this time - Director: Hans Lietzau (TV movie)
- 1961: Unseliger Sommer Director: Gustav Burmester (TV movie)
- 1961: The Miracle of Malachia - Director: Bernhard Wicki
- 1961: The Liar - Director: Ladislao Vajda
- 1962: Annoncentheater - An evening program on German television in 1776 - Director: Helmut Käutner (TV film)
- 1963: Harbor Police , episode: The Dud - Director: John Olden (TV series)
- 1964: Koll - Director: Claus Peter Witt (TV movie)
- 1965: An Enemy of the People - Director: Oswald Döpke (TV movie)
- 1965: Jennifer ...? (TV movie)
- 1965: Uncle Phil's estate - Director: Frank Wisbar (TV movie)
- 1966: Standgericht - Director: Rolf Busch (TV movie)
- 1967: Frank V. - Victim of a private bank - Written and directed by Friedrich Dürrenmatt (TV movie)
- 1968: Room 13 , episode: The gentlemen know each other - Director: Wolfgang Glück (TV series)
Radio plays
- 1945: The Captain von Köpenick (Wilhelm Voigt) - author: Carl Zuckmayer , director: Helmut Käutner , with Eduard Marks , Fita Benkhoff , Inge Meysel , Gustav Knuth
- 1950: The miraculous beggars (Aljoschka) - directed by Gustav Burmester , with Eduard Marks , Arnim Waldeck-Süssenguth , Joseph Offenbach
- 1952: From the life of a doctor. The surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch tells ( Ferdinand Sauerbruch ) - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Eduard Marks , Mirjam Ziegel-Horwitz , Hans Paetsch
- 1952: My niece Susanne (Dr. Gratin, dentist) - director and speaker: Carl-Heinz Schroth , with Christl Mardayn , Erwin Linder , Eduard Marks
- 1953: Die Hutdynastie (examining magistrate) - Director: Detlof Krüger , with Heinz Klevenow , Gisela Trowe , Wolfgang Arps
- 1954: Schnapsidee (humorist) - Director: Gert Westphal , with Gerlach Fiedler , Helmut Peine , Max Walter Sieg , Erwin Linder
- 1955: The Passenger from November 1st (Rinquet) - author: Georges Simenon , director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Hanns Lothar , Walter Richter , Max Walter Sieg , Erwin Linder
- 1955: The Lady in the Green Veil (landlord) - Director: Gerlach Fiedler , with Carl Voscherau , Ernst von Klipstein , Walter Grüters
- 1956: File 414 - Wilhelm Voigt (Wilhelm Voigt) - Director: Kurt Reiss , with Hilde Krahl , Heinz Ladiges , Werner Rundshagen , Heinz Klevenow
- 1956: On the banks of the Plotinitza (agent of the Sultan of Blavazien) - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Joachim Teege , Hannelore Schroth , Joseph Offenbach , Josef Dahmen
- 1957: The Man Who Couldn't Sleep (Hickley) - Director: Hans Rosenhauer , with Hartwig Sievers , Hanns Lothar , Josef Dahmen
- 1957: The fruits of the cactus (Jacobi) - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Jürgen Goslar , Otto Kurth , Gisela von Collande
- 1957: Evening hour in late autumn (Fürchtegott Hofer) - author: Friedrich Dürrenmatt , director: Gustav Burmester, with Ernst Schröder , Wolff Lindner , Kurt Fischer-Fehling
- 1958: People in the Hotel (Otto Kringelein) - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm , with Paul Dahlke , Brigitte Horney , Erik Schumann
- 1958: Das Lied der Drehorgel (Inspector Thomson) - Director: Heinz-Günter Stamm , with Heinz Schimmelpfennig , Karl John , Ernst Walter Mitulski , Fritz Rasp
- 1958: Die Saline (President) - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Erich Schellow , Ella Büchi , Marlene Riphahn , Siegfried Lowitz
- 1960: The Reigen Trial (theater director Maximilian Sladek) - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Horst Uhse , Anja Buczkowski , Friedrich von Bülow , Wolfgang Büttner
- 1961: Dark inheritance, deep bayou (Mike Solomon, senior) - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Hans Lietzau , Gerda Schöneich , Inge Meysel , Julia Costa
- 1961: Dichter Nebel (Fürst Ugarow) - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Heinz Klevenow , Else Ehser , Katharina Brauren , Rita Graun
- 1963: Alchimons Apfel - Director: Gert Westphal , with Hermann Schomberg , Hanns Lothar , Karl-Heinz Gerdesmann , Volker Brandt
- 1963: Shadow games (Reklameboss) - Director: Kraft-Alexander zu Hohenlohe-Oehringen , with Hans-Helmut Dickow , Horst Richter , Harry Gondi , Udo Wulff
- 1963: Bornhofer (The Old One) - Director: Fritz Schröder-Jahn , with Else Ehser , Annemarie Schradiek , Heinz Reincke
literature
- Ernst August Greven: 110 years Thalia-Theater Hamburg 1843–1953. A little chronicle. Edited by artistic director Willy Maertens. Compiled by Albert Dambek. Hamburg 1953.
- Willy Maertens. 25 years at the Thalia Theater. In: The Freeport. Season 1952/53, issue 4. Kayser, Hamburg 1952/1953.
Web links
- Literature by and about Willy Maertens in the catalog of the German National Library
- Willy Maertens in the Internet Movie Database (English)
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Maertens, Willy |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Maertens, Wilhelm Hermann August |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German actor, theater director, theater manager and acting teacher |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 30, 1893 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Braunschweig |
DATE OF DEATH | November 28, 1967 |
Place of death | Hamburg |