Bob Martin

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Bob Martin (actually Leo Heppe ; born June 7, 1922 in Krasnoyarsk , Siberia ; † January 13, 1998 in Vienna ) was an Austrian singer and musician .

Life

Heppe's father came from Bohemia and was captured during the First World War. After the war he stayed as a German teacher in Russia, where he also found his wife. The couple left the country with the two-year-old Leo because of the Russian Civil War and eventually came to Vienna after detours.

From 1951 until his retirement in 1981 Bob Martin was active as a singer in the choir of the Vienna State Opera , but during these years he was also involved in other musical styles: Among other things, he supported the jazz combos Die Montecarlos and Die Blaue Jungs . In 1957 he starred alongside Grethe Weiser in the remake of the classic 1934 film Once a Great Lady . In addition, he worked as a singer on recordings of several operas and operettas, some of which are still available today in new editions.

Grave Heppe Leo.jpg

In 1957, ORF selected Bob Martin internally to be the first representative for Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest in Frankfurt am Main . With the song Wohin, kleine Pony? Written by Kurt Svab and Hans Werner . However, he had little success: With only three points - one from the Netherlands and two from Great Britain - he landed in tenth and thus last place.

Bob Martin was buried at the Ottakringer Friedhof (group 35, row U11, number 16).

Filmography

literature

  • Jan Feddersen : A song can be a bridge. The German and international history of the Grand Prix Eurovision. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-455-09350-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "I just want to sing ...": Austria's song contest pioneer Leo Heppe alias Bob Martin (1922–1998). Institute for Modern and Contemporary History Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
  2. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Strauss-Rosenkavalier-Crespin-Minton-Jungwirth/dp/samples/B0000041S4
personal data
SURNAME Martin, Bob
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heppe, Leo (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian singer and musician
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Krasnoyarsk , Siberia
DATE OF DEATH January 13, 1998
Place of death Vienna