Günther Simon

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Günther Simon
German Democratic Republic
OccupationActor
Years active1948–1972
Political partySED

Günther Simon (11 May 1925 – 25 June 1972) was an East German actor.

Biography

Early life

A bank clerk's son, Simon attended an acting school already in

paratroopers in August 1943. He was captured by American troops near Normandy and shipped to a POW camp in Colorado, where he acted in the camp's makeshift theater.[1][2]

Breakthrough

After returning home in 1947, Simon took private acting lessons with

Schwerin Theater, in which he remained until 1950; there, he met his wife Margarita, who was employed as a dancer. Afterwards, Simon joined the cast of the Dresden Theater. In late 1951, he left it in favour of the Leipzig Theater, where he remained for only a short period.[3]

Summit

Simon was cast for one of the leading roles in the 1952 film The Condemned Village, and since then was active mainly in cinema. At the same year, in spite of his inexperience, he was chosen to portray Ernst Thälmann in Kurt Maetzig's two-part propaganda epic about the communist leader's life. The picture was watched by millions and entered the East German schools' curriculum.[4] Simon received the National Prize first class for his work on the first part,[5] and the Best Actor Award in the 1956 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for his appearance in the second.[6] He joined the country's Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED / Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands) in 1954[7] and became a member of the DEFA Studio's management.[8]

Simon appeared in some 30 pictures throughout the years. In 1956, he was awarded the

Dorotheenstadt cemetery.[9]

Partial filmography

References

  1. ISBN 978-3-598-11130-3
    . Page 864.
  2. ISBN 978-3-89487-235-9
    . Page 213.
  3. ^ Günther Simon. defa-sternstunden.de.
  4. ISBN 978-3-7815-1321-1
    . Pages 31–32.
  5. ^ DEFA chronicle of 1954.
  6. ^ "KVIFF Awards: 1956". Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  7. ^ Bernd-Rainer Barth. "Simon, Günther * 11 May 1925; † 25 June 1972 Schauspieler". Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  8. ^ Günther Simon Archived 28 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine. film-zeit.de.
  9. ^ Günther Simon. defa.de.

External links

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