Ulrich Mühe
Ulrich Mühe | |
|---|---|
 Mühe in 2005 | |
| Born | Friedrich Hans Ulrich Mühe 20 June 1953 Grimma, East Germany |
| Died | 22 July 2007 (aged 54) Walbeck, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1979–2007 |
| Spouses | Annegret Hahn
(m. 1976; div. 1983) |
| Children | 5, including Anna Maria |
Friedrich Hans Ulrich Mühe (German pronunciation: Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards); and the Best Actor Award at the 2006 European Film Awards.
After leaving school, Mühe was employed as a construction worker and a border guard at the
Communist rule in East Germany in a memorable address at the Alexanderplatz demonstration on 4 November 1989 shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. After German reunification, he continued to appear in a large number of films, television programmes and theatre productions. In Germany he was particularly known for playing the lead role of Dr. Robert Kolmaar in the long-running forensic crime series Der letzte Zeuge
(The Last Witness, 1998–2007).
Early life and education
The son of a
stomach ulcers;[4] possibly due to stress, according to observers, and also suggested that it marked the beginnings of the stomach cancer that would eventually lead to his death.[5][6]
He then turned to acting, and studied at the Theaterhochschule "Hans Otto" Leipzig from 1975 to 1979.[7] He appeared in his first professional stage role in 1979, as Lyngstrand in Ibsen's Fruen fra havet (The Lady from the Sea) at the Städtisches Theater in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz). He followed this by appearing in a production of Macbeth by playwright and director Heiner Müller at the Volksbühne in East Berlin.[3]
Career
In 1983, at Müller's invitation he joined the ensemble of East Berlin's Deutsches Theater, and became its star due to his versatility in comic and serious roles, appearing in productions such as Goethe's Egmont (1986), Ibsen's Peer Gynt and Lessing's Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise, 1988).[4] He took the lead role of Hamlet in both Shakespeare's play and Heiner Müller's Die Hamletmaschine (Hamletmachine, 1989).[7] Mühe later said: "Theatre was the only place in the GDR where people weren't lied to. For us actors it was an island. We could dare to criticise."[8] On screen, he co-starred with his second wife Jenny Gröllmann in Herman Zschoche's film Hälfte des Lebens (Half of Life, 1984) about the German lyric poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843).[3]
Mühe played a leading role in organizing the demonstrations that took place prior to the
Wilhelmshaven mutiny of 29 October 1918.[3]
After German reunification, he continued to appear in a large number of films, television programmes and theatre productions in Germany and abroad. He proved his ability to take on comic roles in Schtonk! (1991), an Oscar-nominated satire about the Hitler Diaries hoax,[9] and showed his more serious side in Michael Haneke's Benny's Video (1992), Das Schloss (The Castle, 1996) (an adaptation of Kafka's The Castle (1922)) and Funny Games (1997).[7][8] In the latter film, Mühe and his third wife Susanne Lothar played a husband and wife held captive in their holiday cabin by two psychotic young men who force them to play sadistic "games" with one another.[3]
In the 2000s, Mühe played
Mein Führer – Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler (My Führer: The Truly Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler, 2007), in which he played Prof. Adolf Israel Grünbaum, an actor hired to give Hitler lessons.[7]
In 2006, he appeared at the
Barbican Arts Centre in London in Zerbombt, Thomas Ostermeier's German production of Sarah Kane's Blasted, playing a middle-aged journalist whose encounter with a young girl leads to pandemonium in a Leeds hotel room.[3]
Mühe was known in Germany for playing the brilliant but eccentric pathologist Dr. Robert Kolmaar in 73 episodes of the forensic crime serial Der letzte Zeuge (The Last Witness, 1998–2007),[7][8] for which he was awarded the prize for Beste/r Schauspieler/in in einer Serie (Best Actor or Actress in a TV Series) at the Deutscher Fernsehpreis (German Television Awards) in 2005.
The Lives of Others, and later life
To English-speaking audiences, Mühe was probably best known for portraying
Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards); and the Best Actor Award at the European Film Awards
.
The
Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur (Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship, known in short as "Stiftung Aufarbeitung"), the government-funded organization tasked with examining and reappraising East Germany's Communist dictatorship, said of Mühe: "Through his impressive performance... Ulrich Mühe sensitized an audience of millions to the Stasi's machinations and their consequences." The statement added that Mühe had been an active and valued participant in the foundation's events.[4]
Mühe was already seriously ill at the award ceremony in Los Angeles in February 2007 when Das Leben der Anderen was awarded its Oscar, and flew back to Germany hours later for an urgent stomach operation.
Personal life
Mühe was married three times. He was first married to
painter. His second marriage was in 1984 to the actress Jenny Gröllmann, after they fell in love while acting together[3] in the TV film Die Poggenpuhls (The Poggenpuhls) in that year. Mühe and Gröllmann had a daughter, Anna Maria Mühe, who is also an actress; and he was stepfather to Gröllmann's daughter Jeanne, a make-up artist.[12]
After German reunification, Mühe allegedly discovered evidence in his Stasi file that he had been under surveillance not only by four of his fellow actors in the East Berlin theatre, but also by his wife Gröllmann. The file held detailed records of meetings that Gröllmann, who was registered as an
"Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter" (unofficial collaborator), had with her controller from 1979 to 1989.[13] This mirrored the plot of Das Leben der Anderen as in the film pressure exerted by the Stasi on the playwright's girlfriend makes her betray him as the author of an exposé of covered-up GDR suicide rates. Mühe and Gröllmann divorced in 1990.[14] In a book accompanying the film, Mühe spoke about the sense of betrayal he felt when he found out about his former wife's alleged Stasi role. However, Gröllmann's real-life controller later claimed he had made up many of the details in the file and that the actress had been unaware that she was speaking to a Stasi agent. After a highly public and acrimonious battle in the courts, Gröllmann, who died in August 2006, won an injunction preventing the book's publication.[3] Mühe's response when asked how he prepared for his role in Das Leben der Anderen was, "I remembered."[3][4]
At the time of his death, Mühe was married to his third wife, actress Susanne Lothar, and living in Berlin with her and their two children, Sophie Marie and Jakob.[10] Mühe and Lothar starred together in Mühe's last film, Nemesis (2010),[15] which deals with a couple's troubled relationship. However, Lothar, who died in 2012, launched a lawsuit to block the film from release for nearly three years, apparently because she felt that it would cast the couple in a bad light.[16]
Awards
In addition to the awards mentioned elsewhere in this article, Mühe was conferred the following awards:
- 1990 – The Chaplin Shoe, the Deutscher Darstellerpreis (German Actor Award) of the Bundesverbandes der Fernseh- und Filmregisseure in Deutschland eV (Federal Association of Television and Film Directors in Germany).
- 1991 – The Gertrud-Eysoldt-Ring (Gertrud Eysoldt Ring)
- 1992 – The Bambi
- 1994 – The Kainz-Medaille (Kainz Medal)
- 2006 – The Bernhard-Wicki-Filmpreis (Bernhard Wicki Film Award)
- The Helene-Weigel-Medaille (Helene Weigel Medal)
- The prize of the critics of the Berliner Zeitung
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Olle Henry | Junger Mann | Ulrich Weiß | |
| 1985 | The Woman and the Stranger | Revolutionär | Rainer Simon | |
| Hälfte des Lebens | Friedrich Hölderlin | Herrmann Zschoche | ||
| 1989 | Das Spinnennetz | Theodor Lohse | Bernhard Wicki | |
Hard Days, Hard Nights
|
Flimmer | Horst Königstein | ||
| 1990 | Sehnsucht | Sieghart | Jürgen Brauer | |
| 1992 | Schtonk! | Dr. Wieland | Helmut Dietl | |
| Benny's Video | Vater | Michael Haneke | ||
| 1994 | The Blue One | Karl Kaminski | Lienhard Wawrzyn | |
| 1995 | Rudy, the Racing Pig | Dr. Heinrich Gützkow | Peter Timm | |
| 1996 | Peanuts – The Bank Pays Everything | Dr. Jochen Schuster | Carlo Rola | |
| Engelchen | Kommissar | Helke Misselwitz | ||
| 1997 | Funny Games | Georg | Michael Haneke | |
| Die Healthy | Hugo Wallner | Gert Steinheimer | ||
| The Castle | K. | Michael Haneke | TV film | |
| 1998 | Night Time | Eschbach | Peter Fratzscher | |
| Rider of the Flames | Jacob Gontard | Nina Grosse | ||
| 1999 | Straight Shooter | Markus Paufler | Thomas Bohn | |
| 2001 | Goebbels und Geduldig | Harry Geduldig / Joseph Goebbels | Kai Wessel | |
| 2002 | Amen.
|
Doctor | Costa-Gavras | |
| 2003 | Spy Sorge | Eugen Ott | Masahiro Shinoda | |
| Hamlet_X | Claudius Müller | Herbert Fritsch | ||
| 2005 | Schneeland | Knövel | Hans W. Geißendörfer | |
| 2006 | The Lives of Others | Hpt. Gerd Wiesler | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | |
| 2007 | My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler
|
Adolf Grünbaum | Dani Levy | |
| 2010 | Nemesis | Robert | Nicole Mosleh | Posthumous release, (final film role) |
Television
| Year(s) of appearance |
Film or series | Role | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Der Mann und sein Name (The Man and His Name) |
||
| 1984 | Die Poggenpuhls (The Poggenpuhls) |
Leo | |
| 1986 | Das Buschgespenst (The Bush Ghost) |
Kaufmann Strauch | |
| 1987 | Die erste Reihe (The First Row) |
Rudolf Schwarz | |
| 1988 | Nadine, meine Liebe (Nadine, My Love) |
Oberleutnant (Senior Lieutenant) Stein | |
| 1988 (1 episode) |
Polizeiruf 110 (Emergency Call 110) (1971–present) "Flüssige Waffe" ("Liquid Weapon") |
Kegel | |
| 1989 | Die gläserne Fackel (The Glass Torch) |
Maxi Steinhüter | |
| 1990 | Der kleine Herr Friedemann (Little Herr Friedemann) |
Johannes Friedemann | |
| 1991 | Ende der Unschuld (The End of Innocence) |
Julian Green | |
| 1991 | Jugend ohne Gott (The Age of the Fish) |
Lehrer (teacher) | |
| 1993 (1 episode) |
Extralarge: Diamonds | Father Enrique | |
| 1993 | Das letzte U-Boot (The Last U-Boat) |
Lt. Cmdr. Gerber | |
| 1993 | Wehner – die unerzählte Geschichte (Wehner – The Untold Story) |
Selbstmörder (suicide victim) | |
| 1994 | Geschäfte (Business) |
Sturm | |
| 1995 | … nächste Woche ist Frieden (...Next Week brings Peace) |
||
| 1995 | Nadja – Heimkehr in die Fremde (Nadja – Homecoming Among Foreigners) |
Sergej | |
| 1995 | Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas Church) |
Pfarrer (Minister) Ohlbaum | |
| 1995 (1 episode) |
Rosa Roth (1994–2006) "Lügen" ("Lies") |
||
| 1995 | Tödliches Schweigen (Deadly Silence) |
Christian Plache | |
| 1996 | Das tödliche Auge (The Deadly Eye) |
Stefan | |
| 1996 (1 episode) |
Tatort (Crime Scene) (1970–present) "Die Abrechnung" ("The Reckoning") |
Peter Fuchs | |
| 1998 | 36 Stunden Angst (36 Hours) |
Rudolph | |
| 1998 (1 episode) |
Siska (1998–present) "Tod einer Würfelspielerin" ("Death of a Female Dice-Thrower") |
||
| 1998–2007 (73 episodes) |
Der letzte Zeuge (The Last Witness) |
Dr. Robert Kolmaar |
|
| 1999 (1 episode) |
Tatort (Crime Scene) (1970–present) "Traumhaus" ("Dream House") |
Friedel Hebbel | |
| 1999 | Todesengel (Angel of Death) |
Dr. Leon Stein | |
| 2001 | Dreimal Leben (Life Times Three) |
Henri | |
| 2003 | Alles Samba (Everything's Samba) |
Gerd | |
| 2003 | Hamlet_X | Claudius Müller | |
| 2003 | Im Schatten der Macht (In the Shadow of Power) |
Günter Gaus | |
| 2004 | Hunger auf Leben (Hunger for Life) |
Jochen Hensel | |
| 2006 | Das Geheimnis von St. Ambrose (The Secret of St. Ambrose) |
Professor Nicolas Cramer | |
| 2006 | Peer Gynt |
Der Knopfgiesser (The Button Moulder) |
Some information in this table was obtained from Ulrich Mühe at IMDb. Retrieved on 23 September 2007.
Theatre
| Year(s) of appearance |
Production | Role | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Fruen fra havet (The Lady from the Sea) by Henrik Ibsen Städtisches Theater, Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz) |
Lyngstrand | |
| [Date uncertain] (?1979–1986) |
Macbeth by William Shakespeare |
||
| 18 November 1983 | Gespenster (Ghosts) by Henrik Ibsen Kammerspiele (Chamber Play Theatre), Deutsches Theater, East Berlin |
Osvald Alving | |
| 1986 | Egmont by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
Egmont | |
| [Date uncertain] ?1986–1989 |
Hamlet by William Shakespeare |
Hamlet | |
| [Date uncertain] ?1986–1989 |
Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing |
||
| [Date uncertain] ?1986–1989 |
Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen |
Peer Gynt | |
| 1989 | Die Hamletmaschine (Hamletmachine) by Heiner Müller |
Hamlet | |
| 1990 | Die Jüdin von Toledo (The Jewess of Toledo) by Franz Grillparzer |
König Alfons (King Alfonso, Alfonso VIII )
|
|
| end-1990s | Dreimal Leben (Life Times Three) by Yasmina Reza |
Henri | |
| 1999 | Gesäubert (Cleansed) by Sarah Kane |
Der Arzt (The Doctor) | |
| 2003 | Wittgenstein Incorporated Vienna Festwochen (Vienna Festival) |
||
| 2005 | Zerbombt (Blasted) by Sarah Kane |
Ian | |
| 2006 | Zerbombt (Blasted)[18] by Sarah Kane Barbican Arts Centre, London
|
Ian | |
| [Date unknown] | Clavigo by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe |
Clavigo | |
| [Date unknown] | Philotas by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing | Philotas | |
| [Date unknown] | Der Traum, ein Leben (The Dream, a Life) by Franz Grillparzer |
Sigismundis |
Audio books
| Year(s) of appearance |
Book | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Ein Monat in Dachau (One Month in Dachau, 1992) by Vladimir Sorokin; translated from the Russian by Peter Urban |
|
| 1999 | Ich bin eine Welt: Briefe und Gedichte – eine Collage (I am a World: Letters and Poems – a Collage) by Georg Trakl |
|
| 2000 | Einen Dichter denken – LAUT (A Poet Thinks – ALOUD) by Heiner Müller |
|
| 2002 | Adler und Engel (Eagles and Angels) by Juli Zeh |
|
| 2002 | Die Kinder (The Children) by Peter Hacks |
|
| 2002 | Reise gegen den Wind (Journey Against the Wind, 2000) by Peter Härtling |
|
| 2003 | Südkurier (Southern Mail, 1929) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
|
| 2003 | Wind, Sand und Sterne (Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
|
| 2004 | Ein unbekannter Freund (A Friend of Unknown Quantity) by Ivan Bunin (read by Susanne Lothar and Ulrich Mühe) |
|
| 2004 | "Ich küsse Dich vielmals...": Liebesbriefe ("I Kiss You Many Times...": Love Letters) (read by Susanne Lothar and Ulrich Mühe) | |
| 2005 | Der kleine Prinz (The Little Prince, 1943) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
|
| 2005 | Weihnachtswünsche: Die Weihnachtsgeschichte nach Lukas und die schönsten Weihnachtsgedichte (Christmas Wishes: The History of Christmas according to Luke and the Most Beautiful Christmas Poems) by Joseph von Eichendorff[19] (told by Otto Mellies, Ulrich Mühe and Otto Sander) |
|
| 2006 | Shakespeares Hamlet und alles, was ihn für uns zum kulturellen Gedächtnis macht (Shakespeare's Hamlet and Everything that Makes it Cultural Memory For Us) (read by Dietrich Schwanitz, Ulrich Mühe and Hanns Zischler) | |
| 2006 | Von allem Anfang an (From All Beginning) by Christoph Hein |
|
| [Date unknown] | Helden wie wir (Heroes Like Us, 1995) by Thomas Brussig |
|
| [Date unknown] | Das kalte Herz (The Cold Heart, 1826) by Wilhelm Hauff |
|
| [Date unknown] | Der Katze, die immer nur ihre eigenen Wege ging (The Cats, which in Each Case Went Their Own Ways, ?1985) by Horst Hawemann |
|
| [Date unknown] | Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke (The Lay of the Love and Death of Cornet Christoph Rilke, 1906)
by Rainer Maria Rilke |
References
- Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Archived from the originalon 22 May 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- Internet Movie Database(IMDb). Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Ulrich Mühe (obituary)". The Daily Telegraph. London. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "'The Lives of Others' Actor Ulrich Mühe Dies". Deutsche Welle. 25 July 2007.
- ^ a b Paterson, Tony (26 July 2007). "Ulrich Mühe, Star of 'Lives of Others', Dies Aged 54". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- ^ For instance, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the director of Das Leben der Anderen, expressed the view that the original cause of Mühe's stomach problems that eventually led to cancer was the anxiety he suffered when he was a conscript in the East German military: Bergan, Ronald (28 July 2007). "Ulrich Mühe (obituary)". The Guardian. London.
- ^ a b c d e Bergan, Ronald (28 July 2007). "Ulrich Mühe (obituary)". The Guardian. London.
- ^ a b c "Ulrich Mühe : Star of 'The Lives of Others' (obituary)". The Independent. London. 26 July 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ "Ulrich Mühe : German Actor who Won Acclaim Playing a Stasi Officer in the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others (obituary)". The Times. London. 28 July 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ a b "Oscar Film's German Star Dies". CNN. 25 July 2007.
- ^ "Ulrich Mühe am Mittwoch beigesetzt". Ad-Hoc News. 25 July 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2007. In German.
- IMDbRetrieved on 23 November 2007.
- ^ Danielsen, Shane (25 July 2007). "Ulrich Mühe 1953–2007 : The Actor who Played the Conscience-Stricken Stasi in The Lives of Others has Died". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- Internet Movie Database(IMDb). Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- IMDb.
- ^ "Susanne Lothar – ein Wunder an Charme und Natürlichkeit [Susanne Lothar – A Miracle of Charm and Naturalness]", Berliner Morgenpost, 26 July 2012, archived from the original on 26 August 2014,
Nach seinem Tod interessierten sich gleich mehrere Verleiher für 'Nemesis'. Aber Susanne Lothar wollte dies verhindern, die Veröffentlichung zog sich Jahre hin. Vielleicht fand sie, ein solcher Film werfe so kurz nach dem Tod ein falsches Licht auf das Paar. 'Ich habe ihn immer bei mir, ihn und die schöne gemeinsame Zeit', sagte die Schauspielerin 2008 in einem 'Tagesspiegel'-Interview.
- Internet Movie Database(IMDb). Retrieved 6 August 2007.
- ^ Billington, Michael (8 November 2006). "Blasted (Zerbombt) : Barbican, London (review)". The Guardian. Spencer, Charles (9 November 2006). "Blast from the Past Still Chills (review of Zerbombt (Blasted))". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ Possibly Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857).
Further reading
- Plass, Sarah (25 July 2007). "Ulrich Mühe, Film and Stage Actor, Dies at 54". The New York Times (Late Edition). p. 7.
- Danielsen, Shane (25 July 2007). "Ulrich Mühe 1953–2007 : The Actor who Played the Conscience-Stricken Stasi in The Lives of Others has Died". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- Paterson, Tony (26 July 2007). "Ulrich Mühe, Star of 'Lives of Others', Dies Aged 54". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- "Ulrich Mühe : Star of 'The Lives of Others' (obituary)". The Independent. London. 26 July 2007. Archived from the original on 4 November 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- "Ulrich Mühe (obituary)". The Daily Telegraph. London. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- Bergan, Ronald (28 July 2007). "Ulrich Mühe (obituary)". The Guardian. London.
- "Ulrich Mühe : German Actor who Won Acclaim Playing a Stasi Officer in the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others (obituary)". The Times. London. 28 July 2007. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- "Seine letzten Tage plante Ulrich Mühe bis ins Detail". Bild. 25 July 2007. Archived from the originalon 7 November 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2007. In German.
- "Ulrich Mühe, Star of 'The Lives of Others,' Dies at 54". International Herald Tribune. 25 July 2007.
- "Ulrich Mühe, 'Lives Of Others' Star, Dies". United Press International (UPI). 25 July 2007.
- "Actor Helped Bring Down the Wall". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 July 2007.
External links
- Ulrich Mühe at IMDb
- Dreaming Ulrich Archived 1 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine – an unofficial fan-site
- "Photo Gallery : Ulrich Mühe". Spiegel Online. 25 July 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- Photographs of Ulrich Mühe at Virtual History Film
- Official English website of Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 2006)
- Official German website of Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 2006) Archived 3 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
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