Kurt Raab (20 July 1941 – 28 June 1988) was a West German stage and film actor, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Raab is best remembered for his work with German

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with whom he collaborated on 31 film projects.

Biography

Raab was born in Bergreichenstein, which is now

Kašperské Hory Kašperské Hory (; german: Bergreichenstein) is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,400 inhabitants. It is known as a ski resort. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. He completed the

abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen yea ...

at Musische Gymnasium Straubing, and studied in Munich. He made his cinema debut in Fassbinder's ''Liebe ist kälter als der Tod'' ('' Love Is Colder than Death'') in 1969. Over the next few years, he made numerous films with Fassbinder, including ''Warum läuft Herr R. Amok?'' ('' Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?'') and ''Der Amerikanische Soldat'' ('' The American Soldier'') in 1970, ''Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte'' ('' Beware of a Holy Whore'') in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, and ''Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten'' ('' The Merchant of Four Seasons'') in 1972. He also worked as a

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

assistant director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have t ...

, producer, and a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. Raab was friends with Freddie Mercury of Queen, and appears as a ballerina in the band's music video for

It's a Hard Life "It's a Hard Life" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was featured on their 1984 album '' The Works'', and it was the third single from that album. In 1991 it was included in the band’s second ...

. He is also seen in Mercury's Living on My Own video, dressed in drag as

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

. On 28 June 1988, at age 46, Raab died of AIDS-related complications. Before Raab died, he worked to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in Germany. In 1987, he discussed his illness in Herbert Achternbusch's ''

Wohin? ''Wohin?'' is a 1988 West German drama film directed by Herbert Achternbusch. It was entered into the 38th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Franz Baumgartner as Franz * Annamirl Bierbichler * Josef Bierbichler as Skunk * Gunter Fre ...

'', a film about AIDS hysteria. In 1988, he made ''Mitten im Leben'', a documentary about AIDS, for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen. However, the illness remained poorly understood and Raab was placed in quarantine-like conditions in the Hamburg Tropical Institute. While confined to a hospital bed, Raab and his friend Hans Hirschmüller compiled the documentary ''Sehnsucht Nach Sodom'', in which they explored "subjects as taboo as AIDS, death and the Catholicism of a gay person." ''Sehnsucht'' was released posthumously in 1989. Prejudice about AIDS was also evident when Raab's body was refused burial in Steinbeißen, the

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (german: Niederbayern, Bavarian: ''Niedabayern'') is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions () – Landshut and Donau-W ...

n town in which his family had settled in 1945. He is buried in Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg.

Filmography

References

External links

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Kurt Raab
at Allmovie {{DEFAULTSORT:Raab, Kurt 1941 births 1988 deaths People from Kašperské Hory People from Sudetenland Sudeten German people AIDS-related deaths in Germany German male stage actors German male film actors German male television actors German autobiographers 20th-century German male actors German male non-fiction writers