Simone Rethel-Heesters (born 15 June 1949 in

Herrsching am Ammersee Herrsching am Ammersee is a municipality in Upper Bavaria, Germany, on the east shore of the Ammersee, southwest of Munich. The population is around 8,000 in winter, increasing to 13,000 in summer. Situated at one terminus of the Munich S-Bahn li ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

) is a German actress and writer.

Biography

Simone Rethel is the daughter of painter and designer Alfred Rethel and the granddaughter of aircraft designer

Walter Rethel Walther Karl Paul Rethel (15 August 1892 – 1977) was a German aircraft designer born in Wesel. Rethel was born to Prussian Major General Paul Rethel (1855-1933) and Mally Rethel. Rethel's grandfather was the painter Otto Rethel (1822–1892 ...

. She is the descendant of historical painter , the brother of

Alfred Rethel Alfred Rethel (May 15, 1816December 1, 1859) was a German history painter. Early life and education Rethel was born in Aachen in 1816. He showed an interest in art in his early life, and at the age of thirteen he executed a drawing which procured ...

. As a student in 1965, she played the main role in

Axel von Ambesser Axel Eugen Alexander von Oesterreich (22 June 1910 – 16 September 1988), better known as Axel von Ambesser, was a German playwright, actor and film director. Ambesser's father was Alexander Constantin von Oesterreich. Ambesser was born in Hambu ...

's film ' alongside

Theo Lingen Theo Lingen (; 10 June 1903 – 10 November 1978), born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960. Life and c ...

and

Friedrich von Thun Friedrich Ernst Peter Paul Maria Thun-Hohenstein (born 30 June 1942) is an Austrian actor. He appeared in more than a hundred films since 1958. Biography Friedrich von Thun was born on 30 June 1942 in Kvasice, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ...

. After she completed schooling, she took part to Hanna Burgwitz's acting lessons and made her stage debut during her formation by playing in

Joseph von Eichendorff Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

's ''Die Freier'' at the ' in Munich in 1966 under the direction of Axel von Ambesser, who had discovered her and later granted her several stage and television roles. Rethel mainly appeared in boulevard theatre plays and had roles in numerous television series such as '' Der Kommissar'', ''

Derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its Guy-wire, guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower ...

'', ''

The Old Fox ''Der Alte'' ("The Old One" or "The Old Fox") is a German crime drama series created by Helmut Ringelmann. It premiered on 11 April 1977 on ZDF. Since 1978 the series is part of the Friday Crime Night of the network. It depicts the crime-solvi ...

'', ''

Schöne Ferien Schöne is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Albrecht Schöne (1925–2025), German Germanist *Alfons Schöne, German Olympic fencer *Barbara Schöne (born 1947), German actress *Georg Schöne (1875–1960), German physici ...

'' and ''

Diese Drombuschs ''Diese Drombuschs'' is a German television series that originally aired on ZDF for six seasons from 1983 to 1994. The show revolves around a typical (West) German middle-class family living in the city of Darmstadt. Cast *Witta Pohl as Vera Dr ...

''. Simone Rethel was married to

Johannes Heesters Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch-German actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the conce ...

from 1992 until his death in 2011. Heesters was 46 years older than her. Besides her acting career, Rethel was also a painter and a photographer. Since early 2005, she has been an ambassador of ''Altern in Würde'' and has raised awareness about

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. In early 2010, she published her book ''Sag nie, du bist zu alt'', in which she criticises negative view of society on ageing.

Filmography

* 1965: ' * 1966/67: ''Die Frau des Fotografen'' (TV) * 1969: ''

Junger Herr auf altem Hof ''Junger Herr auf altem Hof'' is a German television series that premiered on December 15, 1969. Plot The Grothe farm has been passed down from generation to generation as a proud family property. However, father Christian Grothe is getting too ...

'' (TV series, 13 episodes) * 1971: ''Der erste Frühlingstag'' (TV film) * 1971: '' Der Kommissar: Der Moormörder'' (TV) * 1972: '' Der Kommissar: Tod eines Schulmädchens'' (TV) * 1972: ' * 1973: ' * 1973: '' Der Komödienstadel: Kleine Welt'' (TV) * 1973: '' Der Kommissar: Der Tod von Karin W.'' (TV) * 1974: '' Der Kommissar: Mit den Augen eines Mörders'' (TV) * 1974: ''Die schöne Helena'' (TV film) * 1977: '' Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein'' (TV series) * 1977: ''

Tatort ("Crime Scene") is a German-language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with 30 feature-length episodes per year, making it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public-se ...

: Drei Schlingen'' (TV) * 1977: ''

: Konkurs'' (TV) * 1978: ''Das Geld liegt auf der Bank'' (TV film) * 1978: ' * 1979: ''

: Neue Sachlichkeit'' (TV) * 1983: ''Omelette Surprise'' (TV film) * 1983: ''Der Trauschein'' (TV film) * 1983: ''Die violette Mütze'' (TV film) * 1983: ''

– Die Schrecken der Nacht'' (TV * 1985: ' (TV series, 5 episodes) * 1985–1986: ''

Polizeiinspektion 1 ''Polizeiinspektion 1'' is a German television series. See also *List of German television series The following is a list of television series produced in Germany: Current Drama * ''4 Blocks (TV series), 4 Blocks'' (TNT Serie, 2017–2019) ...

'' (TV series, 2 episodes) * 1992–1993: ''

'' (TV series, 9 episodes) * 1992: ''Chéri, mein Mann kommt!'' (TV film) * 1993: ''Glückliche Reise: Neuseeland'' (TV) * 1994: ''Der Heiratsvermittler'' (TV film) * 1994–1996: ''

Immer wieder Sonntag ''Immer wieder Sonntags'' (''Again on Sundays'') is a German television entertainment show which is broadcast live every Sunday in the summer months from Europa Park in Rust, Southwest Germany. The series was first aired in 1995 and is produced b ...

'' (TV series) * 1994: ''Drei zum Verlieben'' (TV) * 1995: ''Der Mond scheint auch für Untermieter'' (TV) * 1995: ''Zwei alte Hasen'' (TV) * 1996: ''Ein gesegnetes Alter'' (TV film) * 1996: ''

Rosamunde Pilcher Rosamunde Pilcher, OBE (''née'' Scott; 22 September 1924 – 6 February 2019) was a British novelist, best known for her sweeping novels set in Cornwall. Her books have sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Early in her career she was publis ...

: Schneesturm im Frühling'' (TV) * 1996: ''

Im Namen des Gesetzes ''Im Namen des Gesetzes'' () is a German television series. It follows the work of Berlin based criminal police officers and public prosecutors. Plot The series is based on the long-running U.S. television series Law & Order ''Law & ...

: Das Heim'' (TV) * 1997: ' (TV miniseries) * 1999: ''Theater: Momo'' (TV film) * 1999: ''

Stubbe – Von Fall zu Fall ''Stubbe – Von Fall zu Fall'' (at the beginning only called ''Von Fall zu Fall'' and sometimes only called ''Stubbe'') is a German crime detective television series starring Wolfgang Stumph as detective Stubbe. It is being broadcast on ZDF, the ...

: Die Seherin'' (TV) * 1999: '' Das Amt: Späte Liebe'' (TV) * 2000: ''Fast ein Gentleman: Der Gockl'' (TV) * 2003: ''

In aller Freundschaft (''In all friendship'') is a German television soap opera that began airing in 1998 every Tuesday. The series follows the staff of the fictional Sachsenklinik hospital in the city of Leipzig. The series is produced by Degeto (a subsidiary of ...

: Zurück ins Leben'' (TV) * 2008: ''

Wege zum Glück ''Wege zum Glück'' (English: ''Ways to Happiness'') is a German telenovela. The show was starting on October 6, 2005, on ZDF and originally was planned to have 250 chapters. Later the concept was changed and the title became a label to tell diffe ...

'' (1 episode) * 2012: '' Die Garmisch-Cops: Badeschaum für einen Toten'' (TV) * 2016: ''

Die Rosenheim-Cops is a German television series set in Chiemgau, mainly in Rosenheim. It is produced by the Bavaria Film GmbH for the ZDF public TV network. The cost per episode is estimated at 425,000 euros. Cast This is the actual cast of ''Die Rosenheim ...

: Schönheit hat ihren Preis'' (TV) * 2016: ''Schwarzach 23 und die Jagd nach dem Mordsfinger'' (TV film) * 2017: ''

SOKO München ''SOKO München'' (until 2015: ''SOKO 5113'') is a German police procedural television series that first aired on 2 January 1978 on ZDF. "SOKO" is an abbreviation of the German word ''Sonderkommission'', which means "special investigative team". ...

: Altweibersommer'' (TV) * 2017: ''

Sturm der Liebe ''Sturm der Liebe'' (, "Storm of Love") is a Germany, German television soap opera created by Bea Schmidt for Das Erste. It premiered on 26 September 2005. It airs 50-minute episodes on weekdays (Monday through Friday) at 15:10. It was announ ...

'' (TV series) * 2019: ''

Stuttgart Homicide ''SOKO Stuttgart'' (English title: ''Stuttgart Homicide'') is a German police procedural television series that premiered on 12 November 2009 on ZDF. It is the eighth offshoot of ''SOKO München'', launched in 1978 under the name ''SOKO 5113''. ...

: Kaffeefahrt'' (TV) * 2021: ''Die Rosenheim-Cops: Drei Grazien und ein Todesfall'' (TV) * 2024: ''Hubert ohne Staller: Zu den Sternen'' (TV) * 2025: ''Die Rosenheim-Cops: Ein Job für Wiebke'' (TV)

Publications

* * * *

References

External links

*
Simone Rethel

Munzinger-Archiv Munzinger-Archiv is a German Publishing, publisher and online encyclopedia based in the Baden-Württemberg city of Ravensburg. The content of the archive includes entries about people in politics, business, culture, sport, music and society, abou ...

*
Simone Rethel
''filmportal.de''
Simone Rethel's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rethel, Simone 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses German stage actresses German television actresses German film actresses 20th-century German women writers 21st-century German women writers 21st-century German non-fiction writers German women non-fiction writers People from Starnberg (district) 1949 births Living people Actresses from Bavaria