Peter Alexander Ferdinand Maximilian Neumayer (30 June 1926 – 12 February 2011), commonly known as Peter Alexander, was an Austrian actor, singer and one of the most popular entertainers in the German-language world between the 1950s and his retirement. His fame emerged in the 1950s and 1960s through popular film comedies and successful recordings, predominantly of Schlager and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

repertory. Later, Alexander established himself as the acclaimed host of television shows. His career as a live singer touring the German language countries lasted until 1991, while he continued his television work until 1996.

Life and career

Born in Vienna, Alexander attended the

Max Reinhardt Seminar The Max Reinhardt Seminar (Reinhardt Seminar) is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. It is located in the Palais Cumberland, Penzingerstraße 9, in Vienna's 14th district (). History A ''Leh ...

for actors until 1948 and then began his career in acting. He starred in several musical comedies, including ''Liebe, Tanz und 1000 Schlager'' and '' Peter schießt den Vogel ab''. He recorded Ralph Benatzky's operetta '' Im weißen Rößl'', singing the lead role of Leopold Brandmeyer. He then performed in the 1960 movie version of the operetta. He later starred in the Count Bobby movies and the ''Lümmel''-series. In the 1970s, Alexander started a second career as a TV host and entertainer. His music show, the ', was shown on black and white TV from 1963 until 1966. From 1969, the German TV station ZDF started to air a new colour version which was broadcast until 1996. The ''Peter Alexander Show'' has been seen by more than 38 million viewers and has averaged a 71% viewing rate. After his death,

Media Control Charts Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass ...

named him the biggest singles artist ever with 459 songs having charted on the German singles chart. The single "Und manchmal weinst du sicher ein paar Tränen" had the longest run with 34 weeks on that chart, while 2 other songs, "Der letzte Walzer" and "Liebesleid", were able to reach the No. 1 position. Alexander won 10

Bambi Award The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and oth ...

s and in 1996 was awarded a Bambi for lifetime achievement. Alexander married Hilde Haagen in 1952; they had two children, Susanne Neumayer-Haidinger (1958–2009), an artist, and Michael Neumayer (1963–2019). Alexander was widowed in 2003. Alexander died on 12 February 2011, aged 84, in his native Vienna.

Filmography

Decorations and awards

Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria The Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (german: Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria. It is divided into 15 classes and is the highest award in the A ...

(1985) *

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

(1974) * Ring of honour of Vienna (1984) * Golden Camera (1970, 1980, 1984 (Germany); 1979 (Austria)) as the best music star of a decade * Super Golden Camera 1979 (Germany) as the biggest star of all time, with participation of over 11 million readers of ''

Hörzu ''Hörzu'' () is a German weekly television listings magazine published in Hamburg. History and profile ''Hörzu'' first appeared in 1946 and was published by Axel Springer as the first radio program magazine to be produced in what was then the ...

'' *

(1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1987, 1990; 1996 for his lifetime achievement) *

Golden Europe Goldene Europa award is the oldest German Television award for artists and entertainers. It was awarded from 1968 to 2003. In the years 1989 and 2001, there were no ceremonies. Since 1981, the gala was broadcast on television. The original sculptu ...

(1969, 1974, 1979) * (1966, 1973, 1974 and 1976); Silberner Bildschirm (1970 and 1971) * Bronze

Bravo Otto The Bravo Otto is a German accolade honoring excellence of performers in film, television and music. Established in 1957, the award is presented annually, with winners selected by the readers of ''Bravo'' magazine. The award is presented in ...

(1971) * Gold Decoration for Services to the City of Vienna (1971) * Lion of

RTL Radio RTL Radio is a German commercial radio station based in Berlin and the part of the RTL Group. It originated as the German language service of Radio Luxembourg, which began broadcasting after World War II from Luxembourg. It broadcasts adult c ...

, a total of 9 prizes in bronze, silver and gold (1973) * Honorary Lion as the best singer * Golden Microphone (1966) for best male music star in European show business * Rose Hill award (1992) for having written Austrian film history * Award of the City of Cologne (1976) for 14 completely sold-out events at the

Cologne Sporthalle Sporthalle was an indoor arena located in Cologne, Germany. It was primarily used for basketball, other indoor sporting events and concerts until it closed due to the larger Lanxess Arena Lanxess Arena (originally Kölnarena, German for ''Col ...

* Hermann Löns Gold Medal * Golden Romy (1992) * Platinum Romy (1993) * Other awards were: Lieber Augustin of Vienna (1968), the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The win ...

(1973), Golden Rathausmann (1970), Golden Plate of German gastronomy (1973), Golden Cleo as the most popular star in Austria (1986), German Record Award (1980), Silver Plate of Robert Stolz Foundation in (1980) * 4th place in the list of the 50 most important Austrians of the last 50 years in a reader poll of the daily

Kurier ''Kurier'' is a German-language daily newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. History and profile ''Kurier'' was founded as ''Wiener Kurier'' by the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) in 1945, during the Allied occupation after World War I ...

(2004) * Induction into the

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

Hall of Fame (2011) * Naming of Peter-Alexander-Platz in

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria (german: 19. Bezirk, Döbling, Doebling). It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populate ...

(19th district of Vienna, 2012)

Bibliography

* Michael Wenk & Barbara Loehr: ''Peter Alexander – Das tat ich alles aus Liebe''. Wien:

Ueberreuter Ueberreuter (full: german: der Verlag Carl Ueberreuter) is an Austrian publishing house. Founded as ''Verlag Carl Ueberreuter'' in 1946 by Thomas F. Salzer (de), today the company is Austria's biggest publisher of non-fiction literature. Ueberr ...

, 2006 () * "Peter Alexander" entry, German version of Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2005.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Peter 1926 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Austrian male actors 20th-century Austrian male singers Austrian male film actors Schlager musicians Musicians from Vienna Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Recipients of the Bambi (prize) Recipients of the Romy (TV award) Luftwaffenhelfer