Frank Hoffmann (16 July 1938 – 4 June 2022) was a German-Austrian actor.

Life and work

Frank Hoffmann was born in Radebeul, near Dresden, in Germany. He trained at the

Otto-Falckenberg-Schule The Otto Falckenberg Schule – Fachakademie für darstellende Kunst der Landeshauptstadt München, or Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts, is a higher education academy in Munich training actors and directors, affiliated to the Mün ...

in Munich. His first acting roles were in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, where he worked at the

Theater Basel Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas. Because the theatre does not h ...

. In 1967, he was a member of the ensemble at the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. This was where he met his future wife, , who had been an actor there since 1965. He then featured in a number of films and tv programmes, including alongside

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward, frequently portraying police officer ...

in The Ace of Aces, alongside

Senta Berger Senta Verhoeven (née Berger; ''Austrian German:'' , ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film, and television; her awards include three Bambi (prize), Bambi Awards, t ...

in ''Die Nacht der Nächte'',

Susi Nicoletti Susi Nicoletti (3 September 1918 – 5 June 2005) was a Bavarian-born actress best remembered today for over 100 supporting roles mostly in comedy films. She was born as Susanne Emilie Luise Adele Habersack in Munich, but spent most of her child ...

in the stage drama

Heldenplatz Heldenplatz () is a public space in front of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. Located in the Innere Stadt borough, the President of Austria resides in the adjoining Hofburg wing, while the Federal Chancellery is on adjacent Ballhausplatz ...

and in

Bella Ciao "Bella ciao" () is an Italian song dedicated to the partisans of the Italian resistance, who fought against the occupying troops of Nazi Germany and the collaborationist Fascist forces during the liberation of Italy. The exact origins are not ...

, directed by

Xaver Schwarzenberger Xaver Schwarzenberger (born 21 April 1946) is an Austrian cinematographer and film director. He has worked on more than 100 films since 1970. His 1983 film '' Der Stille Ozean'' was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival, wher ...

. Between 1975 and 1994, Hoffmann directed and presented the tv show Trailer, shown on

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...

. With his distinctive voice, Frank Hoffmann also featured in a number of radio adverts and on radio shows. In 2008, he was awarded the Golden Decoration of Honor of the City of Vienna. In 2010, he was an ambassador of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in the "International Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion". In 2011, he was Ambassador of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in the "International Year of Volunteers". Since January 2013, he has been a film expert for the private television channel ServusTV in the program Lichtspiele - Das Filmmagazin. Hoffmann married Else Ludwig in 1966 and had two daughters. In the last twenty years of his life, Hoffmann lived in a farmhouse in Großmürbisch in Burgenland, where he died on 4 June 2022 at the age of 83.

Decorations and awards

* 1986: Honorary Member of the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

* 1986

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National Co ...

* 1999: Grand Decoration of Burgenland * 2004: State cultural award Burgenland * 2008: Gold Medal of the City of Vienna * 27 November 2008: Title of Professor

References

External links

* 1938 births 2022 deaths People from Radebeul German male television actors Austrian male television actors Austrian television presenters Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art Male actors from Saxony {{Germany-screen-actor-stub