Fritz Wepper (17 August 1941 – 25 March 2024) was a German film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Inspector Harry Klein in the long-running crime series ''

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 ...

'' (1974–1998). Wepper is also remembered for his roles in the films ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

'' (1972) and '' The Bridge'' (1959) and as Mayor Wöller in the TV series '' Um Himmels Willen'' (2002–2021).

Life and career

Fritz Wepper was born as the son of a lawyer who was missing in action as a soldier in Poland in 1945. He started his acting career in a production of '' Peter Pan'' at the age of eleven. He got his first important film role in ''Tischlein deck dich'', a film adaption of the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

fairytale '' The Wishing Table''. His breakthrough role was as a young soldier in Bernhard Wicki's anti-war film ''

Die Brücke Die Brücke (The Bridge), also known as Künstlergruppe Brücke or KG Brücke, was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905. The founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Karl Schmidt-R ...

'' (1959) which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Wepper kept his popularity with German audiences into adulthood and appeared in several notable German films of the 1960s. In 1972, he played Fritz Wendel, a German Jew passing as a Christian, in the Oscar-winning film version of ''

''. Wepper's Wendel marries Marisa Berenson's character, a wealthy Jewish heiress, as Nazi power grows inexorably in Europe. His character Harry Klein, the assistant in the long-running crime series ''

'', became a cult figure all over the world. He played this role between 1974 and 1998 in 281 episodes of ''Derrick''. Before playing Klein in ''Derrick'' he portrayed the same character on the popular television drama '' Der Kommissar'' (1969–1976) from the series' start until 1974 when he was transferred to Derrick. Harry Klein was replaced by his brother Erwin (played by Fritz Wepper's real-life brother, Elmar). The brothers appeared together in the television series (1994–2000), playing a pair of different brothers hunting criminals and solve difficult cases. From 2002 until the show's cancellation in 2021, Fritz Wepper played the sneaky and sly, but ultimately good-hearted, Mayor Wolfgang Wöller in the TV series '' Um Himmels Willen'', which was for many years one of the most-watched German television series (with some 7.2 million views per episode).

Personal life

Wepper married Angela von Morgen in 1979. His daughter,

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

is also an actress, they appeared together in the crime series '' Mord in bester Gesellschaft'' between 2007 and 2017. Wepper made headlines in the yellow press when he left von Morgen for the far younger Susanne Kellermann (born 1974) in 2009. He has a daughter (born 2012) from the relationship with Kellermann, but later returned to his wife. Von Morgen died in January 2019, aged 76, following a cerebral haemorrhage. In 2020, Wepper married Susanne Kellermann. After meeting during the filming of ''Cabaret'' in 1971, Wepper and

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...

remained close friends. Wepper died in Munich on 25 March 2024, at the age of 82, less than six months after his brother Elmar's death.

Selected filmography

* '' The Dark Star'' (1955) * ''Tischlein deck dich'' (''Table, Donkey and Stick'', 1956) .... Michel mit der grünen Kappe * '' Rübezahl'' (1957) .... (uncredited) * '' Eine verrückte Familie'' (1957) .... Hermann Bunzel * ''Zwei Matrosen auf der Alm'' (1958) .... Friseurlehrling * '' The Crammer'' (1958) .... (uncredited) * '' The Angel Who Pawned Her Harp'' (1959) .... Christian * ''

'' (''The Bridge'', 1959) .... Albert Mutz * '' My Schoolfriend'' (1960) .... Paul (uncredited) * '' Question 7'' (1961) .... Heinz Dehmert – Jugendführer * ' (1961, TV movie) .... George Gibbs * '' Miracle of the White Stallions'' (1963) .... Rider Hans * '' The River Line'' (1964) .... Philip * '' Three Rooms in Manhattan'' (1965) .... Fabien (uncredited) * '' When Night Falls on the Reeperbahn'' (1967) .... Till Voss * '' The Doctor of St. Pauli'' (1968) .... Hein Jungermann * ' (1968) .... Peter Mertens * '' Der Kommissar'' (1968–1974, TV series, 66 episodes) .... Harry Klein * '' The Man with the Glass Eye'' (1969) .... Lord Bruce Sheringham * '' On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight'' (1969) .... Till Schippmann * '' Slap in the Face'' (1970) .... Peter Terbanks (voice, uncredited) * '' We'll Take Care of the Teachers'' (1970) .... Hubert Böhm * '' The Games'' (1970) .... Gregorye Kovanda * ' (1970) .... Hans Engelmann * ' (1970) .... Jürgen * ''

'' (1972) .... Fritz Wendel * ' (1972) .... Momme Linnau * ''Der Ehefeind'' (1972) * ''

'' (1974–1998, TV series, 281 episodes) .... Harry Klein * (''The Last Battle'', 1983) .... Captain * (''Two Brothers'', 1994–2001, TV series, 17 episodes) .... Christoph Thaler * (1996, TV movie) .... Otto König * '' Die blaue Kanone'' (1999, TV movie) .... Harry Groß * ''

Murder on the Orient Express ''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...

'' (2001, TV movie) .... Wolfgang Bouc * '' Vera Brühne'' (''The Trials of Vera B.'', 2001, TV movie) .... Lawyer Dr. Wallner * '' Hochwürden wird Papa'' (2002, TV movie) .... Oskar Lindner * '' Um Himmels Willen'' (2002–2021, TV series, 264 episodes) .... Wolfgang Wöller * '' Männer im gefährlichen Alter'' (2004, TV movie) .... Henry Malek * ''Derrick – Die Pflicht ruft!'' (2004) .... Harry Klein (voice) * '' Ein Engel namens Hans-Dieter'' (2004, TV movie) .... Hans-Dieter Anhäuser * ' (2007, TV series, 3 episodes) .... Harry Klein * '' Ein unverbesserlicher Dickkopf'' (2007, TV movie) .... Balthasar Pelkofer * '' Mord in bester Gesellschaft'' (2007–2017, TV series, 15 episodes) .... Dr. Wendelin Winter * '' Unser Mann im Süden'' (2008, TV series, 4 episodes) .... Konsul Heinrich Hammerstein * '' Baby frei Haus'' (2009, TV movie) .... Kurt Schollwer * '' Lindburgs Fall'' (2011, TV movie) .... Peter Lindburg

References

External links

*
Fritz Wepper Filmography in: The New York Times
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wepper, Fritz 1941 births 2024 deaths German male television actors German male film actors Male actors from Munich 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors German Film Award winners