Georg Uecker (born 6 November 1962 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

) is a German actor. Since 1985, he has played the character of ''Dr. Carsten Flöter'' on the popular German TV series

Lindenstraße ''Lindenstraße'' (literally "Linden Street") was a long-running German television Drama (film and television), drama series, broadcast by Das Erste. The first episode aired on 8 December 1985 and since then new episodes were broadcast weekly u ...

on ARD. Controversially, in 1987, he kissed ''Gert Weinbauer'' (played by actor Günter Barton). This was the first gay kiss in a German series in the evening. A second kiss was in 1990 with character ''Robert Engel'' (actor Martin Armknecht) this brought about discussions on

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

topics in the media. Uecker still continues to play the character. His other television credits include ''

Schillerstraße ''Schillerstraße'' ("Schiller Street") was a German improvisational comedy show that aired weekly on Sat.1. It was recorded without a script and broadcast unedited to a large extent. The American broadcaster Fox has earned the licence for ''Schi ...

'' (an

improvisational Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

comedy show) and he is often a guest on ''Genial daneben'' (a quiz programme with comedians). He is an LGBT-activist and lives in

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 ...

Early life

Georg Uecker is the son of

Heiko Uecker Heiko Uecker (5 September 1939 – 30 May 2019) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. He was Professor of Nordic Philology at the University of Bonn and a known expert on Scandinavian literature. Biography Heiko Uecker was ...

, who until 2004 was 'Professor of Nordic Philology' at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

, and his wife Kari from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He grew up

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

ly and spent his childhood in Germany and Norway. He joined a freelance theater group, which was invited to various arts festivals, this was a hobby that could be a profession. Uecker studied

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Scandinavian studies Scandinavian studies or ''Scandinavistics'' is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultura ...

and Romance studies at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

. He also took acting classes, played at the Comedia Theater in Cologne and started working at the Schauspielhaus. Then

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...

Horst D. Scheel asked him to cast for the "Lindenstraße".

Career

Uecker became known as ''Dr. Carsten Flöter'' in the television series ''Lindenstraße'' (translated as 'Linden Road'), where he kissed actor Günter Barton in 1987. It was the first kiss between two men on German television in an evening series. After a second kiss in 1990, with actor Martin Armknecht on the show, both actors received several anonymous death threats after the broadcast of the episode. The WDR and the Lindenstraße production company GFF then filed criminal charges against the unknown person. Uecker received the Bambi Award for his role in ''Lindenstraße'' in 1989 and the Golden Camera Award in 1998. Uecker has been other television shows, such as a panel member of "Genial daneben" (lit. 'ingeniously off the mark'), he was the 'gamesmaster' known as 'The Whisperer' on the ''Schillerstraße'' until autumn 2005. He performs as a "

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

expert" in various talk shows. Until 2005, he also produced the late night show ''Blond on Friday'' ('Blond am Freitag') on channel

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

, and co-developed other ZDF channel shows such as "Kaffeeklatsch". He has worked alongside

Hella von Sinnen Hella Kemper (born 2 February 1959), known by her stage name Hella von Sinnen (lit. ''Hella out of her mind'', making pun of the aristocratic "von"), is a German entertainer and television presenter. She has been a regular on several TV shows on ...

, Ralph Morgenstern and

Dirk Bach Dirk Bach (23 April 1961 – 1 October 2012) was a German actor, comedian and television presenter, best known as the co-host of ''Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!'', the German version of ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, I'm a C ...

in 'Cologne Homopromis'.

Filmography

Film

Television

Personal life

Uecker is openly

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

and involved in the

gay rights movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBTQ people in society. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBTQ people and their i ...

, and was awarded in 2010 for his involvement in the fight against

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

and

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, the ReD Award (Reminders Day Award, which has been awarded annually since 2001 in Berlin). In addition, the actor is engaged politically and socially. Since September 4, 2007, he is godfather of the 'Oberstufenzentrums Trade 1' (a commercial high school in Berlin-Kreuzberg) in the project "School without racism - school with Courage" and since January 27, 2010 godfather of the project "

Holzwickede Holzwickede () is a municipality in the district of Unna (district), Unna in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is twinned with Weymouth, England, Weymouth, Louviers and Colditz. Mayors *1969–1975: Josef Wortmann *1975–1989: Heinrich Sch� ...

without racism - Holzwickede with Courage". In 1993, his partner John, an Englishman from London, "the great love", died of AIDS. Since 2008, it was obvious that Uecker had health problems; especially as strong weight loss was observed. When Uecker made his

HIV infection The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a preventable disease. It can ...

public in 2016, he explained that his illness was being reduced to the side effects of HIV blockers and he has since gained weight again by switching medication. According to his own information, he learned about the diagnosis in 1993. He is quoted as saying "I'm the prominent 'Longtime Survivor' ". In 1993, he was also battling against "

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

" which is, a malignant tumor of the

lymphatic system The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphoid organs, lympha ...

. He had several

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

treatments. Five years later, he had defeated the cancer, he states "I've been cancer-free for 25 years" in 2015. He owns a boot from

Frida Frida, Frieda, or Freida may refer to: People and fictional characters *Frida (given name), any of several people or characters ** *Frieda (surname), any of several people or characters *Afroditi Frida (born 1964), Greek singer *Frida (singer) ...

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

. He had traveled with

Thomas Hermanns Thomas Hermanns (born 5 March 1963) is a German TV presenter, comedian, screenwriter and director. He is the founder of the comedy show ''Quatsch Comedy Club''. Early life Hermanns was born in Bochum. During his childhood, he lived in Nuremberg. ...

to an auction in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. His autobiography "I'll do it!" was published by Fischer Verlag on 22 February 2018. ()

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uecker, Georg 1962 births Living people German male television actors German television personalities German gay actors German LGBTQ rights activists German people with disabilities German people of Norwegian descent LGBTQ actors with disabilities People with HIV/AIDS Male actors from Munich Activists with disabilities 20th-century German LGBTQ people 21st-century German LGBTQ people