Maria Katharina Helene Sebaldt (26 April 1930 – 4 April 2023) was a German actress.

Life

The daughter of a department head of the Paramount film distribution company took private acting lessons from 1946 to 1949 and passed an acting examination in 1951. As early as 1947 she made her stage debut in Sondershausen as ''Edeltraud Panse'' in Maximilian Böttcher's ''Krach im Hinterhaus''. Numerous theater engagements followed, among others in

Sondershausen Sondershausen () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km (30 mi) north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was merged with Sondershausen. Until 1918 i ...

, Berlin (Renaissance Theater, Theater Club British Center) and Munich. From 1965 until his death in 2010, Maria Sebaldt was married to her colleague Robert Freitag. Together with Freitag's first wife, the actress Maria Becker, she created the cookbook ''Eat and Drink and Be Happy'' in 1997, ''Favorite dishes from Maria Becker & Maria Sebaldt''. Maria Sebaldt had a daughter, Katharina Freitag, and a grandson. She died in Munich on 4 April 2023, at the age of 92. She was buried next to her husband in the Grünwald forest cemetery.

Film

In 1953, Sebaldt made her film debut alongside Rudolf Prack in '' When The Village Music Plays on Sunday Nights''. Since then, film and television have been her artistic focus. She played in music films like ''

The Gypsy Baron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai ...

'', dramas like '' The Story of Anastasia'' (with

Lilli Palmer Lilli Palmer (; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Glob ...

in the title role), comedies like Helmut Käutner's ''

The Zürich Engagement ''The Zürich Engagement'' () is a 1957 West German comedy film directed by Helmut Käutner and starring Liselotte Pulver, Paul Hubschmid, and Bernhard Wicki.It is also known by the alternative title ''The Affairs of Julie''. It was shot at the ...

'' (with Lilo Pulver) and '' Father, Mother and Nine Children'' (with

Heinz Erhardt Heinz Erhardt (; 20 February 1909 – 5 June 1979) was a German comedian, musician, entertainer, actor and poet. Life Heinz Erhardt was born in Riga, the son of Baltic German Kapellmeister Gustav Erhardt. He lived most of his childhood at his gr ...

), crime fiction like '' The Black Sheep'' after Gilbert Keith Chesterton (with

Heinz Rühmann Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...

as ''Father Brown''), and the gangster movie parody ''Oops, here's Eddie!'' (with

Eddie Constantine Eddie Constantine (born Israel Constantine; October 29, 1913 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of secret agent L ...

), westerns like '' Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace'', and literary adaptations like Alfred Weidenmann's two-parter based on Thomas Mann's '' The Buddenbrooks'' and Helmut Käutner's adaptation of Carl Zuckmayer's '' The Captain from Köpenick''. She often embodied sympathetic characters, but also cunning gangsters such as ''Virginia Peng'' in the real-life version of Manfred Schmidt's popular comic series '' Nick Knatterton''.

Television

Sebaldt also became popular through her roles in series such as '' Ich heirate eine Familie'' or as the caring ''Hannelore Wichert'', which she embodied in the ZDF series '' Die Wicherts von nebenan'' between 1986 and 1991. In addition, she had numerous guest appearances in series such as ''

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 ...

'', ''

Das Traumschiff ' ("The Dream Ship") is a German television drama series by ZDF. The series, about a cruise ship that travels to places around the world, debuted in 1981 and became one of the most-watched television shows in Germany. As of 2024, more than 100 e ...

'', '' 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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''.

Radio and voice acting

In addition, Sebaldt worked extensively for radio (NDR, RIAS, SFB), and was the German voice for internationally renowned actresses as

Antonella Lualdi Antonella Lualdi (born Antonietta de Pascale, 6 July 1931 – 10 August 2023) was an Italian actress and singer. She appeared in many Italian and French films in the 1950s and 1960s, notably in Claude Autant-Lara's film ''The Red and the Black'' ...

''(

The Red and the Black ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (; meaning ''The Red and the Black'') is a psychological novel in two volumes by Stendhal, published in 1830. It chronicles the attempts of a provincial young man to rise socially beyond his modest upbringing through a c ...

)'',

Eva Marie Saint Eva Marie Saint (born July 4, 1924) is an American retired actress. In a career that spanned nearly 80 years, she won an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two British Academy Film Awa ...

''(

A Hatful of Rain ''A Hatful of Rain'' is a 1957 American drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Eva Marie Saint, Don Murray, Anthony Franciosa, Lloyd Nolan and Henry Silva. The story is based on a 1955 Broadway play of the same name

)'' and

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American retired actress. She made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a characteristic nuance and depth of character. ...

''( Rally Round the Flag, Boys!'' and '' The Three Faces of Eve)''

Selected filmography

Additional films can be found on German and Swedish databases. * ''

Such a Charade ''Such a Charade'' () is a 1953 West German comedy film directed by Erik Ode and starring Josefin Kipper, Joachim Brennecke and Heli Finkenzeller.Bock & Bergfelder p. 346 Main cast * Josefin Kipper as Sabine Keller * Joachim Brennecke as Stef ...

'' (1953) * '' Beloved Life'' (1953) * '' Street Serenade'' (1953) * '' The Stronger Woman'' (1953) * '' When The Village Music Plays on Sunday Nights'' (1953) * ''

The Little Czar ''The Little Czar'' () is a 1954 French-German historical drama film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Luis Mariano, Sonja Ziemann and Iván Petrovich. It is based on the operetta '' Der Zarewitsch'' by Franz Lehár. It was shot ...

'' (1954) * '' The Perfect Couple'' (1954) * ''

'' (1954) * '' A Girl Without Boundaries'' (1955) * ''

Alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...

'' (1955) * ''

Father's Day Father's Day is a day set aside for honoring one's father, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. "Father's Day" complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Mother's Day and, in som ...

'' (1955) * '' Love Without Illusions'' (1955) * '' Night of Decision'' (1956) *'' The Story of Anastasia'' (1956) * ''

The Zurich Engagement ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1957) * '' Lemke's Widow'' (1957) * '' A Woman Who Knows What She Wants'' (1958) * ' (1958) * '' Father, Mother and Nine Children'' (1958) * ''

Peter Shoots Down the Bird ''Peter Shoots Down the Bird'' () is a 1959 West German comedy film directed by Géza von Cziffra and starring Peter Alexander, Germaine Damar and Maria Sebaldt. It was shot at the Spandau Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by ...

'' (1959) * '' Nick Knatterton’s Adventure'' (1959) * '' A Thousand Stars Aglitter'' (1959) * ''

I Learned That in Paris I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plu ...

'' (1960) * '' The Last of Mrs. Cheyney'' (1961) * '' Barbara'' (1961) * '' The Bird Seller'' (1962) * ' (1963) * ''

Charley's Aunt ''Charley's Aunt'' is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. The story centres on Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate whose friends Jack and Charley persuade him to impersonate the latter's aunt. The complications of the plot in ...

'' (1963) * '' A Mission for Mr. Dodd'' (1964) * '' Los Pistoleros de Arizona'' (1965) * '' Toutes griffes dehors'' (1982) * '' Germaine Damar – Der tanzende Stern'' (2011)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sebaldt, Maria 1930 births 2023 deaths German film actresses Actresses from Berlin 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses People from Steglitz-Zehlendorf