Meret Becker (; born 15 January 1969) is a German actress and singer.
Life and career
Meret Becker was born in
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
, the daughter of the actors Monika Hansen and
Rolf Becker. She was raised in Berlin by her mother with her stepfather
Otto Sander along with her brother
Ben Becker
Ben Becker (born 19 December 1964) is a German film, theatre and voice actor.
Biography
Becker was born in Bremen, the son of actress Monika Hansen and actor Rolf Becker. He is the brother of actress Meret Becker and the stepson of Otto Sander ...
. She is the granddaughter of comedian Claire Schlichting and the niece of the acrobat and comedian
Jonny Buchardt.
In 1996, she married
Alexander Hacke, a member of the band
Einstürzende Neubauten
(, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, ...
, who contributed songs to Becker's albums, including ''Noctambule''. They separated in 2000 and divorced two years later. Becker was a guest musician on Einstürzende Neubauten's album ''
Ende Neu'', singing ''Stella Maris'' in a duet with
Blixa Bargeld.
She played the character Ernal Eggstein in the 1997 German film ''
Comedian Harmonists'', as well as Katya, a prostitute, in ''
Painted Angels''. A year later, in 1998, she gave several performances along with
Nina Hagen
Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rise to prominence during the punk and Neue Deutsche Welle movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is ...
. The short but sold-out tour was titled "Wir heißen beide Anna" in which both Becker and Hagen sang several songs by
Bertold Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...
, set to music by
Paul Dessau and
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...
'. Becker appeared in
Rosa von Praunheim
Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, producer, professor of directing and one of the most influential and famous LGBT social move ...
's film ''
The Einstein of Sex'' (1999).
Meret has since recorded two studio albums, ''Nachtmahr'', which featured
Robert Rutman playing his giant
sheetmetal instruments on several tracks, and ''Fragiles''. Just like the first album, both of them contain songs, poetry and short stories, played with unusual instruments and avant-garde arrangements. In 1993, she appeared as the female singer in the
U2 video for "
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". In 2005, she was a supporting actress in the film ''
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 ...
'', directed by
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
'.
Since 2020 she appeaered as a character of Esther Kasabian in a German neo-noir television series
Babylon Berlin.
Solo discography
* ''Noctambule'' (1996)
* ''Nachtmahr'' (1998)
* ''Fragiles'' (2001)
* ''Pipermint - Das Leben, möglicherweise OST'' (2005)
* ''Deins & Done'' (2014)
Collaborations
* ''1993-'95'' (live album with Ars Vitalis) (1995)
* Interviewed by
Clive James
Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.[BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...]
special,
''Clive James's Postcard From Berlin'' (1995)
* ''Stella Maris'' (duet with
Einstürzende Neubauten
(, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, ...
) (1996)
* Performed on
Dorothy Carter's album ''Lonesome Dove'' (2000)
Selected filmography
* ''
Put on Ice'' (1980), as Anna
* ''
Werner – Beinhart!'' (1990), as Rumpelstilzchen
* ' (1991), as Leah
* ' (1992), as Hanna Hecht
* ' (1992), as Bride
* ''
Little Sharks'' (1992), as Herta
* ''Geteilte Nacht'' (1993), as Katrin
* ' (1993)
* ''Music Video for
Stay (Faraway, So Close!) by
U2'' (1993, Video short), as Band's Lead Singer
* ''
The Innocent'' (1993), as Ulrike
* ''Fernes Land Pa-Isch'' (1994, released in 2000), as Bibi
* ''
The Blue One'' (1994), as Isabelle Skrodt
* ''Shameless'' (1994, TV film), as Rita
* ' (1994), as Sunny Schaefer
* ''
The Promise'' (1994), as Sophie
* ''
Killer Condom'' (1996), as Phyllis Higgins
* ' (1997), as Zille Watussnik
* ' (1997, TV film), as Charlie
* ''
Life is All You Get'' (1997), as Moni
* ''
Comedian Harmonists'' (1997), as Erna Eggstein
* ''
Painted Angels'' (1998), as Katya
* ''Hundert Jahre Brecht'' (1998), as Jenny
* ''Das Gelbe vom Ei'' (1999, TV film), as Fanny Freese
* ''
Annaluise & Anton'' (1999), as Elli Gast
* ''
The Volcano'' (1999), as Tilly von Kammer
* ''
The Einstein of Sex'' (1999), as a worker
* ''Rote Glut'' (2000, TV film), as Judith Vegener
* ' (2000), as Lulu
* ''Planet Alex'' (2001), as Frau
* ''Heinrich der Säger'' (2001), as Teresa Grantke
* ''Null Uhr 12'' (2001), as Kathrin
* ''Nogo'' (2002), as Maria
* ''Mutti – Der Film'' (2003), as Dr. Loch
* ''Poem – Ich setzte den Fuß in die Luft und sie trug'' (2003)
* ''Hamlet_X'' (2003), as Hamlet
* ' (2003, TV film), as Dodo
* ' (2004, TV miniseries), as Lou Hofmann
* ' (2004), as Sanja
* ' (2005), as Jenny
* ''
The Call of the Toad'' (2005), as Sophia
* ' (2005), as Maria Pinn
* ' (2005), as Sophie Paulsen
* ''
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 ...
'' (2005), as Yvonne
* ' (2006), as Mathilda Berger
* ''
My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler'' (2007), as Sekretärin
* ''
Messy Christmas'' (2007), as Pauline
* ''Die Glücklichen'' (2008), as Helene
* ''Peaceful Times'' (2008), as Musiklehrerin
* ''Record 12'' (2009), as Alena
* ''
Boxhagener Platz'' (2010), as Renate
* ''Gurbet – Fremde Heimat'' (2010), as Irina
* ' (2010), as Helena Seliger
* ''
Kokowääh'' (2011), as Charlotte
* ''Fliegende Fische müssen ins Meer'' (2011), as Roberta Meiringer
* ' (2011, TV film), as Katja
* ''
Sources of Life'' (2013), as Elisabeth Freytag
* ''
Wetlands
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
'' (2013), as Helen's mother
* ' (2013), as Harriet
* ''Lügen und andere Wahrheiten'' (2014), as Coco
* ''Mann im Spagat: Pace, Cowboy, Pace'' (2016), as Lenker Gaby
* ''A Change in the Weather'' (2017), as Kalle
* ''Wer hat eigentlich die Liebe erfunden?'' (2018), as Alex
* ''
Little Miss Dolittle'' (2018), as Oberst Essig
* ' (2019), as Britta
Awards
* 1995
Bavarian Film Awards, Best Actress for ''Das Versprechen''
* 1998
German Film Awards, Outstanding Individual Achievement: Supporting Actress in ''Comedian Harmonists''
* 2005
Max Ophüls Festival, Film Score Award for ''Pipermint - Das Leben, möglicherweise'' OST
References
External links
Official website
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Meret
1969 births
Living people
Actresses from Bremen (city)
German film actresses
German television actresses
German voice actresses
German women singers
Musicians from Bremen (city)
20th-century German actresses
21st-century German actresses