Sonja Sutter (17 January 1931 – 1 June 2017) was a German film actress. She was one of the few actors that was allowed to appear in productions in both East and West Germany. She is remembered for her role as Fraulein Rottenmeier in the German TV series ' from 1978. This series aired in many countries in Europe during the 1980s and 1990s, and was dubbed into several languages. She is also remembered for having had several roles in the TV 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 ...

'' from 1983 to 1998.

Biography

Sonja Sutter was born in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. She went on the Rudolf Steiner School in Freiburg but ended with only a limited education but she later studied Greek and Latin. At that time she matured into the decision to become an actress. Her stage debut was in 1950 at the Municipal Theater. Later she worked in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, at the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and at the State Theater in Munich. In test shots for a movie by and with Luis Trenker, the

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PR ...

director

Slatan Dudow Slatan Theodor Dudow (, Zlatan Dudov; 30 January 1903 – 12 July 1963) was a Bulgarian-born German film director and screenwriter who made a number of films during the Weimar Republic and in East Germany. Biography Early life and career Dud ...

discovered and engaged Sutter for the role as Renate Ludwig in the German movie '' Frauenschicksale'' in 1952. After this movie many film offers came from

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and Sutter was thus one of the few artists of her time, which worked on two German territories. Her big breakthrough came in 1957 with Lissy, an award-winning movie, which gave Sonja Sutter a certain notoriety in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. During the 1950s she starred in movies like '' Die Barrings'' (1955), '' Star mit fremden Federn'' (1955), Das Schweigen im Walde (1955), Drei Birken auf der Heide (1956) and Johannisnacht (1956). In 1961, she lost the opportunity to participate in further DEFA films related with the construction of the Berlin Wall From 1961 until her death, she lived 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. ...

and worked at the Burgtheater. She appeared in 16 TV-movies and in such popular German TV-series like '' Der Kommissar'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''Derrick''. In ''Derrick'' she played in 6 episodes from 1983-98.

Death

Sutter died on 1 June 2017 in

Baden bei Wien Baden (Central Bavarian: ''Bodn''), unofficially distinguished from Baden (disambiguation), other Badens as Baden bei Wien (Baden near Vienna), is a spa town in Austria. It serves as the capital of Baden (district of Austria), Baden District in t ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, at the age of 86.

Filmography

Films

*1976 ''

Die Wildente ''Die Wildente'' (English: The Wild Duck) is a 1976 German-Austrian feature film based on the play ''The Wild Duck'' by Henrik Ibsen. Bruno Ganz played the leading role under the direction of Hans W. Geißendörfer. Cast * Bruno Ganz as Gregers W ...

'' (Frau Sörby) *1976 '' Ich will leben'' (Lucille) *1961 '' Jedermann'' (Gute Werke) *1958 '' Der Lotterieschwede'' (Frau Jönsson) *1958 ''Sie kannten sich alle'' (Herte Klausner) *1958 ''Tatort Berlin'' (Walters Freundin) *1957 '' Lissy'' (Liesbeth 'Lissy' Frohmeyer) *1956 ''

Three Birch Trees on the Heath ''Three Birch Trees on the Heath'' (German: ''Drei Birken auf der Heide'') is a 1956 West German drama film directed by Ulrich Erfurth and starring Margit Saad, Sonja Sutter and Helmuth Schneider. It was one of 54 heimatfilm pictures produced t ...

'' (Rose Heidkämper) *1956 ''Johannisnacht'' (Irene Hofmann) *1955 '' Die Barrings'' (Gisa von Eyff) *1955 ''Star mit fremden Federn'' (Isolde Sturm) *1955 ''Das Schweigen im Walde'' (Lo Petri) *1954 ' (Lena) *1952 ''Frauenschicksale'' (Renate Ludwig)

TV

*2005 ''

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 ...

'' (TV series) – "Der Nachruf" (Gerda Walser) *2003 ''

Schlosshotel Orth ''Schlosshotel Orth '' is an Austrian television series. See also *List of Austrian television series External links

* 1990s Austrian television series 2000s Austrian television series 1996 Austrian television series debuts 2004 Aust ...

'' (TV series) - "Falsche Fährten" (Elisabeth) *2000 ''The Old Fox'' (TV series) – "Der Schatten des Todes" (Berta Kolberg) *1998 ''

'' (TV series) – "Mama Kaputtke" (Kraus) *1995 ''Derrick'' (TV series) – "Eines Mannes Herz" (Eva Dalinger) *1995 ''Lieben wie gedruckt 'Dora Krummacher'' (TV series) *1993 ''The Old Fox'' (TV series) – "Korruption" (Ilse Brinkmar) *1992 ''Derrick'' (TV series) – "Der stille Mord" (Greta Zinser) *1992 ''Derrick'' (TV series) – "Mord im Treppenhaus" (Helga Strohm) *1991 ''The Old Fox'' (TV series) – "Das Gericht" (Beate Kranz) *1990 ''Wilhelm Tell'' (Armgard) (TV movie) *1989 ''The Old Fox'' (TV series) – "Bahnhofsbaby" (Carola Wendisch) *1986 ''Derrick'' (TV series) – "Die Rolle seines Lebens" (Lydia Theimer) *1983 ''Derrick'' (TV series) - "Die Tote in der Isar" (Gerlinde Rudolf) *1981 ''

'' (TV series) – "Mord in der Oper" (Frau Homann) *1980 ''Die weiße Stadt'' (Lepa) (TV movie) *1978 ' (Fraulein Rottenmeier) (TV series) *1976 '' Der Kommissar - Der Held des Tages'' (Frau Weise) (TV series) *1976 ''Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig'' (Mutter Hogelmann) (TV movie) *1970/II ''Nachbarn'' (Sie) (TV movie) *1970 ''Jedermann'' (Glaube) (TV movie) *1968 ''Schmutzige Hände'' (Olga) (TV movie) *1965 ''Onkel Wanja - Szenen aus dem Landleben'' (Jelena Andrejewna - seine Frau) (TV movie) *1964 ''Die letzte Folge'' (Gwendoline) (TV movie) *1964 ''Heinrich VI'' (TV movie) *1963 ''Ein Dorf ohne Männer'' (Die Blonde) (TV movie) *1963 ''Elektra'' (TV movie) *1962 ''Lumpazivagabundus'' (Amorosa - Beschützerin der wahren Liebe) (TV movie) *1961 ''Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua'' (Leonore) (TV movie) *1957 ''Der Geisterzug'' (Julia) (TV movie) *1957 ''Mrs. Cheneys Ende'' (Mrs. Cheney) (TV movie) *1957 ''Minna von Barnhelm'' (Minna von Barnhelm) (TV movie)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutter, Sonja 1931 births 2017 deaths German film actresses German television actresses Actresses from Freiburg im Breisgau 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses