Volker Lechtenbrink (18 August 1944 – 22 November 2021) was a German actor on stage, in film and television, a singer-songwriter,

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

artist, stage director and theatre manager. He played in the anti-war movie '' The Bridge'' in 1959 at age 14. He appeared in popular television series including '' Der Kommissar'', '' Der Alte'' and '' Tatort''. Lechtenbrink was stage director at the Ernst Deutsch Theater in Hamburg, and

intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

of the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele.

Early life

Lechtenbrink was born in Cranz,

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

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 ...

(now Zelenogradsk, Russia), but grew up in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

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 ...

where his family lived after World War II. He started his career at the age of 14 acting in the Oscar-nominated anti-war movie '' The Bridge'' (1959) by director Bernhard Wicki. After leaving the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums a year after completing his mittlere Reife, he was educated at the drama school of the

Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg The , also known as HFBK Hamburg, is an arts university in Hamburg, in northern Germany. It dates to 1767, when it was called the ; later it became known as . The main building, in the Uhlenhorst quarter of Hamburg-Nord borough, was designed by ...

. He worked as an actor, later also stage director at the Ernst Deutsch Theater in Hamburg. Between 2004 and 2006, he was the theatre's

. From 1995 and 1997, he was also intendant of the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele.

Career

Lechtenbrink acted in several German television productions during the last decades, including '' 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 ...

'', '' Der Alte'', '' Tatort'', '' Ein Fall für zwei'' and some Rosamunde Pilcher films. In 2006, he played one of the central roles in the short-lived television series ''M.E.T.R.O. – Ein Team auf Leben und Tod''. He was the German

voice of Burt Reynolds,

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

, Avery Brooks and Dennis Quaid. Besides his work as an actor he also started a very successful career as a singer and songwriter during the 1970s and 1980s, with songs like "Der Macher" and "Ich mag", some his own, others German versions of country rock ballads. He wrote the lyrics to the song " Rücksicht", performed by the duo Hoffmann & Hoffmann at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, achieving 5th place in a field of 20.

Personal life

Lechtenbrink was married five times, including the actresses and , and had three children. He lived in Berlin and Hamburg. He died on 22 November 2021, aged 77.

Awards

In 2010, Lechtenbrink was awarded the for a role in '' Frost/Nixon'' at the Hamburger Kammerspiele. In 2014, he was awarded the Biermann Ratjen Medal of the City of Hamburg. The city of Hamburg honoured his life achievements in 2021 by granting him the Gustaf Gründgens Prize. He passed the prize money of €15,000 to three charity organisations. He won the Hersfeld-Preis (Großer Hersfeld-Preis) in 1997.

Albums

Source: * 1976 ''Der Macher'' * 1977 ''Volker Lechtenbrink Nr. 2'' * 1977 ''Alltagsgeschichten'' * 1978 ''Meine Tür steht immer offen'' * 1978 ''Der Spieler'' * 1980 ''Leben so wie ich es mag'' * 1981 ''Schon möglich'' * 1982 ''Wer spielt mit mir'' * 1982 ''Ich mag'' * 1983 ''Lebe heute'' * 1984 ''Zurückgelehnt'' * 1987 ''Ich kann gewinnen'' * 1989 ''Herzschlag''

Filmography

Films and television and television series with Lechtenbrink include: * ''

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) * ''Corinne und der Seebär'' (1966, TV film) * ''Bratkartoffeln inbegriffen'' (1967, TV film) * '' Der Kommissar: Das Ungeheuer'' (1969, TV series episode) * '' Der Kommissar: Lagankes Verwandte'' (1971, TV series episode) * '' Sonderdezernat K1: Kassensturz um Mitternacht'' (1973, TV series episode) * '' Sonderdezernat K1: Flucht'' (1975, TV series episode) * '' Sonderdezernat K1: MP-9mm frei Haus'' (1977, TV series episode) * ' (1977, TV miniseries) * '' Iron Gustav'' (1979, TV miniseries) * '' Sonderdezernat K1: Die Rache eines V-Mannes'' (1981, TV series episode) * ' (1986) * ''

: Schonzeit für Mörder'' (1986, TV series episode) * '' Ein Fall für zwei: Irgendwann'' (1987, TV series episode) * ''

: Ein Weg in die Freiheit'' (1987, TV series episode) * '' Der Fahnder: Nordend'' (1988, TV series episode) * '' Die Männer vom K3: Spiel über zwei Banden'' (1988, TV series episode) * ''

: Wie kriegen wir Bodetzki?'' (1989, TV series episode) * '' Ein Fall für zwei: Gewissensbisse'' (1989, TV series episode) * '' Der Hausgeist'' (1991–1993, TV series, 19 episodes) * '' By Way of the Stars'' (1992, TV miniseries) * '' Ein Fall für zwei: Rache'' (1993, TV series episode) * ' (2011)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lechtenbrink, Volker 1944 births 2021 deaths People from Zelenogradsk Actors from East Prussia Musicians from East Prussia German male television actors German male film actors German male voice actors German male stage actors German male singer-songwriters German theatre directors German voice directors German theatre managers and producers People educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors 20th-century German male singers 21st-century German male singers 20th-century German songwriters 21st-century German songwriters Male actors from Hamburg Male actors from Bremen (city)