Walter Sedlmayr
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Walter Sedlmayr (6 January 1926 – 14 July 1990) was a popular German stage, television, and film
actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
from
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
. His murder in 1990 was widely publicized.


Career

After his 1945 wartime '' Abitur,'' Sedlmayr served as a '' Flakhelfer'' towards the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. His acting career began with minor roles with the '' Münchner Kammerspiele,'' for which he played more than 25 years, and in numerous '' Heimatfilme'' during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1971, by now an associate of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Sedlmayr was briefly arrested because a stolen artwork, the ''Blutenburger Madonna'', was found in his house. He was later acquitted of all charges, and the media attention given to his trial helped him gain major roles. His breakthrough came with the leading role in Hans-Jürgen Syberberg's film '' Theodor Hierneis oder Wie man ehem. Hofkoch wird'' (1972). Afterwards, Sedlmayr was cast in numerous popular German TV shows, including ', ''Der Herr Kottnik'', '' Der Millionenbauer'', and '' Polizeiinspektion 1''; he also frequently appeared on stage and in other media.


Murder

On 14 July 1990, Sedlmayr was found dead in the bedroom of his
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 ...
apartment. He had been tied up, stabbed in the stomach with a knife and beaten about the head with a hammer. On 21 May 1993, two half-brothers, Wolfgang Werlé and Manfred Lauber, former business associates of Sedlmayr, were found guilty of his murder and sentenced to life in prison. The killers were released from prison in 2007 and 2008. Sedlmayr's life and murder were the subject of the 2001 biopic ' by Jo Baier, where he was played by , and of an episode of the ARD TV series '' Die großen Kriminalfälle''. In 2009, the two men convicted of the killing took legal action demanding the removal of their names from the German and English language
Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
, arguing that it invaded their right to privacy. The names were removed from the German Wikipedia, while the English-speaking Wikipedia community declined to do so, supported by the
Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...
, which contested the validity of the ruling as it neither operates nor has assets in Germany. In December 2009, the Federal Court of Justice, the highest court of ordinary jurisdiction in Germany, ruled that the convicted have no right of removal of their names from internet archives as this would interfere too strongly with the right of free speech.Hendrik Steinkuhl
''Nachbeben bei Wikipedia: Vor 25 Jahren starb der Schauspieler Walter Sedlmayr ''
NOZ, 14 July 2015.
After this ruling, the names were again included in the German Wikipedia. In June 2018, the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
upheld the decision of the Federal Court of Justice to reject the request to ban publication of the killers' names.


Filmography


Film


TV appearances

*1964-1970: '' Das Kriminalmuseum'' - Kriminalkommissar Brunnert / Drogist / Ludwig Schmiedl / Bahnwärter / Bahn Herr Renz / Alois Hirsch *1969: ''Der Staudamm'' - Hering *1972: '' Eight Hours Don't Make a Day'' - Witwer *1972-1973: '' Tatort'' - Pröpper / Dünnkitz *1973: ''Drei Partner'' - Herr Kottnick *1973: '' World on a Wire'' - Janitor *1973-1975: '' Der Kommissar'' - Alfons Tolke / U-Bahn-Kontrolleur / Bürgermeister / Polizist *1974: ''Der Herr Kottnik'' - Alfred Kottnik *1974-1975: ''
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 ...
'' - Koch / Herr Huber *1975: ' - Erster Polizist *1975-1976: ''Spannagl & Sohn'' - Gustav Spannagl *1976: ' - Wiesner / Reiseleiter Wiesner *1976-1980: '' Vater Seidl und sein Sohn'' - Vater Ludwig Seidl *1976-1982: ''Reisen mit Walter Sedlmayr'' *1977-1988: '' Polizeiinspektion 1'' - Franz Josef Schöninger / Hans W. Hübner *1978-1980: '' Der Alte'' - Herbert Smolka / Ziesenhut *1979-1988: '' Der Millionenbauer'' - Josef Hartinger *1983: '' Monaco Franze'' - Dr. Felix Hallerstein *1983-1985: '' Unsere schönsten Jahre'' - Seidl *1986-1988: '' Der Schwammerlkönig'' - Dädy Schwaiger


Award

In 1973, Sedlmayr won the Outstanding Individual Achievement: Actor
Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...
award for his role in ''Theodor Hierneis oder Wie man ehemaliger Hofkoch wird''. In June 2000, the Walter-Sedlmayr-Platz was named after him.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sedlmayr, Walter 1926 births 1990 deaths 20th-century German male actors 20th-century German male writers German gay actors German male film actors German male television actors German murder victims German television directors German television writers German male television writers German LGBTQ screenwriters Gay screenwriters 1990 murders in Germany Male actors from Munich People murdered in Germany German Film Award winners Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Deaths by stabbing in Germany Deaths by beating in Europe Luftwaffenhelfer 20th-century German screenwriters 20th-century German LGBTQ people Murdered actors