Wolf Kaiser (26 October 1916 – 22 October 1992) was a German theatre and film actor. He grew up in Switzerland, where he studied chemistry and physiology. In 1937 he was deemed unfit for service in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

, and then went to Berlin where he trained as an actor.

Career

Kaiser made his stage début in 1941 at the Stadtheater in

Jihlava Jihlava (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava (river), Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihla ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, when that country was occupied by Germany. This led to Kaiser's engagement at the

Volksbühne The Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") is a theater in Berlin. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the GDR's capital. It has been called Berlin's most iconic theatre. About The V ...

in Berlin from 1942 until 1945. Kaiser then had engagements in Frankfurt am Main,

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 ...

and the Schauspiel

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. In 1950 Kaiser returned to Berlin, where

Bertolt 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 p ...

recruited him to the Deutsches Theater and the

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langh ...

. Kaiser starred as Mack the Knife in Brecht and Weill's ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

'' in more than 450 times. Kaiser stayed with the Berliner Ensemble until 1967, becoming one of East Germany's foremost stage actors. Kaiser had acted in films since the Second World War, including roles in

Wolfgang Staudte Wolfgang Staudte (9 October 1906 – 19 January 1984), born Georg Friedrich Staudte, was a German film director, script writer and actor. He was born in Saarbrücken. After 1945, Staudte also looked at German guilt in the cinema. Alongside ...

's ''

Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck ''Die Geschichte vom Kleinen Muck'' (English: ''The Story of Little Muck'') is a 1953 in film, 1953 feature film directed by Wolfgang Staudte, adapted from the 19th century fairy tale, ''Little Muck (German fairy tale), Little Muck'', written by ...

'' (1953),

Kurt Maetzig Kurt Maetzig (25 January 1911 – 8 August 2012) was a German film director who had a significant effect on the film industry in East Germany. He was one of the most respected filmmakers of the GDR. After his retirement he lived in Wildkuh ...

's '' Ernst Thälmann, Sohn Seiner Klasse'' (1954),

Martin Hellberg Martin Hellberg (also known as Martin Heinrich, 31 January 1905 – 31 October 1999) was a German actor, director and writer. Life Martin Hellberg was born in 1905 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, as a son of a pastor. From 1922 to 1924, Martin Hell ...

's ''

Thomas Müntzer Thomas Müntzer ( – 27 May 1525) was a German preacher and theologian of the early Reformation whose opposition to both Martin Luther and the Catholic Church led to his open defiance of late-feudal authority in central Germany. Müntzer was f ...

'' and

Peter Palitzsch Peter Palitzsch (11 September 1918 – 18 December 2004) was a German theatre director. He worked with Bertolt Brecht in his Berliner Ensemble from the beginning in 1949, and was in demand internationally as a representative of Brecht's ideas. He ...

and

Manfred Wekwerth Manfred Wekwerth (; 3 December 1929 – 16 July 2014) was a German theatre and film director and writer. He was the director of the Berliner Ensemble theatre from 1977 to 1991. He was also an informant for East Germany's Stasi from 1965 until ...

's film of Brecht's play, '' Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder'' (1961). Kaiser's first starring role was in 1956 in Hellberg's ''Die Millionen der Yvette'', and he was noted for his roles in Helmut Spieß's 1956 film version of ''

The Valiant Little Tailor "The Brave Little Tailor" or "The Valiant Little Tailor" or "The Gallant Tailor" (German: ''Das tapfere Schneiderlein'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 20). "The Brave Little Tailor" is a story of Aarne–Thompson T ...

'',

's 1959 film version of

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

's ''

Intrigue and Love ''Intrigue and Love'', sometimes ''Love and Intrigue'', ''Love and Politics'', or ''Luise Miller'' (, ; literally "''Cabal and Love''") is a five-act Play (theatre), play written by the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller. His third play, it was ...

'' and Robert Vernay's 1965 film ''Das Stacheltier – Das blaue Zimmer''. From 1969 Kaiser concentrated his career on screen acting, including

Peter Zadek Peter Zadek (; 19 May 1926 – 30 July 2009) was a German director of theatre, opera and film, a translator and a screenwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest directors in German-speaking theater. Biography Peter Zadek was born on 19 May ...

's 1973 version of ''Kleiner Mann – was nun?'' and

Egon Günther Egon Günther (30 March 1927 – 31 August 2017)
in: Tagesspiegel, 31 August 2017. ...

's 1978 television version of ''Ursula''. Kaiser's last major film role was in 1981 as Casanova in Martin Eckermann's ''Casanova auf Schloß Dux''.IMDb: Casanova auf Schloß Dux
/ref> Kaiser appeared frequently on East German television.

Death

Kaiser believed in and supported the East German Communist state. He was distressed at its collapse in 1989, its corruption that came to light after its fall and

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

, and the return of capitalism and mass unemployment to eastern Germany from 1989 onwards. Kaiser killed himself in 1992 at the age of 75. He is buried in the Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichswerder Cemetery in Berlin.

Awards

*1961:

Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic The Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic (German: ''Kunstpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik'') was an East German state award bestowed on individuals for contributions in various fields of art. History The Art Prize was annually a ...

*1965:

National Prize of East Germany The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) () was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement. With scientific achievem ...

2nd Class *1967: National Prize of East Germany 3rd Class for collaboration in ''Geduld der Kühnen'' *1968: National Prize of East Germany 1st Class for collaboration in ''Zeit ist Glück'' *1977: Fatherland Service Order in Silver *1981: Fatherland Service Order in Gold

Selected filmography

* ''

Life Calls ''Life Calls'' (German: ''Das Leben ruft'') is a 1944 German drama film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Sybille Schmitz, Paul Klinger and Elsa Wagner. It was based on the 1898 play ''Mutter Erde'' by Max Halbe. It was shot at the Ba ...

'' (1944) * ''

The Last Year ''The Last Year'' () is a 1951 East German drama film directed by E.W. Fiedler and Hans Heinrich (director), Hans Heinrich and starring Inge Keller, Hans Klering and Hermann Stövesand.Reimer p.21 It was made by the state-controlled DEFA in commun ...

'' (1951) * ''

'' (1959)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Wolf 1916 births 1992 deaths Male actors from Frankfurt Actors from Hesse-Nassau German communists German male stage actors German male film actors East German actors Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp) Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Recipients of the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic Suicides by jumping in Germany German male television actors 20th-century German male actors 1992 suicides German expatriates in Switzerland