Günter Hans Lamprecht (21 January 1930 – 4 October 2022) was a German film and stage actor, best-known internationally for his leading role in the Fassbinder miniseries Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) and as a ship captain in the epic war film Das Boot (1981).

Günter Lamprecht
Born
Günter Hans Lamprecht

21 January 1930
Died4 October 2022(2022-10-04) (aged 92)
OccupationActor
Years active1959–2022

Life and career

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Lamprecht was born in Berlin, the son of a taxi driver. After training at the Max Reinhardt Seminar, he had his first theatre engagement at the Schauspielhaus Bochum. He joined the Theater Oberhausen in 1959, and remained with them until 1961.[1] His roles there included Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and John in Gerhart Hauptmann's The Rats.

 
Lamprecht in the television film Der Tod zu Basel [de] (1990), with Hilde Ziegler

Lamprecht began appearing on television in the 1960s. He was cast in the series Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi, which ran from 1973 to 1975. His first film role was in Ottokar Runze's Knife in the Back [de] (1975). In 1976, Lamprecht won the Ernst Lubitsch Award for his performance in Baker's Bread [de], and in 1978 won the Goldene Kamera award for Best German Actor for Rückfälle.[2] He played the leading role in the 1979 TV movie Frontiers of Darkness (Schattengrenze).[3]

In 1973, filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder cast Lamprecht in his series World on a Wire. He recruited him again for The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979). Fassbinder then gave Lamprecht the lead role of Franz Biberkopf in his acclaimed 1980 miniseries Berlin Alexanderplatz, based on Alfred Döblin's 1929 novel of the same name. Turner Classic Movies wrote of his performance: "Lamprecht was quite extraordinary as the hapless center of gravity as Biberkopf is drawn into and betrayed by Berlin's underworld in the days spanning from the end of WWI to the Nazi era."[3] The role won him Best Actor at the Munich Film Festival, and he came in third place at the American National Society of Film Critics Awards.[2]

Lamprecht had a role in the World War II submarine film Das Boot (1981), playing the captain of the SS Weser, and continued to appear regularly on German television. One of his last roles was Paul von Hindenburg in the German TV production Babylon Berlin in 2017.

Personal life

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In 1999, Lamprecht and his partner, actress Claudia Amm, were badly injured in a mass shooting.[4][5]

Lamprecht's memoirs, And Sadly I'm Still: A Youth in Berlin was published in 2000, where he discusses his experiences in Nazi Germany and the postwar years. His second book, A Hellish Thing, Life was published in 2007. He died on 4 October 2022 in Bad Godesberg at the age of 92.[6]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1960 Die Brücke des Schicksals [de] Schläger in Tanzbar
1973 World on a Wire Fritz Walfang TV film
1974 Martha Dr. Herbert Salomon TV film
1975 The Unguarded House The Baker TV film
Stellenweise Glatteis Karl Maiwald TV film
Knife in the Back [de] Schöffe
1976 Der Stumme [de] Kahlmann
Die Ilse ist weg [de] Kurt TV film
Baker's Bread [de] Georg Baum
1977 Planübung [de] Bundeswehr Officer TV film
Rückfälle Manfred Burger TV film
1978 The Marriage of Maria Braun Hans Wetzel
1979 Frontiers of Darkness Matthias Berger TV film
The Great Runaway [de] Piesch TV miniseries
1980 Das gefrorene Herz Gwerder
Berlin Alexanderplatz Franz Biberkopf his magnum opus
1981 Das Boot Captain of the 'Weser'
1982 Fleeting Acquaintances Walter TV film
1983 Milo Barus, the Strongest Man in the World Milo Barus [de]
1984 Love Is Not an Argument [de] Felix
What's Up, Chancellor? [de] Chef
Ein Mann namens Parvus Alexander Parvus TV film
Super Kuballa
After Your Decrees [de] Sergeant Kleinschmidt
Silent Poison Philipp Fäsch TV film
Gnadenlos Jakob TV film
1985 Liebfrauen Philipp TV film
Die Komplizen Joseph Lambert TV film
Red Kiss Herschel
1987 Gegen die Regel Klaus Weber TV film
1991 Amaurose
1992 Herzsprung Vater
Moebius [de] Arnold
1993 Gefährliche Verbindung Kiefer TV film
Engel ohne Flügel Paul
1997 Berlin – Moskau Jürgen Schröder TV film
Friedrich und der verzauberte Einbrecher Fischer
Comedian Harmonists Erik Charell
1998 Black Ice Jupp Scholten TV film
2002 Epstein's Night [de] Groll / Giesser
2013 Wir Sprecher voice
2017 Babylon Berlin President Hindenburg TV series

References

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  1. ^ Andrea Rickers: Hier ist es menschlich, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. September 2010. In German.
  2. ^ a b "Günter Lamprecht Awards". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b Gunter Lamprecht. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  4. ^ "Eltern des Amokläufers von Reichenhall sollen vor Gericht". Spiegel Online. 17 November 1999. Retrieved 11 January 2015. In German.
  5. ^ Motiv bis heute unklar. Heimatzeitung (27 October 2009). In German.
  6. ^ "Günter Lamprecht ist tot: "Tatort"-Kommissar im Alter von 92 Jahren gestorben". 7 October 2022.
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