Walter Renneisen (born 3 March 1940) is a German actor. After engagements at the Schauspiel Bochum, Theater Dortmund and Staatstheater Darmstadt, he has worked freelance. He founded a touring theatre company in 1977.

Walter Renneisen
Renneisen in 2007
Born (1940-03-03) 3 March 1940 (age 84)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
Years active1970–present
RelativesAlex Kingston (niece)
Websitewww.walter-renneisen.de

Career

edit

Born in Mainz, Renneisen grew up on a farm in Raunheim, Hesse, Germany.[1][2] He attended the Immanuel Kant School [de] in Rüsselsheim. He played as a percussionist in a band in Frankfurt clubs.[1] After his Abitur, he studied theatre, German and philosophy at the universities of Cologne and Mainz from 1960 to 1964. He then studied at the Westfälische Schauspielschule Bochum. After graduation, he was engaged at the Schauspiel Bochum, Theater Dortmund and Staatstheater Darmstadt, among others.[3] In Darmstadt, he was inspired by Rudolf Sellner.[4]

He has worked freelance since 1977, for the Staatstheater Stuttgart, Theater Bonn and Deutsches Theater Göttingen [de], among others, and also for several open-air theatres. He has frequently played in TV series such as Tatort, Der Alte, Derrick, Ein Fall für zwei and Siska. His roles have included Mephisto in Goethe's Urfaust, Cyrano in Pavel Kohout's Der arme Cyrano, the title role in Brecht's Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Herrn Arturo Ui, and Salieri in Shaffer's Amadeus. In 1995, he began to stage his own theatre productions on tour, presenting for example Patrick Süßkind's Der Kontrabaß, Die Sternstunde des Josef Bieder and Deutschland, Deine Hessen.[1] Renneisen has performed the play Der Kontrabaß for more than 30 years.[4] He has spoken in more than 800 radio plays.[3]

In 2016, he received the Rheingau Musik Preis for his life's work on stage and TV.[5] In 2018, he appeared at the Rheingau Musik Festival in a show titled Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, borrowing the title of the novella by Eichendorff (in English given as Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing) and presenting Renneisen's life including 50 years on stage, in literature and in music.[1]

Renneisen is married, has two daughters and two sons, and lives in Bensheim.[6] He is the maternal uncle of English actress Alex Kingston.[7]

Awards

edit

Renneisen has received several awards, including:[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Laue, Anna Kristina. "Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts?" (PDF) (in German). Rheingau Musik Festival. pp. 3–6. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  2. ^ "Walter Renneisen: Raunheim hat vollkommen sein Gesicht verloren". Rüsselsheimer Echo (in German). 1 October 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Walter Renneisen" (in German). Staatstheater Darmstadt. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b Benz, Stefan (2018). "Der Bensheimer Schauspieler Walter Renneisen ist ein unermüdliches Ein-Mann-Theater". Wiesbadener Kurier (in German). Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Musik: Schauspieler Renneisen mit dem Rheingau Musik Preis geehrt" (in German). Focus. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Verdienstkreuz für Walter Renneisen". morgenweb.de (in German). 5 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Herr Renneisen, waren Sie ein guter Schüler?". Darmstädter Echo (in German). 10 January 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
edit