Defamation photos on Flickr

Manfred Krug in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle (1968) by Truus, Bob & Jan too!

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East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Manfred Krug in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968).

German actor Manfred Krug (1937) was often cast as a socialist hero in DEFA films of the former GDR. He also became known in East Germany as a jazz singer. In 1977, he returned to West Germany, where he became a popular TV star.

Manfred Krug was born in 1937 in Duisburg, Germany. His parents were Rudolf and Alma Krug. In 1949, after the divorce of his parents, the 13-year-old Manfred moved with his father from Duisburg to the newly founded German Democratic Republic (GDR). The young Krug trained as a steel smelter in Brandenburg an der Havel. A splash of liquid steel caused a distinctive scar on his forehead. Here, Krug worked for four years in a steel plant and rolling mill. In the evenings he studied and decided to go to drama school. From 1955 to 1957 he was an apprentice at Bertolt Brecht's Berliner Ensemble. In 1957, Krug made his film debut as a guitarist in Die Schönste/The Most Beautiful (Ernesto Remani, Walter Beck, 1957). Filmportal.de: “Because of his strong build, his powerful body language, and his rebellious presence, Krug mainly played roles of villains and young rowdies in the early years of his movie career.” He played a smuggler in the crime film Ware für Katalonien/Goods For Catalonia (Richard Groschopp, 1959), based on a true fraud: a criminal sold the entire stock of optical instruments produced by the Zeiss factory in Jena, East Germany, to the Spanish Army and customers in Barcelona. Krug also appeared in the successful war film Fünf Patronenhülsen/Five Cartridges (Frank Beyer, 1960) opposite Erwin Geschonneck and Armin Mueller-Stahl. During the Spanish Civil War, a battalion of the International Brigades is cut off without water or ammunition. Five Cartridges won director Frank Beyer great acclaim, and also for Krug, many more film roles followed. He also achieved notability as a jazz singer. He appeared in the drama Professor Mamlock (Konrad Wolf, 1961) about a Jewish surgeon (Wolfgang Heinz) in Germany in the early 1930s. It was based on the play Professor Mamlock, written by the director's father Friedrich Wolf in 1933 when he was in exile in France. Krug was often cast as the tough guy with a heart of gold, such as in Auf der Sonnenseite/On the Sunny Side (Ralf Kirsten, 1962). In this musical comedy, he starred as a steel smelter and an amateur actor and jazz singer, who is sent to a drama school by his factory's committee. The film's script was largely inspired by Krug's biography: he worked in a steel factory before turning to an acting career. His jazz band and his singing career were also a central theme in the plot. DEFA historian Dagmar Schittly notes that Auf der Sonnenseite was the most popular East German film of the early 1960s, and Krug and the collective crew were awarded the Heinrich Greif Prize for their work. Krug managed to give the Communist system a human face and credibility. Krug and director Kirsten reunited for the historical adventure Mir nach, Canaillen!/Follow Me, Scoundrels (Ralf Kirsten, 1964). Two years later Krug starred in Spur der Steine/Trace of Stones (Frank Beyer,1966). After its release, the film was shown only for a few days, before being shelved due to conflicts with the Socialist Unity Party, the ruling communist party in the GDR. Krug’s portrayal of a rebellious and brash building site brigadier was deemed as too ‘anarchic’ by the censors. Filmportal.de: “Indeed, the role of the aggressive, yet down-to-earth worker who defies authority and often kicks over the traces has always been one of Krug's main roles.” Only after 23 years was the film shown again, in 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. His other DEFA-films include Die Fahne von Kriwoj Rog/The Banner of Krivoi Rog (Kurt Maetzig, 1967) starring Erwin Geschonneck, and the contemporary Eastern road movie Weite Straßen – stille Liebe/ Wide streets, silent love (Herrmann Zschoche, 1969) with Jaecki Schwarz, which made Krug a favourite among East-German teenage filmgoers.

In 1976 Manfred Krug participated in protests against the expulsion and stripping of GDR citizenship of singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann. Suddenly the popular Krug, who had won numerous awards in the years before (among them the National Award and the Medal for Merit of the GDR), was subjected to sanctions and censorship. The situation escalated when Krug beat down a Stasi informer who had insulted and defamed him publicly. After six months of partial unemployment, Krug requested to leave the GDR in 1977. As soon as he got the approval he left East Germany and moved to Schöneberg in West Berlin. Twenty years later, he wrote about these events in his book Abgehauen (1997, Pushed off). This memoir became a bestseller and it was filmed by Frank Beyer in 1998. After moving back to West Germany, Manfred Krug very soon got new roles. In 1978 he appeared as the adventurous truck driver Franz Meersdonk in the TV series Auf Achse/On the Axis. He continued to play in the series until 1995, one year before the show ended its long run. Krug's various television roles even included a two-year stint on the children's program Sesamstraße (1982-1984), the German version of the American children's program Sesame Street. He was very popular as an attorney in the Berlin-based comedic attorney TV series Liebling Kreuzberg/Darling Kreuzberg (1986-1998). From 1984 to 2001, he also starred as Hamburg-based commissioner Paul Stoever in the Krimi series Tatort, which would eventually run for a total of 41 instalments. His later feature films include the comedy Neuner (Werner Masten, 1990), and the political drama Der Blaue/The Blue One (Lienhard Wawrzyn, 1994), which was entered into the 44th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2005, his second memoir, Mein schönes Leben (2005, My Beautiful Life), became another bestseller. Since 1963, Manfred Krug is married to Ottilie Krug. Together they have three children, including the singer Fanny Krug. In 2002 it was announced that Manfred Krug has also an illegitimate child. Krug lives in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

Sources: Filmportal.de, AllMovie, Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

ADL Nation Leadership Summit by Maryland GovPics

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Governor Moore Speaks at the Anti-Defamation League's National Leadership Summit by Patrick Siebert at 1001 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20036

CVD Battambang - C&C Clothing Factory Project - Sewing Nails by Pictim

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A C&C worker close up.

Cambodian Vision in Development is a local Cambodian NGO which has relied entirely on international funding agencies to continue their projects. CVD are now trialling a clothing factory that trains and employs disabled and disadvantaged young women. Most of the workers suffer from some degree of TB.

Individulas can donate to CVD and start your own Village Self Help project. More info at cambodianvision (dot) com.

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I usually don't expect a fee for private viewing, projects, school work, charity work, etc. Also if you wanted to use any images as a base for a private artwork or poster, I would love to see the final product (as long as it is legal and doesn't defame anyone).

Although I do need to charge for other professional, corporate or commercial uses, as I also have to make money to live. I can then supply a high resolution finished image which is sized to your needs.

For more information please contact me through FlickrMail.

Thanks .............. tim

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Plate 13 - Punishment of the Wooden Collar by Special Collections at Johns Hopkins University

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Description from the Book: This punishment is very disgraceful. The collar is formed of heavy pieces of wood, closed together, and having a hole in the centre, which fits the neck of the offender, who, when this machine is upon him, can neither see his own feet, nor put his hands to his mouth. He is not permitted to reside in any habitation, nor even to take rest for any considerable length of time; an inferior officer of justice constantly attending, to prevent him. By night and by say, he carries this load, which is heavier or lighter, according to the nature of the crime, and the strength of the wearer. The weight of the common sort of these wooden collars, is only fifty or sixty pounds, but there are those which weight two hundred, and which are so grievous to the bearers that sometimes, through shame, pain, want of proper nourishment, or of natural rest, they have been known to expire under them. The criminals find various methods, however, of mitigating this punishment: by walking in company with their relations and friends, who support the corners of the collar, and prevent it from pressing upon the shoulders; by resting it upon a table, a bench, or against a tree; or, according to the representation in the accompanying Plate, by having a chair constructed for the purpose, with four posts of equal height to support the machine. When this ponderous incumbrance is fixed upon an offender, it is always before the magistrate who has decreed it; and upon each side, over the places where the wood is joined, long slips of paper are pasted, upon which the name of the person, the crime which he has committed, and the duration of his punishment, are written, in very distinct characters; a seal is likewise stamped upon the paper, to prevent the instrument from being opened. Three months is the usual time appointed for those to bear about this collar, who have been convicted of robbery. For defamation, gambling, or breaches of the peace, it is carried a few weeks; and insolvent debtors are sometimes ordered to bear it, until they have satisfied their creditors.

When the offender is to be liberated from the collar, it must be in the presence of the magistrate who has imposed it; he then generally orders him a few blows of the pan-tsee, and dismisses him, with an exhortation to comport himself more regularly in the future.

Near the figure in this Engraving, are represented the basin and the sort of spoon, by which persons in that situation are supplied with food.

Title: The punishments of China : illustrated by twenty-two engravings: with explanations in English and French.

Call number: 343.2 M399 QUARTO

Giulietta Masina by Truus, Bob & Jan too!

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Vintage card.

Italian film and stage actress Giulietta Masina (1921-1994) starred in the classics La strada (1954) and Le notti di Cabiria (1957), both directed by her husband Federico Fellini and both winners of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The only 1,57 m long Masina was often called the ‘female Chaplin’. The skilled, button-eyed comedienne could deliver intense dramatic performances of naive characters dealing with cruel circumstances.

Giulia Anna Masina was born in San Giorgio di Piano near Bologna in 1921. Her parents were Gaetano Masina, a violinist and a music teacher, and Anna Flavia Pasqualin, a schoolteacher. She had three elder siblings: Eugenia, and twins Mario and Maria. Giulietta spent most of her teenage years in Rome at the home of a widowed aunt, where she cultivated a passion for the theatre. She attended the Hermanas Ursulinas school and graduated in Literature from the Sapienza University of Rome. At university, she turned to acting. From 1941 on, she participated in numerous plays that included singing and dancing as well as acting, all in the Ateneo Theater of her university. In 1942, she joined the Compagnia del Teatro Comico Musicale and played various roles on stage. After seeing her photographs, she was cast by Federico Fellini, who was writing the radio serial Terziglio about the adventures of the newlyweds Cico and Pallina. Masina and Fellini fell in love while working on the successful program and were married in 1943. Several months after her marriage to Fellini, in 1943, Masina suffered a miscarriage after falling down a flight of stairs. She became pregnant again; Pierfederico (nicknamed Federichino) was born on 22 March 1945 but died just a month later on 24 April owing to respiratory insufficiency. Masina and Fellini did not have another child. Despite distancing herself from live theatre, Masina did return to the university stage for some time acting with Marcello Mastroianni. Her last stage appearance was in 1951. Working together with her husband, Masina made the transition to on-screen acting. Half of her Italian films, the most successful ones, would be either written or directed by her husband.

Giulietta Masina made her film debut in an uncredited role in the neo-realist war drama Paisà/Paisan (Roberto Rossellini, 1946), co-written by Fellini. She received her first screen credit in the crime drama Senza pièta/Without Pity (Alberto Lattuada, 1948) starring Carla del Poggio, which was another adaptation by Fellini. Masina’s performance earned her a Silver Ribbon, Italy's most prominent motion-picture award, as Best Supporting Actress. She then co-starred in Fellini’s début as a director, Luci del varietà/Variety Lights (Federico Fellini, Alberto Lattuado, 1950) with Peppino di Filippo and Carla del Poggio. It is a bittersweet drama about a bunch of misfits in a traveling vaudeville troupe. A box office hit was the prostitution drama Persiane chiuse/Behind Closed Shutters (Luigi Comencini, 1951) with Massimo Girotti and Eleonora Rossi Drago. She had a supporting part in Europa '51/The Greatest Love (Roberto Rossellini, 1952) starring Ingrid Bergman. She also appeared in the second film of her husband, the hilarious comedy Lo sceicco bianco/The White Sheik (Federico Fellini, 1952) featuring Alberto Sordi. At AllMovie, Hal Erickson adds: “Featured in the cast is Fellini's wife Giuletta Masina as a prostitute named Cabiria, who'd be given a vehicle of her own, Nights of Cabiria, in 1955 (sic). Based on ‘an idea’ by Michelangelo Antonioni, The White Sheik was the main inspiration for Gene Wilder's The World's Greatest Lover (1977).” After some lesser films by other directors, she finally had her international breakthrough in Fellini's La Strada/The Road (Federico Fellini, 1954), as the young Gelsomina, who is sold to the violent traveling strongman Zampano (Anthony Quinn) by her poor mother. At IMDb, Matt Whittle writes: “Giulietta Masina is the highlight of the film. With a face like no other, it exudes a certain beauty but is also very odd, with a definite quirkiness to it.” She was also co-starring in Fellini’s next, lesser-known effort Il Bidone/The Swindle (Federico Fellini, 1955) with Broderick Crawford, Richard Basehart, and Franco Fabrizi as a trio of con artists who victimize the Italian bourgeoisie (who are shown to be no better than the crooks). Masina played Basehart’s wife. In 1957, she won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival for her portrayal of the title role in Fellini's widely acclaimed Le notti di Cabiria/Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957). She played the innocent prostitute Cabiria who was born to lose - but still never would give up. In 1956 and in 1957 Fellini and Masina were awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, for La Strada, and for Le notti di Cabiria. In the following years, Masina appeared in several films by other directors, including the prison drama Nella città l'inferno/...and the Wild Wild Women (Renato Castellani, 1959) with Anna Magnani and the German-Italian production Jons und Erdme/Jons and Erdme (Victor Vicas, 1959) opposite Carl Raddatz.

In 1960, Giulietta Masina's career was damaged by the critical and box office failure of the massive international production Das kunstseidene Mädchen/The High Life (Julien Duvivier, 1960) with Gustav Knuth and Gert Fröbe. Subsequently, she became dedicated almost entirely to her personal life and marriage. Nonetheless, she again worked with her husband in Giulietta degli spiriti/Juliet of the Spirits (Federico Fellini, 1965), which earned both the New York Film Critics award (1965) and the Golden Globe award (1966) for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1969, Masina did her first work in English in The Madwoman of Chaillot (Bryan Forbes, 1969) which starred Katharine Hepburn. From 1966 till 1969, Masina hosted a popular radio show, Lettere aperte a Giulietta Masina, in which she addressed correspondence from her listeners. The letters were eventually published in a book. From the 1970s on, she appeared on television. Two performances, in Eleonora (Silverio Blasi, 1973) and Camilla (Sandro Bolchi, 1976), respectively, were particularly acclaimed. After almost two decades, Masina appeared in Fellini's Ginger e Fred/Ginger and Fred (Federico Fellini, 1986). Hal Erickson at AllMovie: “Fellini gently lampoons the world of small-time show business (...) Masina and Marcello Mastroianni star as Amelia Bonetti and Pippo Botticella, a one-time celebrity song-and-dance team. Having risen to fame with a dancing act where they recreated the acts of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (hoping to become the Fred and Ginger of Italy), Amelia and Pippo parted company to pursue their separate lives. Neither one was particularly successful in other fields of endeavor, so when after many years Amelia is offered a guest-star gig on a TV variety show, she jumps at the chance. (...) The overall good cheer of the film was dampened when the real Ginger Rogers sued the distributors of Ginger and Fred for ‘defamation of character’.” Masina then rejected outside offers in order to attend to her husband's precarious health. Her last film was Aujourd'hui peut-être/A Day to Remember (Jean-Louis Bertucelli, 1991). Giulietta Masina died from lung cancer in 1994, aged 73, less than five months after her husband's demise. They are buried together at Rimini cemetery in a tomb marked by a prow-shaped monument, the work of sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro.

Sources: Matt Whittle (IMDb), Jason Ankeny (AllMovie), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), F.T. (Italica), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Miss India M. at The Original GLBT Expo Fourth Annual Video Lounge by RyanReporting

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The 18th Annual Original GLBT Expo

The Fourth Annual Video Lounge

The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York

655 West 34th Street

New York, NY 10001

March 12th 2011 - 12 noon to 7pm

March 13th 2011 - 12 noon to 6 pm

Presents the Fourth Annual VIDEO LOUNGE

Hosted by

The Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival &

The Rhode Island International Film Festival

Main Curator

Ryan Janek Wolowski of both Film and Television

THE ORIGINAL GLBT EXPO FOURTH ANNUAL VIDEO LOUNGE

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Saturday March 12th 2011 12:00 – 7:00PM

12:00 Stephen Flynn - Director of the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival HOSTS

Best in LGBT and our friends Music Music Videos including Brian Kent and Jason Walker

12:30 Ms. Demure HOSTS from Dayton, Ohio host of Harper's Bazzaroworld Present's The Ms.Demure Show

"16th and 8th" preview with Stephen Schulman from SASi Public Relations & Marketing

1:00 Randolfe Wicker LGBT Activist HOSTS

Gender bending music videos in Japanese Pop culture

Sekiya Dorsett director of "Saving Julian" a short film for and about LGBT homeless youth

1:30 Anu Singh from GLAAD The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation HOSTS

Bollywood goes pink

Desi Music Video Mix

Engendered / I View Film Festival Highlights

Guest from Karan Johar film कभी अलविदा न कहना "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna"

2:00 Neal Bennington - Broadway Commentator as seen on The Wendy Williams Show HOSTS

- NOREEN CRAYTON (National Tour of Rent, Independent Music Award winner)

- RICHARD DeFONZO (VH1's "Boys Will Be Girls", Tribute Artist)

- TERESE GENECCO (MAC Award Winner, Longest running nightclub act on Broadway)

- PAUL GOLIO & TINSEL (Ventriloquist)

- BOBBY CRONIN (Theatre Composer/Lyricist, Welcome to My Life)

2:30 Tym Moss from Artists Exposed HOSTS

Phil Putnam

Gabrielle Lindau "These Showers Can Talk" short film with Lori Michaels

Deepa Soul aka Diedra Meredith (recording artist) / executive director of OUTMUSIC, the LGBT Academy of Recording Artists

Josh Zuckerman

3:00 Lady Gaga - Rare clips from 2008 before "The Fame" was released + more

3:30 Ryan Janek Wolowski of MTV Networks HOSTS

Oh My Josh! International pop recording artist "Out My Face (Wah Wah Wah)"

MAOR - Recording Artist/Music Producer originally from Tel Aviv/Israel will perform his latest single "Kmo Shir Chadash" & Victory - NO More Rain

Check out www.maormusic.com/home

4:00 Appolonia Cruz from FX GAY TV previously known as Fruta Extrana TV as seen on The Wendy Williams Show HOSTS

Miss America 2011's Claire Buffie (Miss New York)

www.missnyorg.com/miss-ny-2010.html

LOVARI w/ special guest entertainers from his music videos:

Demanda Dahhling/Thomas Bistriz(Author)

Janifer (Recording Artist)

King Ralphy (Promoter)

Seth Clark Silberman (PHDJ)

DJ Sparrow - www.LovariWorld.Com

Simply Rob (spoken word poet) from El Grito de Poetas

Jorge Merced the director of the fabulous "Pregones" Bronx Theater

India M. (India Mendelsohn)

Barnacle Billl (Bill Murray)

Ova Floh

5:00 Ms. Demure HOSTS from Dayton, Ohio host of Harper's Bazzaroworld Present's The Ms.Demure Show

Joe E. Jeffreys presents "Drag Show Video Verite"

Candy Samples

5:30 Soce the Elemental Wizard / Andrew Singer HOSTS

Comedy Stop

Brad Loekle

Claudia Cogan

6:15 "White House Presidential Proclamation LGBT Pride Month" with Samara Riviera from www.VivaLaRiviera.com, Sassy Parker from Chic and Sassy, Ryan Janek Wolowski

6:15 - 7:00 Best in LGBT and our friends Music Music Videos incl LaVonna Harris, Yozmit, R. Sky Palkowitz The Delusional Diva, Peppermint, Kid Akimbo, Josh Zuckerman, Ari Gold, Pepper Mashay, Erika Jayne and more

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Sunday March 13th 2011 12:00 – 6:00PM

12:00 Stephen Flynn - Director of the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival HOSTS

Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival video highlights incl David Kittredge, David Kilmnick, Ron Soper, Carmella Cann aka Michael Ferreira and amberRose Marie

12:30 Neal Bennington - Broadway Commentator as seen on The Wendy Williams Show HOSTS

- NOREEN CRAYTON (National Tour of Rent, Independent Music Award winner)

- NATASCIA DIAZ (Broadway's Man of La Mancha & The Capeman)

- REBECCA LARKIN (Broadway's Avenue Q & South Pacific

1:00 Randolfe Wicker LGBT Activist HOSTS

Gender bending music videos in Japanese Pop culture

Colleen Whitaker speaking on behalf of Susi Graf "Lost in the Crowd" documentary on NYC LGBT homeless youth

Paul Golio & Tinsel Ventriloquist / Jokes / Sketch Comedy

1:30 Tym Moss from Artists Exposed HOSTS

Robbie Cronrod, from Robbie and Allan (www.LoveAtFirstWink.com/vote ; Crate and Barrel's Ultimate Wedding Challenge, Currently 2nd Pl)

Ariel Aparicio

Athena Reich

"What Happens Next" feature film sneak peak with Thom Cardwell and guest stars from the movie showing of some clips and the Q&A with Jon Lindstrom, Chris Murrah, and Ariel Shafir

www.whathappensnextmovie.com

2:00 Anu Singh from GLAAD The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation HOSTS

Ricky Martin Recipient of GLAAD's Vito Russo Award music video spotlight

Juan Fortino

Vermex Van Croix

Kid Akimbo originally from Brazil

2:30 Soce the Elemental Wizard / Andrew Singer HOSTS

Comedy Stop

Mike Cotayo

Joanne Filan

3:00 Appolonia Cruz from FX GAY TV previously known as Fruta Extrana

TV as seen on The Wendy Williams Show HOSTS

*JANID (Recording Academy and Billboard Recognized Zonisphere

Recording Artist) - "Alias" music video

LIVE Q&A with

JANID and Kaydean (Alias video director, Recording Academy

Recognized 3x Gold and 1x Platinum record producer and CEO of

Zonisphere Records)

*Chanel International (Drag Star)

*Johnathan Cedano (actor) - portraying adult film actor Tiger Tyson

in the one-man show "Confessions of a Homo Thug Porn Star,"

"INDIO" Producer/Director of Johnathan Cedano's "Portrait of a Porn Star"

*Mike Todd GOOTH Magazine

Samara Riviera from www.VivaLaRiviera.com, Sassy Parker from Chic and Sassy

*Adam Barta

*amberRose Marie Upclose & Personal: a videomentary. LIVE Q&A

with Billboard recording artist amberRose Marie follows, with a

special surprise. National SAG LGBT committee member Ron B.

Joins Appolonia Cruz for an intimate chat with this Diva-licious

beauty. www.amberRoseMarie.com

4:00 Ryan Janek Wolowski of MTV Networks HOSTS

MAOR - Recording Artist/Music Producer originally from Tel Aviv/Israel will perform his latest single "Kmo Shir Chadash" & Victory - NO More Rain

Check out www.maormusic.com/home

BeBe Zahara Benet winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Live in person showcasing "Cameroon" plus live Q&A

4:30 Under the Pink Carpet Meet the on air personalities from the gay-themed television entertainment news series that airs on WNYE / WNYC TV Channel 25 / Dish Miss HOSTS

Lady Clover Honey

Tony Sawicki

Colton Ford, recording artist, actor (The Lair) and former gay male adult entertainment star.

5:30 - 6:00 Best in LGBT and our friends Music Music Videos including Vanessa Conde, Crystal Waters, Noa Tylo, Salme Dahlstrom, Khalid Rivera and more.

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VIDEO LOUNGE 2011 make sure not to miss this event which only happens once a year.

Look for surprise guests throughout the day as well as giveaways all day long.

This event is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

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Eduard von Winterstein by Truus, Bob & Jan too!

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German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, no. 214/56. Photo: DEFA / Meister. Eduard von Winterstein as Professor Beheim in Genesung/Recovery (Konrad Wolf, 1956).

Eduard von Winterstein (1871 in Vienna; died 22 July 1961 in Berlin, real name: Eduard Clemens Franz Freiherr von Wangenheim) was a German film and theatre actor. His German film career spanned from the 1910s to the late 1950s, from the Wilhelminian cinema to the cinema of the GDR.

Eduard von Winterstein was born in 1871 in Vienna, Austria. Winterstein's parents were the landowner Hugo von Wangenheim and his second wife, the Hungarian-born actress Aloysia (Luise) Dub. After taking acting lessons from his mother, Winterstein joined the stage in Gera in 1889, where, according to the memoirs of his youth published in 1942, he was able to experience an " undeservedly forgotten man", the actor Theodor Lobe. At the opening of the theatre in Annaberg on 2 April 1893, he played the title role in Egmont there. "I was reborn in Annaberg, I had become a completely different person. I had only really become an actor in this small town. [...] Thus the Annaberg period became one of the most beautiful in my profession," he wrote in his autobiography. At this theatre he also met the actress Minna Mengers, whom he married in 1894 at the Wartburg (their son was the actor Gustav von Wangenheim, 1895-1975). The theatre in Annaberg-Buchholz today bears the name Eduard von Winterstein Theatre. From 1895 Winterstein played at the Schillertheater, later at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. On his move, he enthused about his adopted home with the following words: "Berlin! In those days, much more than today, it was the much-longed-for paradise to which every German actor aspired with all his might. [...] Here in this city of millions, a lively theatre life flourished. The Theatre Almanac of 1895 lists twenty-four theatres in Berlin. [...] I had found temporary accommodation with my family in Großbeerenstraße. [...] I was happy that I was to make my debut in Berlin in this very role (as Tellheim in Minna von Barnhelm)."

From 1913 Winterstein also took on film roles, in which the stocky actor soon became the ideal cast of energetic respecters such as generals, judges, landowners, and directors. Unlike in the theatre, however, Winterstein's appearances in the film were usually limited to supporting parts. Yet, already his second film, Schuldig (Hans Oberländer, Messter 1913) had him in the lead. From 1915, Winterstein performed in several films starring Henny Porten, mostly as evil antagonists, such as in the two-part Die Faust des Riesen (Rudolf Biebrach, 1917) and Die Claudi vom Geiserhof (Biebrach, 1917). In the late 1910s he acted in films by e.g. Rosa Porten (Die Erzkokette, 1917), Arthur Wellin (Erborgtes Glück, 1918; Pique Dame, 1918; Der Ring der drei Wünsche, 1918) all with Alexander Moissi, Richard Oswald (Der lebende Leichnam, 1918; Die Prostitution, 2. Teil - Die sich verkaufen, 1919), Robert Reinert (Opium, 1918-19), Jaap Speyer (Das Schicksal der Margarete Holberg, 1918), E.A. Dupont (Die Maske, 1919), and Rudolf Meinert (Das Kloster von Sendomir, 1919) with Ellen Richter. He had the lead in In den Krallen des Vampyrs (Wolfgang Neff, Heinz Sarnow, 1919), the two-part Der gelbe Tod (Carl Wilhelm, 1919), Nerven (Reinert, 1919), and Maria Magdalene (Reinhold Schünzel, 1919). He also was the male antagonist in a few films with Hedda Vernon, directed by Hubert Moest (Blondes Gift, 1919; Die Hexe von Norderoog, 1919; Lady Godiva, 1920; Das Frauenhaus von Brescia, 1920; Das fränkische Lied, 1922). In Ernst Lubitsch' Madame Dubarry (1919) he played count Jean Dubarry, who concocts the plan to marry Louis V's mistress Jeanne (Pola Negri) to his brother.

Winterstein remained extremely active in the early 1920s in such films as Der Reigen (Oswald, 1919-20) with Asta Nielsen, Die Tänzerin Marion (Fredric Féher, 1920), Maria Tudor (Adolf Gärtner, 1920) with Ellen Richter (many more films with Richter and Gärtner would follow), Das Martyrium (Paul Ludwig Stein, 1920) with Pola Negri, Das Haupt des Juarez (Johannes Guter, 1920) in which he had the lead, Hamlet (Svend Gade, Heinz Schall, 1920-21) with Asta Nielsen as Hamlet and Winterstein as Claudius, Die Beute der Erinnyen (Otto Rippert, 1921) with Werner Kraus, and Danton (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1921) starring Emil Jannings as Danton and with Winterstein as general Westermann. In F.W. Murnau's Der brennende Acker (1921-22) he is count Rudenburg who unknowingly hires golddigger Johannes as secretary. from 1921 he also acted in the Fridericus Rex films (1922-23) , as Leopold Fürst von Anhalt-Dessau in the first and second part Sturm und Drang and Vater und Sohn, on the youth of Frederick the Great, played by Otto Gebühr. In part 3 and 4, Schicksalswende and Sanssouci, he played Fürst Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau. In addition to many supporting parts in the early 1920s, Winterstein had the male lead in Das Diadem der Zarin (Richard Löwenbein, 1922), Der Weg zu Gott (Franz Seitz Sr., 1923), Gott, Mensch und Teufel (Oskar Schubert-Stevens, 1923), In den Krallen der Schuld (Fred Rommer, 1924), Fräulein Josette - meine Frau (Gaston Ravel, 1926), Elternlos (Franz Hofer, 1927), Stolzenfels am Rhein. Napoleon in Moskau (Richard Löwenbein, 1927), Ein Tag der Rosen im August ... da hat die Garde fortgemußt (Max Mack, 1927).

When sound cinema set in, Winterstein was the school director in Der blaue Engel (Josef von Sternberg, 1929-30) with Emil Jannings and Marlene Dietrich, while he had another supporting part opposite Jannings in Liebling der Götter (Hanns Schwarz, 1930). In Rosenmontag (Hans Steinhoff, 1930) he is the commander-in-chief of Mathias Wieman who has an adulterous affair with Lien Deyers. In the early 1930s Winterstein played in several spy and secret service films, a.o. by Harry Piel, Gerhard Lamprecht a.o., while he continued to act in many period pieces. After the Nazi takeover in 1933, he continued acting in films. As he now was of a certain age, he would often play the father of the male or female lead, e.g. Brigitte Horney's father in Der König des Montblanc (Arnold Fanck, 1933/34) or Ivan Petrovich's father in Die Korallenprinzessin (Victor Janson, 1937), or elder military, judges, commissioners, priests, and aristocrats. By the late 1930s, many parts by Winterstein were small and uncredited. Instead, he had the male lead in the rural comedy Für die Katz (Hermann Pfeiffer, 1940), as a rich farmer who has a hate-love affair with an innkeeper (Lina Carstens), which explodes when he shoots her cat who has killed his chicken. In the anti-British war propaganda film Ohm Kruger (Hans Steinhoff, 1941), Winterstein played Cronje, one of the Boer army commanders opposite Jannings as Paul Krüger. Several minor parts followed during the war years. During the National Socialist era, he was placed on the Gottbegnadeten list at the end of the war by the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda, so he wasn't sent to war.

After the war, Winterstein was one of the people filmed for the 1946 newsreels Augenzeuge. From 1948 he worked for DEFA himself. initially in small parts, but from Die Jungen von Kranichsee (Arthur Pohl, 1950) he got substantial supporting parts. He starred in Die Sonnenbrucks (George C. Klaren, 1950-51) as an apolitical professor who keeps aside during the Third Reich, but is confronted with an escaped camp prisoner. His daughter helps the refugee but is killed herself. The professor, defamed by colleagues, meets the refugee at a conference in the GDR. The film won Winterstein the award for Best Actor at the Karlovy Vary film festival. Another important part Winterstein had as a village priest in Das verurteilte Dorf (Martin Hellberg, 1951-52), in which villagers protest against the removal of their town to make place for a US army base. Winterstein had the lead in Heimliche Ehen (Gustav von Wangenheim, 1955-56), also with Paul Heidemann, comedian from the silent era, and a young Armin Mueller-Stahl. In Konrad Wolf's Genesung (1955/56) Winterstein was a professor of medicine, confronted with a promising student of medicine (Wolfgang Kieling), who however has a dubious past. Winterstein's last (bit) part was in the Polish-German science-fiction film Der schweigende Stern (Kurt Maetzig, 1960). Eduard von Winterstein appeared in over 160 films.

Winterstein also scored various spoken-word records, including the ring parable from Nathan der Weise for the GDR record label Eterna even in his old age. In the period after the Second World War, Winterstein belonged to the ensemble of the Deutsches Theater. There he played the role of Nathan almost four hundred times. Winterstein consciously chose to live in the GDR, a circumstance that the GDR's cultural policy took advantage of. After his death, the Neue Deutschland devoted a special page to him, which included a text by Winterstein entitled "Wahl des Besseren" (Choosing the Better). Its concluding passage reads: "I have experienced many transformations: under three emperors, the First World War, the pseudo-democracy of the Second Reich, the Weimar Republic, the terrible twelve years of National Socialism and the complete collapse of the German Reich brought about by it, until, breathing a sigh of relief, I joined the new progressive spirit of my own free decision and will, and now proudly call myself a citizen of the German Democratic Republic, and this out of insight, reasons, choice of the better." During the 1950s Winterstein got several awards for his stage and screen work, including Best DDR actor. Winterstein is buried in the family grave at the Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery. Winterstein was married to actress Minna Mengers since 1894. Their son was the actor and director Gustav von Wangenheim (1895-1975).

Winterstein was on stage as an actor for a total of more than seventy years. His work is closely linked to the German theatre history of the 20th century and especially to the history of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. He earned his greatest merits as a performer of roles from Lessing's plays. Winterstein stands for the concept of realistic theatre art advocated by Max Reinhardt and Otto Brahm.

Sources: Wikipedia (German), Filmportal.de, and IMDb.

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Eduard von Winterstein in King Lear by Truus, Bob & Jan too!

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German postcard by Verlag Louis Blumenthal, Berlin, no. 3439. Photo: Zander & Labisch. Eduard von Winterstein as Kent in 'King Lear'.