Peter Kraus
German postcard by ISV, no. H 48.
German singer and actor Peter Kraus (1939) was a teen idol in the 1950s and was nicknamed ‘the German Elvis’.
The son of the Austrian director and cabaret artist Fred Kraus had already singing and acting lessons during his school years. His first film was Das fliegende Klassenzimmer (1954, Kurt Hoffmann) based on the novel by Erich Kästner. He would play in several other films like Die Freundin meines Mannes (1957, Axel von Ambesser), Die Frühreifen (1957, Josef von Baky) and Der Pauker (1958, Axel von Ambesser). After his first single, a cover version of Little Richard's Tutti Frutti had been released in 1957, he became Germany's first rock'n'roll and teen star. Between 1957 and 1964 he had many hits including Susi Rock (1957), Sugar Baby (1958) and Tiger (1959). He would sell over 17 million records to date.
Although Peter Kraus appeared in only two ‘schlager’ movies with Conny Froboess - the big hits Wenn die Conny mit dem Peter (1958) and Conny und Peter machen Musik (1960) - they were considered the ‘dream couple’ of the German entertainment industry in the late 1950s. Other silly teenager comedies were Alle lieben Peter (1959, Wolfgang Becker) and Melodie und Rhythmus (1959, John Olden). He changed his music with new trends and toured with his schlagers like Schwarze Rose Rosemarie (1961) and such blues songs as Silvermoon and Sweety (1962) through Europe and the US. From the mid-1960s on he worked mainly for television. He made many tv musicals and even had his own tv shows, but he also worked as a record producer, scriptwriter and tv director. After 26 years he finally made a third film with Cornelia Froboess, the crime drama Der Sommer des Samurai (1985, Hans-Christoph Blumenberg). Since then he keeps on touring and making records such as Rock ’n Roll is Back (2004).
Sources: PeterKraus.de, IMDb, and Wikipedia.
Peter Kraus
German postcard by ISV, no. H 48.
German singer and actor Peter Kraus (1939) was a teen idol in the 1950s and was nicknamed ‘the German Elvis’.
The son of the Austrian director and cabaret artist Fred Kraus had already singing and acting lessons during his school years. His first film was Das fliegende Klassenzimmer (1954, Kurt Hoffmann) based on the novel by Erich Kästner. He would play in several other films like Die Freundin meines Mannes (1957, Axel von Ambesser), Die Frühreifen (1957, Josef von Baky) and Der Pauker (1958, Axel von Ambesser). After his first single, a cover version of Little Richard's Tutti Frutti had been released in 1957, he became Germany's first rock'n'roll and teen star. Between 1957 and 1964 he had many hits including Susi Rock (1957), Sugar Baby (1958) and Tiger (1959). He would sell over 17 million records to date.
Although Peter Kraus appeared in only two ‘schlager’ movies with Conny Froboess - the big hits Wenn die Conny mit dem Peter (1958) and Conny und Peter machen Musik (1960) - they were considered the ‘dream couple’ of the German entertainment industry in the late 1950s. Other silly teenager comedies were Alle lieben Peter (1959, Wolfgang Becker) and Melodie und Rhythmus (1959, John Olden). He changed his music with new trends and toured with his schlagers like Schwarze Rose Rosemarie (1961) and such blues songs as Silvermoon and Sweety (1962) through Europe and the US. From the mid-1960s on he worked mainly for television. He made many tv musicals and even had his own tv shows, but he also worked as a record producer, scriptwriter and tv director. After 26 years he finally made a third film with Cornelia Froboess, the crime drama Der Sommer des Samurai (1985, Hans-Christoph Blumenberg). Since then he keeps on touring and making records such as Rock ’n Roll is Back (2004).
Sources: PeterKraus.de, IMDb, and Wikipedia.