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Gertrud Pfiel was born in present day Croatia, the daughter of an engineer and inventor. A strikingly beautiful blonde with high cheekbones and expressive blue eyes, she grew up in Vienna where she was trained as a singer and dancer, embarking on a theatrical career by the age of fifteen. Until 1944, 'Gertraud' regularly performed at various theatres in Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna. During a performance, she came to the attention of the director Fritz Lang, who became instantly enamored with her. Without an audition, Lang gave her a starring role as a defecting Russian spy in Spies (1928), the success of which led to further back-to-back leads in Woman in the Moon (1929) and Hochverrat (1929).

Lang eventually left his wife and long-time collaborator, the screenwriter Thea von Harbou, while Gerda Maurus went onto marry another prolific director, Robert A. Stemmle, who directed her in Daphne und der Diplomat (1937). During the sound era, Gerda was intermittently given further opportunities to shine, including opposite Hans Albers (Dope (1932)) and Paul Hörbiger (Prinzessin Sissy (1938)), but she seemed somehow unable to repeat the success of her earlier (silent) films. Her association, however tenuous, with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels tainted her career during the immediate post-war period. While her acting ban was eventually lifted, she rarely again graced the screen, but for several more years continued on as a stage actress in Munich and Düsseldorf.

Herbert Bötticher was born on 19 December 1928 in Hannover, Germany. He was an actor, known for Dream City (1973), Blut floss auf Blendings Castle (1967) and Hamlet (1960). He was married to Doris Gallart. He died on 8 October 2008 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Director and producer of many German as well as a few American, British and French films, Richard Oswald started making films in 1914 and shortly formed his own production company. After making many successful films and discovering several important performers, he fled his homeland after the Nazi takeover and eventually settled in the US. He was the father of Gerd Oswald, a well-regarded director of "B" pictures and television shows.

Michael Pfleghar was born on 20 March 1933 in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He was a director and writer, known for Dead Woman from Beverly Hills (1964), Klimbim (1973) and Serenade für zwei Spione (1965). He was married to Wenche Myhre, Bibi Johns and Inge Brück. He died on 23 June 1991 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Ellen Richter was born on 21 July 1893 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was an actress and producer, known for Maria Tudor (1920), Lola Montez, die Tänzerin des Königs (1922) and Napoleon und die kleine Wäscherin (1920). She was married to Willi Wolff. She died in 1969 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Sybille Binder was born on 5 January 1895 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was an actress, known for Das Dreimäderlhaus (1918), Lost Daughter (1949) and The Man from Morocco (1945). She was married to Otto Falckenberg and Herr Kahn. She died on 30 June 1962 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

Gennadi Vengerov was born on August 27, 1959 in Vitebsk (Belarus).

After graduating from the Technical School for Architecture and Construction and a short-term employment as a construction engineer, he started his creative career as an announcer of the Vitebsk Regional Radio. He performed at the People's Theater in Vitebsk. In 1980 he was invited to be an actor at the professional scene to the Yakub Kolas Belarus National Academic Drama Theater.

Following his military service in the Soviet Army in 1983 he entered the School-Studio (Institute of Higher Education) at the Moscow Art Theater for the course by professors Viktor Monyukov and Vladimir Bogomolov. In 1986, on his 4th course year, together with his course mate Mikhail Yefremov - they established «Sovremennik-2» Theater. In 1989 he was invited to the troop of Moscow Academic Mayakovsky Theater.

Gennadi Vengerov continued his career in Germany in 1990 as an announcer of Deutsche Welle Radio and an actor of Dusseldorf Drama Theater. From 1995-2000 he has been an actor of Bochum Drama Theater.

Since 2004 he has been actively filming in Russian cinema and TV projects, participated in theatrical productions in Moscow, as voice over talent he made audio records for documentaries, fictional films and advertisements.

He is the brand voice of the Russian News Broadcasting Station - RSN and the Russian brand voice Euronews international channel. In 2009 he narrated TV-Show "Men's Stories with Gennadi Vengerov" on the Russian REN TV channel-

During his career Gennadi Vengerov starred in more than 140 movies in Russia, USA, England, Austria and Germany. At various times he worked with Jude Law, James Cromwell, Sean Bean, Til Schweiger, Christian Slater, Ving Rhames, Mario Adorf, Colm Meaney, Franka Potente, Jan Josef Liefers, Klaus Löwitsch and other famous actors.

He is widely known and recognized in Russia for the roles of blacksmith Vulkan (The Fighter series) and Major Volkov (Hour of Volkov series) and among German audience for the role businessman Viktor Strelnikov (Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten).

Kerstin Gähte was born on 22 September 1958 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany. She was an actress, known for Storm of Love (2005), Tatort (1970) and Bianca - Wege zum Glück (2004). She was married to Lutz Reichert. She died on 1 February 2017 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Inga Abel was born on 7 July 1946 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. She was an actress, known for Die Wache (1994), Lindenstraße (1985) and Lauf nach Haus, egal wohin (1987). She died on 27 May 2000 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Günther Lüders was born on 5 March 1905 in Lübeck, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Kein Auskommen mit dem Einkommen! (1957), Vater, unser bestes Stück (1957) and Rosen im Herbst (1955). He died on 1 March 1975 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

Hans Verner was born on 12 December 1924 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He was an actor, known for Rosebud (1975), Les samedis de l'histoire (1977) and Julia (1977). He died on 30 December 1990 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Jürgen Ohlsen was born on 15 March 1917 in Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Our Flags Lead Us Forward (1933), Wunder des Fliegens: Der Film eines deutschen Fliegers (1935) and Alle machen mit (1933). He died on 23 September 1994 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Erwin Hartung was born on 4 March 1901 in Bromberg, Posen, Germany [now Bydgoszcz, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Tante Gusti kommandiert (1932), Der Mann mit der Pranke (1935) and The Counterfeit Bill (1935). He was married to Mara Jakisch. He died on 25 January 1986 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Arno Breker was born on 19 July 1900 in Elberfeld [now Wuppertal], Germany. He was married to Charlotte Kluge and Demetra Messala. He died on 13 February 1991 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Beuys took part in the Second World War as a fighter pilot. During a mission in 1943 he crashed over the Crimea. During his sick bed, Beuys was treated with tallow and wrapped in felt. This experience was decisive for him and his later art materials, because alongside wax and copper, fat and felt were among his preferred materials from which he formed works of art. Between 1946 and 1955 he joined the Kleven Artists' Association. From 1947, Joseph Beuys studied painting and sculpture at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. He was a student of Josef Enseling and later a master student of Ewald Mataré. In 1953 he had his first solo exhibition of sculptures and drawings in Wuppertal and Kranenburg. Beuys suffered from depression due to his war experiences. That's why he stayed in Kranenburg for a long time in 1957. In 1961 he was appointed professor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. He taught there until 1972. In 1964 he took part in the Kassel art exhibition documenta for the first time. From then on he exhibited there regularly.

In 1965 his first exhibition was organized in Alfred Schmeler's gallery in Düsseldorf. In 1967, Beuys founded the "German Student Party" on the occasion of the unrest surrounding the Shah's visit to Germany and the murder of the student Benno Ohnesorg. Beuys wanted to advocate for universities to operate autonomously and for a fairer admissions process. In 1970 he founded the "Organization of Non-Voters, Free Referendum". In the same year an exhibition took place in the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt. In addition to drawings and pictures, the so-called "Beuys Block", multi-part room installations, were also shown there. In 1971 Beuys founded the "Organization for Direct Democracy through Referendums". In a spectacular action that same year, Beuys and his students occupied the secretariat of the Düsseldorf Art Academy. He also allowed students who had previously been rejected by the academy to take part in his lessons.

The following year he took part in documenta 5. There he exhibited an office of his "Organization for Direct Democracy through Referendum" and was present there every day of the hundred days of the exhibition. Once again, Beuys filled the academy secretariat with rejected university applicants. He received notice of termination from Johannes Rau, the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister for Science and Research. Public protests against the termination came from Martin Walser, Peter Handke, Heinrich Böll and Gerhard Richter, among others. In 1973 he founded the "Free International University for Creativity and Interdisciplinary Research". Three years later he took part in the Venice Biennale and the Berlin Zeitgeist exhibition. In 1978, the legal dispute over Beuys' dismissal because of the occupation of the secretariat was ended. The artist had sued against the dismissal and was granted justice. The termination was unlawful. Beuys agreed to a compromise that granted him the title of professor and the rights to use the studio.

In 1978 he accepted a visiting professorship at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. A year later he received a retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and he ran for the European Parliament. In 1980 he took up a visiting professorship at the Städel Art School in Frankfurt/M. true. He tried for a seat in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia for the Green Party. In 1984, Beuys exhibited his works at the Seibu Museum in Tokyo. His other exhibitions include the event "Cross and Sign - Religious Foundations in the Work of J.B." in 1985. and participation in "German Art in the Twentieth Century Painting and Sculpture 1905-1985" in London. In addition to his efforts to unite nature and spirit in art, Beuys also valued the political commitment to which he used his work. The basis for the politicization of art was his idea of applying the artist's creativity to all areas of life.

In practical terms, he carried out actions such as planting 7,000 oak trees and setting up 7,000 basalt steels for dokomenta 7 (1982) in order to draw attention to the problems of environmental destruction. Beuys often used his variety of artistic forms of expression for counter-projects, which he equipped with magical-religious elements in order to demonstrate his rejection of a purpose-oriented rationalism.

Franz Zimmermann was born on 25 September 1908 in Cologne, Germany. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Verträumte Tage (1951), Eskapade (1936) and Tanz mit dem Kaiser (1941). He died on 25 September 1979 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

Paul Albert Krumm was born on 28 November 1924 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Verräter (1967), The Mafia Wants Blood (1970) and Die feuerrote Baronesse (1959). He died on 1 January 1990 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Alexander Stenbock-Fermor was born on 30 January 1902 in Nitaure, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire [now Latvia]. He was a writer, known for First Spaceship on Venus (1960), Das Fräulein von Scuderi (1955) and Karriere in Paris (1952). He died on 8 May 1972 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

Emmi Bonhoeffer was born on 13 May 1905 in Berlin, Germany. She was married to Klaus Bonhoeffer. She died on 12 March 1991 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Eva Böttcher was born on 30 April 1928 in Hamburg, Germany. She was an actress, known for Ein Herz und eine Seele (1973), Die Mohrin (1967) and Spartacus (1976). She was married to Wolfgang Reinbacher. She died on 23 December 2011 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Peter Esser was born on 4 April 1886 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He was an actor, known for Die Buddenbrooks (1923), The Plot to Assassinate Hitler (1955) and Der Mord ohne Täter (1921). He died on 24 June 1970 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

Extremely popular in his birth country Romania, during '50 & '60, in the stand-up shows at the review theater and comedy TV shows, moved in '70 to Germany, where he enjoy a relatively success in TV movies. His critical anticommunist and anti-Ceausescu sketches, produced in front of Rumanian speaking audience in Israel, USA and Germany brought him applause.

Charles Wilp was born on 15 September 1932 in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Programm ohne Sendung (1965), Spur eines Mädchens (1967) and Stille (2020). He died on 2 January 2005 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Mario Ohoven was born on 18 May 1946 in Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was a producer, known for Frailty (2001), The Human Stain (2003) and Jeepers Creepers (2001). He was married to Ute Ohoven. He died on 31 October 2020 in A44 Ratingen->Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Jochen Hülder was born on 18 October 1957 in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was an actor and producer, known for Die toten Hosen: Live in Buenos Aires (2001) and Nichts als die Wahrheit - 30 Jahre Die Toten Hosen (2012). He was married to Ute. He died on 15 January 2015 in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.