Advanced search

Leonide Massine, dancer and choreographer was born in Moscow in 1895 the son of a soprano & a musician from the Bolshoi Theatre chorus. He studied acting & dance from the age of 8 at Moscow's Imperial Theatre School. He was 19 when he was spotted by Diaghilev and recruited as the principal dancer in the Ballets Russes to replace the recently married Nijinsky. Although many said that as a person he was distant and unemotional, when on stage (or film) he showed a livliness and an ability for the understanding and expressing of strong emotions and tremendous humour. Massine's first original work of choreography was the innovative Parade (1917) with a libretto by Jean Cocteau, music by Erik Satie and decor by Pablo Picasso. Later on his set designers included Matisse, Salvador Dalí and Chagall. He went on to a hugely successful career as an international dancer and choreographer and while his private life remained tempestuous with four marriages and many affairs, his professional career seems to have been totally happy and satisfying for him. he was still dancing in his mid-sixties and was choreographing right up to his death in 1979.

Christiane Maybach was born on 14 March 1932 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for A Study in Terror (1965), The Head (1959) and Unter uns (1994). She died on 12 April 2006 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Hanno Brühl was born on 19 February 1937 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He was a director and writer, known for Die Andere Seite der Welt (1984), Der Truthahn - oder: 'Das Opfer überlebt den Schlächter' (1969) and Sehnsucht (1990). He died on 5 October 2010 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Gisela Uhlen was born on 16 May 1919 in Leipzig, Germany. She was an actress and writer, known for The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), Rembrandt (1942) and The Indian Scarf (1963). She was married to Herbert Ballmann, Wolfgang Kieling, Hans Bertram, Beat Hodel and Kurt Wessels. She died on 16 January 2007 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

At the age of 14, Pleitgen was already working as a freelancer for sports and court reporting for the local edition Bünde der Freie Presse Bielefeld. He also began a two-year traineeship here in 1959. At the beginning of 1963, Pleitgen joined WDR television in Cologne, where he worked for the "Tagesschau" until 1970. This is where the journalist's foreign reporting began, who reported from Brussels and Paris on the discussions between the "European Economic Community" (EEC) and NATO and in 1967 reported from the Middle East on the "Six-Day War" between Israel and its Arab neighbors. In 1969 he married Gerda Lichtenberg. Together they became parents of four children. In 1970, Pleitgen was appointed as a foreign correspondent for ARD in Moscow, from where he kept the German television audience informed about the internal events in the Soviet Union until 1977 in such a way that he soon became a "Cold War reporter".

In mid-1977, Pleitgen moved to East Berlin in the same role after Klaus Bednarz replaced him in Moscow. Until 1982, the foreign correspondent had a lasting impact on the German public's image of the other German state through his reports and reports from the GDR. As the successor to Peter Merseburger, Pleitgen went to Washington in mid-1982 to document the era of the Reagan administration as ARD's USA correspondent until 1987 - not without critical judgments about the president's policies. After Pleitgen temporarily managed the ARD studio in New York in 1987/88, he was appointed editor-in-chief of WDR television in mid-1988. A little later he also took over the moderation of the foreign magazine "Weltspiegel". At the beginning of 1994, Pleitgen was promoted to radio director of WDR, whose five programs he restructured in terms of content. In mid-1995, Pleitgen was appointed director of WDR, succeeding Friedrich Nowottny.

The new boss of the largest ARD broadcaster focused on quality in his programming by trying to increase viewership through good television journalism (reports, documentaries) and upscale entertainment films. During his term in office, Pleitgen also promoted the expansion of ARD's online program in the spirit of the new media revolution. Finally, he himself played an active role in the programming as the moderator of the Sunday ARD "Press Club". Pleitgen was confirmed as director of WDR for another term in 2000. At the beginning of 2001, Pleitgen was also appointed chairman of ARD. In the following months, the new chairman of "First" was particularly involved in the dispute over the television broadcasting rights for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. At the end of 2002, Pleitgen resigned from the ARD chairmanship. In addition to being director of WDR, he now took on the role of deputy chairman of ARD.

In September 2004, the deputy chairman of ARD and director of WDR took action against the planned introduction of a state-determined quota in public broadcasting: In this context, Pleitgen warned against interference with the broadcasters' program autonomy. In January 2005, the WDR director also spoke out in favor of expelling politicians from broadcasting committees in the future in order to guarantee the independence of the media. On December 17, 2006, after almost 300 broadcasts, Fritz Pleitgen hosted the ARD "Presseclub", one of the oldest series on German television, for the last time. Monika Piel followed him. In May 2005, Pleitgen was awarded the "Médaille Charlemagne pour des Médias Européens" in Aachen as a European media personality. From April 1, 2007 to the end of 2011, Pleitgen was chairman of the management board of Ruhr 2010 GmbH.

He was honored with the Great Cross of Merit in 2012 for his voluntary, social commitment, such as as President of the German Cancer Aid. He was also awarded the "Golden Blokhin Medal" from the Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology in 2019. In June 2020 it became known that Pleitgen was suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Fritz Pleitgen died on September 15, 2022 in Cologne.

René Deltgen was born on 30 April 1909 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. He was an actor, known for The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959), No Way Back (1953) and Journey to the Lost City (1960). He was married to Anita Irene Wapordjieff and Elisabeth Scherer. He died on 29 January 1979 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

Helma Seitz was born on 23 February 1913 in Offenbach am Main, Germany. She was an actress, known for Der Tod läuft hinterher (1967), Der Kommissar (1969) and Tatort (1970). She was married to Arthus Hartog and Theodor Becker. She died on 11 July 1995 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Miriam Pielhau was born on 12 May 1975 in Heidelberg, Germany. She was an actress, known for Cinema TV (1997), Der letzte Bissen (2007) and Zepp (2007). She was married to Thom. She died on 12 July 2016 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Hildegard Krekel was born on 2 June 1952 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany. She was an actress, known for Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein (1977), Tatort (1970) and Zoff (1972). She was married to ? ?. She died on 26 May 2013 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Willy Millowitsch was born on 8 January 1909 in Cologne, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), Das Paradies der flotten Sünder (1968) and Der Etappenhase (1956). He was married to Gerda Feldhoff and Linny Lüttgen. He died on 20 September 1999 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Jan Hahn was born on 22 September 1973 in Leipzig, Germany. He was an actor, known for SAT.1-Frühstücksfernsehen (1987), Pastewka (2005) and Der letzte Bulle (2010). He died on 4 May 2021 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Mauricio Kagel was born on 24 December 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was a composer and director, known for Antithese (1965), Pas de cinq (1966) and Ludwig van (1970). He was married to Ursula Burghardt. He died on 18 September 2008 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Ingrid Kalinowski was born in 1937. She was an actress, known for Verbotene Liebe (1995), Die ProSieben Märchenstunde (2006) and Markus Lanz (2008). She was married to Klaus Kalinowski. She died on 11 May 2021 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Ernst-Ludwig Freisewinkel was born on 20 March 1930 in Bielefeld, Germany. He was a director and writer, known for Fortsetzung heute (1963), Das große Revier (1966) and Wir und der Kosmos (1968). He died on 22 April 2017 in Cologne, Germany.

Herbert Maisch was born on 10 December 1890 in Nürtingen, Kingdom of Württemberg [now Baden-Württemberg], Germany. He was a director and assistant director, known for Andreas Schlüter (1942), Menschen ohne Vaterland (1937) and D III 88 (1939). He died on 10 October 1974 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Kurt Moll was born on 11 April 1938 in Buir, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was an actor, known for Great Performances at the Met (1977), Die Zauberflöte (1991) and Die Zauberflöte (1983). He was married to Ursula. He died on 5 March 2017 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Christian Bauer was born on 9 September 1947. He was a producer and director, known for Missing Allen - Wo ist Allen Ross? (2001), The Secret of the Snake Goddess (2008) and The Ritchie Boys (2004). He died on 27 July 2009 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Irmgard Keun was born in Berlin, Germany in 1905. She had early stage aspirations, and landed several minor film roles before turning to writing. Her first novel, Gilgi, eine von uns (Gilgi, One of Us), was a runaway bestseller and made into a film the year after it was published.

Her second novel, Das kunstseidene Maedchen (The Artificial Silk Girl), was published in 1932. Like Gilgi, it chronicled the aspirations of a voiceless and downtrodden lower-class "steno-girl." It was also a huge success, and optioned by UFA as a motion picture. But when Hitler came to power the following January, this story (about an ambitious secretary-turned-thief sleeping her way through Berlin to become "a star") became a political liability.

An outspoken opponent of everything that the Nazi Party stood for, by 1934, Keun's novels had been banned, confiscated, and destroyed in Germany.

She fled to Belgium and then Holland, but after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands that country was no longer safe for her. Rumors of her suicide (perhaps started by Keun herself) allowed her to return to the Reich under an assumed name, and she remained in Germany (living in hiding from 1940-45) until her death in 1982.

George Moorse was born on 1 May 1936 in Bellmore, New York, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Inki (1974), 'In Side Out' (1964) and Schnelles Geld (1983). He was married to Barbara Moorse. He died on 30 July 1999 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Eberhard Taubert was born on 11 May 1907 in Kassel, northern Hesse, Germany. He was a writer, known for Der ewige Jude (1940) and Triumph of the Will (1935). He died on 2 November 1976 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany.

Marcel Cremer was born in 1955 in Crombach, Wallonia, Belgium. He was an actor and art director, known for Klein Londen, Klein Berlijn (1988), Geschiedenis mijner jeugd (1983) and Daar is een mens verdronken (1983). He died on 20 December 2009 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

John Cannon was born on 26 March 1920 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for I've Got a Secret (1952), Strike It Rich (1951) and The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom (1957). He was married to Trudy Wilson Cannon. He died on 22 June 2001 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Elisabeth Scherer was born on 30 July 1914 in Cologne, Germany. She was an actress, known for Jetzt oder nie - Zeit ist Geld (2000), Helden und andere Feiglinge (1998) and Tatort (1970). She was married to René Deltgen and Dieter Werner. She died on 18 April 2013 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Walter Bockmayer was born on 4 July 1948 in Fehrbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He was a director and writer, known for Flaming Hearts (1978), Looping (1981) and Rivalinnen unter griechischer Sonne (1974). He died on 7 October 2014 in Cologne, Germany.

Lutz Hachmeister was born on 10 September 1959 in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was a director and writer, known for Schleyer - Eine deutsche Geschichte (2003), The Real American: Joe McCarthy (2011) and Ich, Reich-Ranicki (2006). He died on 26 August 2024 in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.