Katharina Thalbach (German: [ka.ta.ˈʁiː.na ˈtaːl.bax] ; actually Katharina Joachim genannt Thalbach;[1] born 19 January 1954) is a German actress and stage director. She played theatre at the Berliner Ensemble and at the Volksbühne Berlin, and was actress in the film The Tin Drum. She worked as a theatre and opera director.

Katharina Thalbach
Thalbach in April 2012
Born (1954-01-19) 19 January 1954 (age 70)
Occupation(s)Actress, stage director
SpouseThomas Brasch (deceased)
ChildrenAnna Thalbach

Life and work edit

Born in East Berlin,[2][3] Katharina Thalbach's father Benno Besson was a director, her mother Sabine Thalbach, was an actress.[4] Also actors are her half-brother Pierre Besson[5] and her stepmother Ursula Karusseit.[6]

At the age of four, Thalbach was playing children's roles on stage, on television and in films.[4] After the death of her mother in 1966, Helene Weigel took her under her care.[4] In 1967, she made her debut as the whore Betty (later the Polly) in Erich Engel's production of Brecht's Dreigroschenoper.[7][4] She completed her Abitur at the Max-Planck-Oberschule.[4][8] She obtained her stage maturity examination (Bühnenreifeprüfung) as a master student of Helene Weigel, Berliner Ensemble.[9] Thalbach played at the Berliner Ensemble and at the Volksbühne Berlin, where her father worked as artistic director.[4]

In 1976, Thalbach moved with her partner Thomas Brasch to West Germany, because he was protesting against Wolf Biermann's expatriation.[5] In West Berlin, she made her debut at the Schillertheater.[10] She acted as a guest star in Hans Lietzau's production of Hauptmann's Der Biberpelz and in Jürgen Flimm's production of Kleist's Das Käthchen von Heilbronn, for which she was voted actress of the year by Theater heute in 1980.[10] She had success with the role of Maria in Volker Schlöndorff's 1979 film adaptation of Grass' The Tin Drum.[11] In 1984, she performed the Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet in Zürich.[10]

Since 1987, she worked as a director.[10] Her break through was the award-winning production Macbeth.[10] Since 1997, she was opera director, with productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni and Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen in Berlin.[10]

Personal life edit

Thalbach's partner Thomas Brasch was an author.[12][13] Her daughter Anna (born 1973) from a former relationship with Vladimir Weigl [de][14] and her granddaughter Nellie [de] (born 1995) are actresses. She is married to Uwe Hamacher.[15][16] She lives in Berlin.[7]

Awards edit

Source:[7]

Memberships edit

Filmography edit

Source:[2]

Theatre and Opera edit

Actress edit

Source:[7]

Director edit

Source:[9]

References edit

  1. ^ Thalbach, Katharina (2014). Böhm, Claudius; Kunze, Hagen (eds.). "Katharina Thalbach im Interview". Gewandhaus-Magazin (Interview) (in German). No. 78. Leipig, Germany: Gewandhaus zu Leipzig. Archived from the original on 2014-07-25. […] War Ihr Urgroßvater auch Musiker? […] Thalbach: Ja. Er hieß Alois Joachim, war Hofopernsänger in München und bekam vom verrückten Ludwig II. einen Titel verliehen. Seitdem tragen alle seine Nachkommen den Namen »Joachim genannt Thalbach«. So heißen auch meine Tochter Anna Joachim genannt Thalbach und meine Enkelin Nelly Joachim genannt Thalbach. Das ist manchmal lästig bei Ämtern, weil die nie wissen, ob wir unter J oder unter T geführt werden. Aber ich wollte diesen Namen nicht aufgeben, weil ich ihn immer schön fand. Ich bin ja auch stolz darauf. […]
  2. ^ a b "Katharina Thalbach". filmportal.de (in German). 1954-01-19. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  3. ^ Steffen, Alfred (2019-10-17). "Katharina Thalbach im Interview ohne Worte". SZ Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Katharina Thalbach". Biografie [CineGraph Lexikon] (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  5. ^ a b "The Thalbachs – a German-German Theatre Family". Goethe-Institut. 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  6. ^ "Ursula Karusseit: Ihre letzten Geheimnisse". SUPERillu (in German). 2020-04-14. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Thalbach". Academy of Arts, Berlin (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  8. ^ Vieth-Entus, Susanne (2014-09-10). "Max-Planck-Gymnasium soll weitermachen". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  9. ^ a b "Katharina Thalbach". Komische Oper Berlin (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Katharina Thalbach". Oper Leipzig (in German). 2021-08-01. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  11. ^ a b c Blubacher, Thomas (2005). "Katharina Thalbach". Theaterlexikon der Schweiz (in German). Zürich: Chronos Verlag. p. 1836. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  12. ^ Decker, Kerstin (2021-11-11). "Ein Fremder in Ost und West". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  13. ^ "Ein Poet mit dem Herzen eines Boxers". FOCUS Online (in German). 2016-09-29. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  14. ^ "Katharina Thalbach privat: Glücklich mit jüngerem Mann! Doch DAS kommt ihr nicht in die Tüte". News.de (in German). 2021-05-03. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  15. ^ a b "Katharina Thalbach hat geheiratet". n-tv.de (in German). 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  16. ^ "Heimliche Hochzeit! Schauspielerin Katharina Thalbach sagte ja". B.Z. Berlin (in German). 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  17. ^ "Ministerpräsident Stoiber verleiht Bayerischen Filmpreis 2006". www.bayern.de (in German). 2007-01-19. Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  18. ^ Becker, Peter von (2005-01-20). "Der Parvenü verlässt uns nie". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  19. ^ Krug, Hartmut (2006-01-16). "Oscar Wilde ganz harmlos". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  20. ^ ""Der Raub der Sabinerinnen" im Hans Otto Theater Potsdam". Theaterkompass – Für Theaterbesucher und Theatermacher (in German). 2006-12-24. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  21. ^ "Romeo und Julia". Deutschlandfunk (in German). 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  22. ^ "Hänsel und Gretel – Oper – Semperoper Dresden". Semperoper Dresden (in German). 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  23. ^ Ernst, Michael (2022-03-07). "Semperoper Dresden: Schauspiellegende Katharina Thalbach inszeniert Verdis "Aida"". MDR.DE (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  24. ^ Hoffmann, Stephan (2011-11-17). "Katharina Thalbach inszeniert "Fidelio" in Zürich". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  25. ^ Philipp, Elena (2020-04-29). "Im Dickicht der Städte – Katharina Thalbach debütiert als Regisseurin in ihrem Mutter- und Vaterhaus". nachtkritik.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  26. ^ "Spaßtheater mit originellen Ideen". Deutschlandfunk (in German). 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  27. ^ Agency, Hands (2017-06-30). "La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui". La Résistible Ascension d'Arturo Ui. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  28. ^ "Katharina Thalbach inszeniert "Arturo Ui" in Paris". swr.online (in German). 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  29. ^ "Wie es euch gefällt". Komödie Berlin (in German). 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2022-03-29.

External links edit