Alfred Biolek
Encyclopedia
Fryštát
is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic, now administratively a part of the city of Karviná. Until 1948 it was a separate town. It lies on the Olza River, in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....
, then Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, now Czech Republic) is a well-known German entertainer and television producer. Biolek holds a PhD in law and is an honorary professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.
Youth
After expulsion from CzechoslovakiaExpulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
in 1946, the Biolek family moved to Waiblingen
Waiblingen
Waiblingen is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart Region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital of the Rems-Murr district...
near Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, where Biolek's father practiced law again. Biolek was raised a Catholic and was an altar boy. He temporarily joined later the German conservative party CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
.
He attended the Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(high school/grammar school) in Waiblingen and graduated in 1954. He then studied law in Freiburg im Breisgau, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
und Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. In 1958 he took a first state exam of law
Law degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
(third-best exam in Baden-Württemberg) and graduated with honors. Biolek worked as a lawyer in his father's office and passed the second state exam. In 1970 Biolek moved to Munich and worked for a larger office. Living in the city, Biolek underwent a radical change and distanced himself from his conservative mindset. He actively participated in the Munich bohemian lifestyle and was part of the film maker Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
's circle of friends.
TV career
In 1967, Biolek acted as an assessor in the legal department of the German TV channel ZDFZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...
and switched soon to editorial tasks. He became anchor man of the TV show Drehscheibe and produced since 1974 the show Am laufenden Band for Bavaria Film GmbH
Bavaria Film Studios
The Bavaria Film in Geiselgasteig, a district of Munich's suburb Grünwald, Bavaria belongs to one of Europe's biggest and most famous film production companies.- History :...
, together with Rudi Carrell
Rudi Carrell
Rudi Carrell , born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar, was a Dutch entertainer. Along with famous entertainers such as Johannes Heesters, Linda de Mol and Sylvie van der Vaart, Carrell was one of the most successful Dutch personalities active in Germany.He worked as a television entertainer and hosted his...
. That led to his career breakthrough. In 1975 with the journalist Dieter Thoma
Dieter Thoma
-Biography:Dieter Thoma is a German ski jumper who competed in the 1990s. In the 1990,s he was the second best German ski jumper after Jens Weißflog. Thoma wasn't the first known ski jumper in the family: His uncle Georg Thoma was both world and Olympic champion in the nordic combined...
they started the talk show Kölner Treff for the channel WDR
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Since 1978 aired his first own produced and moderated show with the title Bios Bahnhof (Bio's railway station). In 1980s, commercially unsuccessful shows followed: Bei Bio, Show Bühne and the game show Mensch Meier.
Production company
While visiting the UK in the early 1970s, Biolek caught notice of the British comedy troupe Monty PythonMonty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
, and excited by their innovative, absurd sketches, he invited them over to Germany in 1971 and 1972 to write and act in two special German episodes of their show Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
. The result, Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus consisted of two 45-minute Monty Python German television comedy specials produced by WDR for West German television...
, was produced by Biolek in co-production with Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
.
With his own company Pro GmbH, Biolek produced from 1991 to 2003 his weekly show Boulevard Bio. Biolek developed the art of sensitive conversation and attracted much attention. From 1994 to 2006, he also cooked together with celebrities in his show alfredissimo.
Additionally, the company owns 25% of the restaurant and discothek "Alter Wartesaal" in Cologne. Pro GmbH also acts as a manager for artists like Dirk Bach
Dirk Bach
Dirk Bach is a German television comedy actor, best known as Pepe in the German version of Sesamstraße and as an actor in television series Lukas.-Life:...
and Ralph Morgenstern
Ralph Morgenstern
Ralph Morgenstern is a German actor and TV-moderator.Morgenstern works in theatre, films, and in German TV...
and produced shows for them (e. g. "Kaffeeklatsch", "Blond am Freitag", "Menschen bei Maischberger", "Lukas").
Additional activities
Besides his media career, Biolek has been teaching since 1990 at the Academy of Media Arts, CologneAcademy of Media Arts
The Academy of Media Arts Cologne is a teaching and research institution for audio-visual media in Cologne, Germany. It offers an undergraduate degree program, as well as an post-graduate program....
as an honorary professor.
He supports the intercultural work of the American Field Service Deutschland e. V. , with which he spent a year abroad in the US as one of the first German exchange students in the 1950s.
He is actively engaged in the struggle against AIDS and unwanted pregnancy in Africa. In 2000, he was appointed the first German UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador
UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador
UNFPA Goodwill Ambassadors are celebrity advocates of the United Nations Population Fund and use their talent and fame to advocate for the human right of reproductive health.-Current Goodwill Ambassadors:...
. Moreover, in October 2005 Biolek founded the charity fund Alfred Biolek Stiftung - Hilfe für Afrika, to give African youngsters the opportunity of a better start in life. He currently sits on the Advisor Board for the German Foundation for World Population
German Foundation for World Population
The German Foundation for World Population is an international non-governmental organisation addressing Sexual & Reproductive Health and population dynamics...
.
As a patron of the arts, Biolek is also committed to supporting cabaret. He is one of the patrons of the vaudeville "Bar jeder Vernunft" in Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf is an inner city locality of Berlin, formerly a borough by itself but since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform a part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.-History:...
.
Since October 2006, Biolek has been on tour with his program Mein Theater mit dem Fernsehen (My struggle with the TV), in which he illustrates parts of his TV career.
Private life
On December 10, 1991, the director Rosa von PraunheimRosa von Praunheim
Rosa von Praunheim , in Riga, Latvia. His given name is Holger Mischwitzky. He is a German film director, author, painter and gay rights activist. Openly gay, he is one of the initiators of the gay rights movement in Germany....
outed Biolek as a gay man among other celebrities on a TV show. Biolek lives with his partner in Cologne and Berlin.
TV shows
- 1971/1972 - SynchronizerSynchronizerThe term synchronizer can mean more than one thing.* In automobiles, a synchronizer is part of a synchromesh manual transmission that allows the smooth engagement of gears....
/Producer of Monty Python's Fliegender ZirkusMonty Python's Fliegender ZirkusMonty Python's Fliegender Zirkus consisted of two 45-minute Monty Python German television comedy specials produced by WDR for West German television... - 1974 - Producer of the Rudi CarrellRudi CarrellRudi Carrell , born Rudolf Wijbrand Kesselaar, was a Dutch entertainer. Along with famous entertainers such as Johannes Heesters, Linda de Mol and Sylvie van der Vaart, Carrell was one of the most successful Dutch personalities active in Germany.He worked as a television entertainer and hosted his...
-Show Am laufenden Band - 1978 - First own show Bios Bahnhof
- 1991 - talk show Boulevard Bio
- 1994 - cooking show with celebrities Alfredissimo
Awards
- 1983 - Adolf-Grimme-Preis in gold
- 1993 - Goldene Kamera - für Boulevard Bio
- 1994 - BambiBambi (prize)The Bambi - Deutschlands Wichtigster Medienpreis, often simply called Bambi Awards and stylized as BAMBI, are presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year",...
- 1995 - Goldenes Schlitzohr
- 2000 - Bobby
- 2002 - German Book PrizeGerman Book PrizeThe German Book Prize is awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, to the best German language novel of the year. The winner is awarded € 25,000, the five shortlisted authors receive € 2,500 each...
- 2002 - Deutscher Weinkulturpreis
- 2003 - Karl-Valentin-Orden
- 2003 - Großes BundesverdienstkreuzBundesverdienstkreuzThe Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
- 2004 - Golden VDP Award „for his merits for the German wine“
External links
- http://dispatch.opac.d-nb.de/DB=4.1/REL?PPN=118511254Literature about Alfred Biolek in German National LibraryGerman National LibraryThe German National Library is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany...
.] - http://german.imdb.com/name/nm0083142/Alfred Biolek in Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
.] - Alfredissimo