Biography

Hasse began studying acting in 1938, and attended Lily Ackermann's Institute for Stage Artists' Education in Berlin. At 1941, he was drafted for the Labour Service

Reichsarbeitsdienst

The Reichsarbeitsdienst was an institution established by Nazi Germany as an agency to reduce unemployment, similar to the relief programs in other countries. During the Second World War it was an auxiliary formation which provided support for the Wehrmacht.The RAD was formed during July 1934 as...

, and later to the Army. After the end of the Second World War and his release from captivity, Hasse returned to Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

, where he spent another six months to complete his drama training.

He made his debut on stage in the Nordhausen

Nordhausen

Nordhausen is a town at the southern edge of the Harz Mountains, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Nordhausen...

 Theater, where he was also employed as a dramaturgue. Later, he also worked in theaters in Eisleben

Eisleben

Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as the hometown of Martin Luther, hence its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. As of 2005, Eisleben had a population of 24,552...

, Burg bei Magdeburg

Burg bei Magdeburg

Burg bei Magdeburg is a town of about 24,700 inhabitants on the Elbe-Havel-Canal in Germany, northeast of Magdeburg. It is situated around a former weir, the Sachsenschleusen...

 and Schwerin

Schwerin

Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...

, before settling in the Hans Otto Theater in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

, in which he was a member of the regular cast between 1954 to 1962. Afterwards, he moved to Berlin's Volksbühne

Volksbühne

The Volksbühne is a theater in Berlin, Germany. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in what was the GDR's capital....

, and then to the Deutsches Theater

Deutsches Theater

The Deutsches Theater in Berlin is a well-known German theatre. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street , the Deutsches Theater consists of two adjoining stages that share a common, classical facade...

. Hasse played a wide range of supporting characters, from Malvolio

Malvolio

Malvolio is the steward of Olivia's household in William Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night, or What You Will.-Style:Malvolio's ethical values are commonly used to define his appearance.In the play, Malvolio is defined as a "kind of" Puritan...

 to the Fledermaus.

Hasse made his first appearance on screen already during 1951, playing a minor role in Der Untertan

Der Untertan (film)

Der Untertan is an East German film directed by Wolfgang Staudte based on the novel of the same name. It was released in 1951.-Cast:* Werner Peters as Diederich Heßling* Paul Esser as von Wulckow* Renate Fischer as Guste Daimchen...

. From the late 1950s, he focused mainly on cinema and television work. Although his earlier stage roles were mostly comical in nature, he depicted sinister characters almost solely: Renate Seydel, who interviewed him in 1966, commented that he was the most perennial villain in the actors' cast of DEFA and Deutscher Fernsehfunk

Deutscher Fernsehfunk

Deutscher Fernsehfunk , known from 1972 to 1990 as Fernsehen der DDR , was the state television broadcaster in East Germany.-Foundation:...

. He portrayed greedy pioneers who seek to disposses Native Americans

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 in many of East Germany's Red Western pictures. He is also remembered for depicting von Dietrich in the Yugoslav partisan film Walter Defends Sarajevo. In addition to those entertainment films, he also portrayed historical antagonists in several bleaker pictures dealing with recent past, like Alfred Naujocks

Alfred Naujocks

Alfred Helmut Naujocks, alias Hans Müller, Alfred Bonsen, or Rudolf Möbert , was an SS-Sturmbannführer , and took part in a staged incident intended to provide the justification for the attack on Poland by Nazi Germany, which in turn provoked the Second World War in Europe.-Early life:Naujocks was...

 in The Gleiwitz Case

The Gleiwitz Case

The Gleiwitz Case is an East German war film directed by Gerhard Klein. It was released in 1961.-Cast:* Hannjo Hasse as Alfred Helmut Naujocks* Christoph Bayertt as Franz Sitte* Wolfgang Kalweit as Hans-Wilhelm Kraweit* Georg Leopold as Franz Wyczorek...

and Adolf Eichmann

Adolf Eichmann

Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...

 in the 1966 Lebende Ware - based on the blood for goods affair. Hasse told Seydel that he considered those roles as having educational value, in order to "demonstrate the full horror of Fascism" to younger viewers.

Hasse was awarded the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic

Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic

The Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic was an East German state award bestowed on individuals for contributions in various fields of art.-History:...

 on 7 May 1971. He is buried in the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf.

Filmography

• 1951: Der Untertan
  Der Untertan (film)
  Der Untertan is an East German film directed by Wolfgang Staudte based on the novel of the same name. It was released in 1951.-Cast:* Werner Peters as Diederich Heßling* Paul Esser as von Wulckow* Renate Fischer as Guste Daimchen...
  
  
• 1954: Gefährliche Fracht
• 1954: Ernst Thälmann - Sohn seiner Klasse
• 1955: Ham wa nich!
• 1959: Kabale und Liebe
• 1959: Sterne
  Stars (film)
  Stars is a 1959 film directed by Konrad Wolf. It tells the story of a Nazi officer who falls in love with a Greek Jewish girl while escorting Jewish prisoners through Bulgaria to a concentration camp. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Sasha Krusharska -...
  
  
• 1959: Bevor der Blitz einschlägt
  Bevor der Blitz einschlägt
  Bevor der Blitz einschlägt is an East German comedy film directed by Richard Groschopp. It was released in 1959.-Plot:...
  
  
• 1960: Vyšší princip
• 1961: Der Fall Gleiwitz
• 1961: Gewissen in Aufruhr (TV)
• 1962: Freispruch mangels Beweises
• 1962: Nebel
• 1963: Reserviert für den Tod
• 1963: An französischen Kaminen
• 1964: Das Lied vom Trompeter
  Das Lied vom Trompeter
  Das Lied vom Trompeter is an East German film. It was released in 1964.-Cast:* Horst Jonischkan: Fritz Weineck* Erik Veldre: Paul Hepner* Doris Abeßer: Käthe Mielfe* Ezard Haußmann: Georg Füllbrink* Jürgen Frohriep: Walter Ebersdorf...
  
  
• 1966: Die Söhne der großen Bärin
• 1966: Lebende Ware
• 1966: Schwarze Panther
• 1967: Die gefrorenen Blitze
• 1967: Das Mädchen auf dem Brett
  Das Mädchen auf dem Brett
  Das Mädchen auf dem Brett is an East German film. It was released in 1967....
  
  
• 1968: Spur des Falken
  Spur des Falken
  Spur des Falken is an East German film. It was released in 1968.-Cast:* Gojko Mitić: Weitspähender Falke* Hannjo Hasse: Joe Bludgeon* Barbara Brylska: Catherine Emerson* Lali Meszchi: Blauhaar* Rolf Hoppe: James Bashan* Hartmut Beer: Fletcher...
  
  
• 1968: Nebelnacht
• 1969: Mohr und die Raben von London
• 1969: Tödlicher Irrtum
• 1969: Befreiung
  Liberation (film series)
  Liberation is an epic five-part film series considered the most large-scale World War II film ever made in the Soviet Union. Filmed from 1967 to 1971, the first part was released during 1970 for the 25th anniversary of Victory Day...
  
  
• 1971: KLK Calling PTZ - The Red Orchestra
  KLK Calling PTZ - The Red Orchestra
  KLK Calling PTZ - The Red Orchestra is a 1971 East German film about the history of the Red Orchestra espionage ring.-Plot:...
  
  
• 1972: Valter brani Sarajevo
  Valter Brani Sarajevo
  Valter brani Sarajevo is a Yugoslav partisan drama film that takes place during World War II.-Plot:Walter Defends Sarajevo takes place in Sarajevo, Bosnia against the German withdrawal from Yugoslavia towards the end of World War II in 1944. The Nazis are desperate to have their tank divisions in...
  
  
• 1973: Unterm Birnbaum
• 1973: Die Hosen des Ritters von Bredow
• 1974: Ulzana
• 1974: Das Geheimnis des Ödipus
• 1974: Kit & Co
• 1974: Wie füttert man einen Esel
• 1974: Zum Beispiel Josef
• 1976: Das unsichtbare Visier
  Das unsichtbare Visier
  Das unsichtbare Visier is a German television series.-Cast:* Armin Mueller-Stahl: Werner Bredebusch alias Achim Detjen* Wolfgang Greese: Born* Jessy Rameik: Winnie Winkelmann* Helmut Schellhardt: Wendland* Alfred Struwe: General von Wieseneck...
  
  
• 1977: Wer reißt denn gleich vor’m Teufel aus
• 1977: Auftrag - Überleben
• 1980: Levins Mühle
• 1980: Archiv des Todes
  Archiv des Todes
  Archiv des Todes is a 1980 13-part television series German war television film series set during World War II.-Cast:*Jürgen Zartmann: Georg*Gojko Mitić: Boris*Gerd Blahuschek: Ernst*Leon Niemczyk: Janek*Krzysztof Stroiński: Heiner...
  
  (TV)
• 1980: Der Baulöwe
• 1981: Peters Jugend
• 1983: Martin Luther

External links

• Hannjo Hasse on the IMDb.