Horst Buchholz
Encyclopedia
Horst Werner Buchholz was a German actor, remembered for his part in The Magnificent Seven
and Nine Hours to Rama
. He appeared in over sixty films during his acting career from 1952–2002.
, the son of Maria Hasenkamp. He never knew his biological father but took the surname of his stepfather Hugo Buchholz, a shoemaker, whom his mother married in 1938. In 1941 his half-sister Heidi was born. She gave him the nickname "Hotte" which he retained for the rest of his life. During World War II
he was evacuated to Silesia
and at the end of the war found himself in a foster home in Czechoslovakia
. He returned to Berlin as soon as he could. He barely finished his schooling before seeking theatre work, first appearing on stage in 1949. He soon left his childhood home in East Berlin
to work in West Berlin
. He established himself in the theatre, notably the Schiller Theatre, and also on radio. He expanded into film after dubbing work, accepting small and uncredited parts from 1952. He had a marginally larger role in Marianne de Ma Jeunesse (1954) directed by Julien Duvivier
. He won a Best Actor award at Cannes for his part as Mischa Bjelkin in Helmut Käutner's Himmel ohne Sterne. His youthful good looks next brought him a part in Die Halbstarken (1956). His breakthrough film was Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull (1957) in which he played the lead, it was directed by Kurt Hoffmann
and based on the novel by Thomas Mann
.
In 1958 Buchholz married French actress Myriam Bru
, and they had two children. Their son, Christopher, became an actor and also produced a documentary about his father.
Horst Buchholz began appearing in foreign films from 1959 when he was in the British production Tiger Bay
. He followed that with The Magnificent Seven
(1960) and the Berlin-set One, Two, Three
(1961) directed by Billy Wilder
. He also starred in the dramatic 1961 romance, Fanny, with Maurice Chevalier
and Leslie Caron
. A versatile actor, he took the parts as they arose and appeared in comedies, horror films, wartime dramas and other genres. His best work was in the 1960s: the critical quality of the films in which he took part diminished from the mid 1970s, with poorly regarded made-for-television films and episodic television making up the majority of his appearances, except in The Saviour, directed in 1971 by the French film critic Michel Mardore. In certain films he was allowed to show his skills such as the bleak I skrzypce przestaly grac (1988), and Roberto Benigni
's Oscar
-winning Life Is Beautiful
(1997).
In 2000, he talked about his bisexuality
for the first time in the German
tabloid Die Bunte.
He died in the Berlin Charité
from pneumonia
at the age of sixty-nine. This was a city to which his loyalty was constant, and he was buried there in the Waldfriedhof Dahlem
.
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
and Nine Hours to Rama
Nine Hours to Rama
Nine Hours to Rama is 1963 CinemaScope British film, directed by Mark Robson, and based on a 1962 book by Stanley Wolpert of the same name. The film was written by Nelson Gidding and was filmed in England and parts of India...
. He appeared in over sixty films during his acting career from 1952–2002.
Life and work
Buchholz was born in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the son of Maria Hasenkamp. He never knew his biological father but took the surname of his stepfather Hugo Buchholz, a shoemaker, whom his mother married in 1938. In 1941 his half-sister Heidi was born. She gave him the nickname "Hotte" which he retained for the rest of his life. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was evacuated to Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
and at the end of the war found himself in a foster home in 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...
. He returned to Berlin as soon as he could. He barely finished his schooling before seeking theatre work, first appearing on stage in 1949. He soon left his childhood home in East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
to work in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. He established himself in the theatre, notably the Schiller Theatre, and also on radio. He expanded into film after dubbing work, accepting small and uncredited parts from 1952. He had a marginally larger role in Marianne de Ma Jeunesse (1954) directed by Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier
Julien Duvivier was a French film director. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930-1960...
. He won a Best Actor award at Cannes for his part as Mischa Bjelkin in Helmut Käutner's Himmel ohne Sterne. His youthful good looks next brought him a part in Die Halbstarken (1956). His breakthrough film was Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull (1957) in which he played the lead, it was directed by Kurt Hoffmann
Kurt Hoffmann
Kurt Hoffmann was a German film director. He directed 48 films between 1938 and 1971. His film The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
and based on the novel by Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
.
In 1958 Buchholz married French actress Myriam Bru
Myriam Bru
Myriam Bru was an actress and the wife of German actor Horst Buchholz, to whom she was married from 1958 until his death in 2003. She appeared in Auferstehung in 1958. On the set of Auferstehung in 1957 she met Buchholz; they were married in London the following year...
, and they had two children. Their son, Christopher, became an actor and also produced a documentary about his father.
Horst Buchholz began appearing in foreign films from 1959 when he was in the British production Tiger Bay
Tiger Bay (film)
Tiger Bay is a 1959 British crime drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and produced and co-written by John Hawkesworth. It stars John Mills as a police superintendent who investigates a murder, his daughter Hayley Mills, in her first major film role, as a girl who witnesses the murder, and Horst...
. He followed that with The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven
The Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
(1960) and the Berlin-set One, Two, Three
One, Two, Three
One, Two, Three is a 1961 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and written by him and I.A.L. Diamond. It is based on the 1929 Hungarian one-act play Egy, kettö, három by Ferenc Molnár, with a "plot borrowed partly from" Ninotchka, a 1939 film co-written by Wilder...
(1961) directed by Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
. He also starred in the dramatic 1961 romance, Fanny, with Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
and Leslie Caron
Leslie Caron
Leslie Claire Margaret Caron is a French film actress and dancer, who appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003. In 2006, her performance in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit won her an Emmy for guest actress in a drama series...
. A versatile actor, he took the parts as they arose and appeared in comedies, horror films, wartime dramas and other genres. His best work was in the 1960s: the critical quality of the films in which he took part diminished from the mid 1970s, with poorly regarded made-for-television films and episodic television making up the majority of his appearances, except in The Saviour, directed in 1971 by the French film critic Michel Mardore. In certain films he was allowed to show his skills such as the bleak I skrzypce przestaly grac (1988), and Roberto Benigni
Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director of film, theatre and television.- Early years :...
's Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning Life Is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful is a 1997 Italian film which tells the story of a Jewish Italian, Guido Orefice , who must employ his fertile imagination to help his family during their internment in a Nazi concentration camp.At the 71st Academy Awards in 1999, Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor and...
(1997).
In 2000, he talked about his bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
for the first time in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
tabloid Die Bunte.
He died in the Berlin Charité
Charité
The Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....
from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at the age of sixty-nine. This was a city to which his loyalty was constant, and he was buried there in the Waldfriedhof Dahlem
Waldfriedhof Dahlem
The Waldfriedhof Dahlem is a cemetery in Berlin, in the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf on the edge of the Grunewald forest at Hüttenweg 47. Densely planted with conifers and designed between 1931 and 1933 after the plans of Albert Brodersen, it is one of Berlin's more recent cemeteries...
.
Selected filmography
- Marianne de ma jeunesse (1954)
- Himmel ohne Sterne (1955)
- Die Halbstarken (1956)
- Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull (1957)
- Nasser AsphaltNasser AsphaltNasser Asphalt is a 1958 West-German thriller with Horst Buchholz and Gert Fröbe that was directed by Frank Wisbar.-Plot:...
(1958) - Tiger BayTiger Bay (film)Tiger Bay is a 1959 British crime drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and produced and co-written by John Hawkesworth. It stars John Mills as a police superintendent who investigates a murder, his daughter Hayley Mills, in her first major film role, as a girl who witnesses the murder, and Horst...
(1959) - The Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent SevenThe Magnificent Seven is an American Western film directed by John Sturges, and released in 1960. It is a fictional tale of a group of seven American gunmen who are hired to protect a small agricultural village in Mexico from a group of marauding Mexican bandits...
(1960) - Fanny (1961)
- One, Two, ThreeOne, Two, ThreeOne, Two, Three is a 1961 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and written by him and I.A.L. Diamond. It is based on the 1929 Hungarian one-act play Egy, kettö, három by Ferenc Molnár, with a "plot borrowed partly from" Ninotchka, a 1939 film co-written by Wilder...
(1961) - The Empty CanvasThe Empty CanvasThe Empty Canvas is an Italian drama film directed by Damiano Damiani. The screenplay by Damiani, Tonino Guerra, and Ugo Liberatore is based on the best-selling novel La Noia by Alberto Moravia.-Synopsis:...
(1963) - Nine Hours to RamaNine Hours to RamaNine Hours to Rama is 1963 CinemaScope British film, directed by Mark Robson, and based on a 1962 book by Stanley Wolpert of the same name. The film was written by Nelson Gidding and was filmed in England and parts of India...
(1963) - That Man in IstanbulThat Man in IstanbulThat Man in Istanbul is a 1965 European international co-production adventure film directed by Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi and starring Horst Buchholz...
(1965) - Cast a Giant ShadowCast a Giant ShadowCast a Giant Shadow is a 1966 big budget, action movie based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus starring Kirk Douglas and Senta Berger. Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, and Angie Dickinson also appear in supporting roles...
(1966) - CervantesCervantes (film)Cervantes is a highly fictionalized 1967 film biography of the early life of Miguel de Cervantes . It was the first screen biography of the author...
(1967) as the title role - Le Sauveur/ The Saviour (1971)
- DerrickDerrick (TV series)Derrick is a German TV series produced by Telenova Film und Fernsehproduktion in association with ZDF, ORF and SRG between 1974 and 1998 about Detective Chief Inspector Stephan Derrick and his loyal assistant Inspector Harry Klein , who solve murder cases in Munich and surroundings Derrick is a...
- Season 3, Episode 11: "Das Superding" (1976)
- Season 5, Episode 8: "Solo für Margarete" (1978)
- Season 7, Episode 8: "Auf einem Gutshof" (1980)
- Season 10, Episode 2: "Die Tote in der Isar" (1983)
- Raid on EntebbeRaid on Entebbe (film)Raid on Entebbe is a 1977 TV movie directed by Irvin Kershner. It is based on an actual event: Operation Entebbe and the freeing of hostages at Entebbe Airport in Entebbe, Uganda on July 4, 1976. It was the last movie to be released featuring Academy Award-winning actor Peter Finch who died just...
(1977) - Logan's RunLogan's Run (TV series)Logan's Run is a 1977–1978 American CBS-TV series and a spin-off from the 1976 film of the same name.- Cast :*Gregory Harrison as Logan 5*Heather Menzies as Jessica 6*Donald Moffat as Rem*Randy Powell as Francis- Episode list :...
Season 1, Episode 3: "Capture" (1977) as James Borden - AphroditeAphrodite (film)Aphrodite is a 1982 French soft-core exploitation film inspired by a novel by Pierre Louÿs, directed by Robert Fuest with Valérie Kaprisky and Horst Buchholz.- Principal cast :* Horst Buchholz as Harry Laird* Valérie Kaprisky as Pauline...
(1982) - SaharaSahara (1983 film)Sahara is a 1983 film starring Brooke Shields, Lambert Wilson, John Mills and Horst Buchholz. It was filmed in Israel and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The original music score was composed by Ennio Morricone...
(1983) - Code Name: EmeraldCode Name: EmeraldCode Name: Emerald is a 1985 action-drama film about a spy for the Allies working undercover in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film was directed by Jonathan Sanger, and stars Ed Harris, Max von Sydow, Eric Stoltz, and Patrick Stewart...
(1985) - Réquiem por Granada (1990)
- Aces: Iron Eagle IIIAces: Iron Eagle IIIAces: Iron Eagle III is a 1992 action film directed by John Glen and is the third installment of the Iron Eagle film series, with Louis Gossett, Jr. reprising his role as Col. Charles "Chappy" Sinclair. Also starring are Japanese actor Sonny Chiba and retired boxing champion Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini...
(1992) - Faraway, So Close!Faraway, So Close!Faraway, So Close! is a 1993 film by German director Wim Wenders. The screenplay is by Wenders, Richard Reitinger and Ulrich Zieger. The film is a sequel to Wenders' 1987 film Wings of Desire. Actors Otto Sander and Bruno Ganz reprise their roles as angels visiting earth. The film also stars...
(1993) - Life Is BeautifulLife Is BeautifulLife Is Beautiful is a 1997 Italian film which tells the story of a Jewish Italian, Guido Orefice , who must employ his fertile imagination to help his family during their internment in a Nazi concentration camp.At the 71st Academy Awards in 1999, Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor and...
(1997)