Heinz Rühmann
| Heinz Rühmann | |
|---|---|
Heinz Rühmann in 1937
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| Born |
Heinrich Wilhelm Rühmann March 7, 1902 Essen  Germany
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| Died | October 3, 1994 (aged 92) Berg  Germany
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| Occupation | Actor, Director |
| Years active | 1926–1993 |
| Spouse(s) | Maria Herbot (1924-1938) (divorced) Hertha Feiler (1939-1970) (her death) (1 son) Hertha Droemer (1974-1994) (his death) (died 2016) |
| Children | Peter Rühmann (b. 1942) |
Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (March 7, 1902 – October 3, 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th Century and is considered a German film legend. Rühmann is best known for his comedic "Average Guys" in film comedies such as Three from the Filling Station and The Punch Bowl. During his later years, he was also a respected character actor in films like The Captain from Köpenick and It Happened in Broad Daylight. His only English-speaking movie was Ship of Fools in 1964.
Rühmann was born in Essen as the son of a Restaurateur. He started his acting career during the early 1920s and appeared in numerous theatres in Germany during the following years. His role in the 1930 movie Die Drei von der Tankstelle (The Three from the Filling Station) led him to film stardom. He remained highly popular as a comedic actor (and sometime singer) throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. He remained in Germany and continued to work during the Nazi period, as did his friend and colleague, Hans Albers.
During the Nazi era, he acted in 37 films and directed four. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, Rühmann did not speak openly about German politics, but instead kept himself as neutral as possible. He never stated a word against or towards the Nazis in the press, although he had been a supporter of democracy. In 1938, he divorced his Jewish wife Maria Bernheim, who married a Swedish actor and, before World War II broke out, travelled to Stockholm and, as a result, survived the Holocaust. The divorce caused Rühmann to be accused of wanting to secure his career; however, the marriage had probably already fallen apart and some sources say, that he wanted to protect his wife with the divorce. After 1945, Bernheim defended her ex-husband against accusations of opportunism. His second wife Hertha Feiler, whom he married shortly after, had a Jewish grandfather, a fact that caused Rühmann problems with the Nazi cultural authorities. Rühmann retained his reputation as an apolitical star during the entire Nazi era.
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