Evelyn Hamann
Encyclopedia
Evelyn Hamann was a German actress.
ist, the concertmaster
of the NDR
television company's symphony orchestra and founded the Hamann Quartet; her mother was a singer and music teacher, and her brother Gerhard was a professor of cello
at Trossingen
School of Music. Evelyn Hamann liked to keep her private life out of the public eye, so little is known about her life off-camera. She was divorced once and lived together with her two cats in Hamburg-Harvestehude. She died during the night of 28 to 29 October 2007 in Hamburg, as a result of lymphoma, which had been diagnosed 10 months previously.
, and from 1968 her stage career took her to Göttingen
, Heidelberg
and Bremen
, where she played Marthe Schwertlein in Goethe
's Urfaust.
in a large number of comedy sketches. With her straight face and dry Hanseatic humour, she wrote television history as "Fräulein Renate" battling for love with her stuffy boss, "Fräulein Hildegard" in the legendary sketch where her devotee prances, having a noodle in his face, or as "Frau Hoppenstedt" proud of her "yodelling degree" which would give her something to build a career on when the children left home.
In one famous scene, Die Englische Ansage ("The English Announcement") http://jc-log.jmirus.de/index.php/site/comments/683/, Hamann plays a German television presenter describing the plot of an English television series with a plethora of English "th
"-sound. This sound does not exist in the German language and she struggles with progressively more names which she becomes less and less able to pronounce as the sketch progresses - "North Cothelstone Hall" "Lord und Lady Hesketh-Fortescue" etc.
Hamann also had the most important female role in the Loriot films Ödipussi (1987) and Pappa ante Portas (1991).
Hamann remained popular into the 1980s, playing the part of housekeeper Karsta Michaelis in the television series The Black Forest Clinic
and later playing "Thea" in the weekly medical drama Der Landarzt (The Country Doctor).
From 1992 she acted in the title role of the successful ARD
television series Adelheid und ihre Mörder (Adelheid and her murderers) along with Heinz Baumann.
's crime thrillers.
Life
Evelyn Hamann was born into a family of musicians in Hamburg, Germany: her father Bernhard Hamann was a violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, the concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
of the NDR
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
television company's symphony orchestra and founded the Hamann Quartet; her mother was a singer and music teacher, and her brother Gerhard was a professor of cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
at Trossingen
Trossingen
Trossingen is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in a region called Baar, between the Swabian Alb and the Black Forest. Stuttgart is about an hour away, Lake Constance about half an hour, and the source of the river Danube can be reached in about twenty minutes by car.Trossingen...
School of Music. Evelyn Hamann liked to keep her private life out of the public eye, so little is known about her life off-camera. She was divorced once and lived together with her two cats in Hamburg-Harvestehude. She died during the night of 28 to 29 October 2007 in Hamburg, as a result of lymphoma, which had been diagnosed 10 months previously.
Education and first work
After an acting course at Hamburg University of Music and the Performing Arts, where she was taught by Eduard Marks, among others, Hamann started a career on the stage. She took on small roles at the Thalia TheaterThalia Theater (Hamburg)
The Thalia Theater is one of the three state-owned theatres in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1843 by Charles Maurice Schwartzenberger and named after the muse Thalia...
, and from 1968 her stage career took her to Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, where she played Marthe Schwertlein in Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
's Urfaust.
Breakthrough
In 1976, Evelyn Hamann first became known to a wide television audience by acting with LoriotVicco von Bülow
Bernhard Victor Christoph Carl von Bülow , more commonly known under the pseudonym Loriot, was a German comedian, humorist, cartoonist, film director, actor and writer.He is most well known for his cartoons, the sketches from his 1976 television series...
in a large number of comedy sketches. With her straight face and dry Hanseatic humour, she wrote television history as "Fräulein Renate" battling for love with her stuffy boss, "Fräulein Hildegard" in the legendary sketch where her devotee prances, having a noodle in his face, or as "Frau Hoppenstedt" proud of her "yodelling degree" which would give her something to build a career on when the children left home.
In one famous scene, Die Englische Ansage ("The English Announcement") http://jc-log.jmirus.de/index.php/site/comments/683/, Hamann plays a German television presenter describing the plot of an English television series with a plethora of English "th
Th (digraph)
Th is a digraph in the Roman alphabet. It is the most common digraph in order of frequency in the English language.-Cluster /t.h/:The most literal use of ⟨th⟩ is to represent a consonant cluster of /t/ and /h/ as in English knighthood...
"-sound. This sound does not exist in the German language and she struggles with progressively more names which she becomes less and less able to pronounce as the sketch progresses - "North Cothelstone Hall" "Lord und Lady Hesketh-Fortescue" etc.
Hamann also had the most important female role in the Loriot films Ödipussi (1987) and Pappa ante Portas (1991).
Hamann remained popular into the 1980s, playing the part of housekeeper Karsta Michaelis in the television series The Black Forest Clinic
The Black Forest Clinic
The Black Forest Clinic is a German language medical drama television series that was produced by and filmed in West Germany. The series was produced between 1984 and 1988 with the original airing being from October 2, 1985 to March 25, 1989 on West Germany's ZDF television channel.The series'...
and later playing "Thea" in the weekly medical drama Der Landarzt (The Country Doctor).
From 1992 she acted in the title role of the successful ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
television series Adelheid und ihre Mörder (Adelheid and her murderers) along with Heinz Baumann.
Literary readings
Evelyn Hamann also made a name for herself by reading authors' works at literary readings and for audiobooks, including Patricia HighsmithPatricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
's crime thrillers.
Television
- 1985-1989 - The Black Forest ClinicThe Black Forest ClinicThe Black Forest Clinic is a German language medical drama television series that was produced by and filmed in West Germany. The series was produced between 1984 and 1988 with the original airing being from October 2, 1985 to March 25, 1989 on West Germany's ZDF television channel.The series'...
- 1987 - Evelyn und die Männer
- 1989/1991/1992 - Der Millionenerbe
- 1989/1991/1992 - Kein pflegeleichter Fall
- 1991 - Glückliche Reise
- 1992 - Vater braucht eine Frau
- 1992-1999 - Evelyn Hamann Specials
- 1993-2005 - Evelyn Hamanns Geschichten aus dem Leben
- 1992-2006 - Adelheid und ihre Mörder
- 1995 - Das Traumschiff
- 1998 - Wut im Bauch
- 1999 - Ehe-Bruch
Awards
- 1977 - Goldene Kamera ("Best supporting role" with Loriot)
- 1987 - Goldene Kamera (3rd place for "Best Comedy" for "Evelyn und die Männer")
- 1993 - Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of GermanyBundesverdienstkreuzThe 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...
- 1997 - Telestar "Best actress in a series" for "Adelheid und ihre Mörder"
- 1997 - Bayerischer Fernsehpreis "Best actress in a series" for Beste "Adelheid und ihre Mörder"
- 1997 - Goldene Kamera
- 1998 - Honorary Superintendent of the Bavarian Police Force
- 2000 - Deutscher Videopreis (with Loriot)
- 2002 - Münchhausen-Preis
- Goldener Löwe
Source
- Much of this article was translated from the German Wikipedia article of November 14, 2006
See also
- LoriotVicco von BülowBernhard Victor Christoph Carl von Bülow , more commonly known under the pseudonym Loriot, was a German comedian, humorist, cartoonist, film director, actor and writer.He is most well known for his cartoons, the sketches from his 1976 television series...
- German television comedyGerman television comedyGermany has a long tradition of television comedy stretching as far back as the 1950s, and with its origins in cabaret and radio.-1960s:*1963: Der 90. Geburtstag is a comedy sketch recorded on July 8, 1963 at Theater am Besenbinderhof in front of a real audience by Norddeutscher Rundfunk...
- List of German language comedians