Harald Juhnke
Encyclopedia
Harald Juhnke (June 10, 1929 in Berlin-Charlottenburg - April 1, 2005 in Rüdersdorf
near Berlin), actually Harry Heinz Herbert Juhnke, was a well-known German actor, comedian and entertainer.
s, grew up in the working-class district Wedding of Berlin.
His first stage appearance was in 1948. In 1950, he was hired by the theater of Neustrelitz
. In the following years, he worked in several other theaters, including the Freie Volksbühne
in Berlin. He became well known in the following decades, often playing the role of the young lover or a comic Berliner. He also dubbed Marlon Brando
in German films.
Juhnke began appearing often on German television after 1977. He first played in television series with actors such as Grit Böttcher and Eddie Arent and later hosted the ZDF
television show Musik ist Trumpf (Music is Trump), which was seen by up to 30 million television viewers. His role model for the show was Frank Sinatra
, whose style of dress and singing he emulated. Juhnke's most popular song was a German rendition of Sinatra's signature song "I Did It My Way"
.
In 1992, Juhnke experienced a comeback as a film actor. He won praise from critics for character parts in the movies Schtonk!
, Der Papagei (The Parrot), and Der Hauptmann von Köpenick
(The Captain of Köpenick). In 1995, he played the lead role in the movie Der Trinker (The Drinker), based on the autobiography of German writer Hans Fallada
. In working on this film, Juhnke drew on his own experiences with alcoholism
.
His first marriage was to the actress and dancer Sybil Werden
. The couple had two children: their daughter Barbara was born in 1953, and in 1956 they had a son, Peer. In 1971, Juhnke married actress Susanne Hsiao, daughter of a Chinese restaurateur and an East Prussia
n mother. Their son Oliver Marlon was born in 1972.
Juhnke's battle with alcoholism
was reported widely in German tabloids and was followed closely by the public. A massive scandal occurred when, strongly intoxicated at a Los Angeles
hotel, he called a black security guard a "dirty nigger". Although some German media believed a trial would be the result, the hotel employee stated that he would never bring charges against "the German Frank Sinatra". In December 2001, after another bout of heavy schnaps drinking and suffering from Korsakoff's syndrome
as a result of his alcohol abuse
, he was hospitalized in a nursing home for patients with mental illness
es in Fredersdorf
, Brandenburg
.
In February 2005, Harald Juhnke was hospitalized with acute dehydration
. He died on April 1 at the age of 75.
Rüdersdorf
Rüdersdorf is a municipality in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Overview:It is situated 26 km east of Berlin . Rüdersdorf is famous for its limestone-open-pit mining. Today some parts of the mine are used as a museum...
near Berlin), actually Harry Heinz Herbert Juhnke, was a well-known German actor, comedian and entertainer.
Life
Juhnke, whose father was a policeman and whose mother came from a family of bakerBaker
A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...
s, grew up in the working-class district Wedding of Berlin.
His first stage appearance was in 1948. In 1950, he was hired by the theater of Neustrelitz
Neustrelitz
Neustrelitz is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the shore of the Zierker See in the Mecklenburg Lake District. From 1738 until 1918 it was the capital of the duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz...
. In the following years, he worked in several other theaters, including the Freie 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....
in Berlin. He became well known in the following decades, often playing the role of the young lover or a comic Berliner. He also dubbed Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
in German films.
Juhnke began appearing often on German television after 1977. He first played in television series with actors such as Grit Böttcher and Eddie Arent and later hosted the ZDF
ZDF
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...
television show Musik ist Trumpf (Music is Trump), which was seen by up to 30 million television viewers. His role model for the show was Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, whose style of dress and singing he emulated. Juhnke's most popular song was a German rendition of Sinatra's signature song "I Did It My Way"
My Way (song)
"My Way" is a song popularized by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to music based on the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed in 1967 by Claude François and Jacques Revaux, with lyrics by Claude François and Gilles Thibault. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the...
.
In 1992, Juhnke experienced a comeback as a film actor. He won praise from critics for character parts in the movies Schtonk!
Schtonk!
Schtonk! is a satirical German movie, retelling the hoax of the Hitler Diaries.Subtitled Der Film zum Buch vom Führer , the movie is a grotesque farce about the events when, in 1983, German Stern magazine began to publish, with great fanfare, the 60 volumes of the alleged diaries of Adolf Hitler...
, Der Papagei (The Parrot), and Der Hauptmann von Köpenick
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1997 film)
Der Hauptmann von Köpenick is a 1997 German television film directed by Frank Beyer and based upon the play The Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer. The play was based on the true story of Wilhelm Voigt, a German impostor who masqueraded as a Prussian military officer in 1906 and became famous as...
(The Captain of Köpenick). In 1995, he played the lead role in the movie Der Trinker (The Drinker), based on the autobiography of German writer Hans Fallada
Hans Fallada
Hans Fallada , born Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen in Greifswald, Germany, was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include Little Man, What Now? and Every Man Dies Alone...
. In working on this film, Juhnke drew on his own experiences with alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
.
His first marriage was to the actress and dancer Sybil Werden
Sybil Werden
-Selected filmography:* Desires * Straßenserenade * Wenn der Vater mit dem Sohne...
. The couple had two children: their daughter Barbara was born in 1953, and in 1956 they had a son, Peer. In 1971, Juhnke married actress Susanne Hsiao, daughter of a Chinese restaurateur and an East Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n mother. Their son Oliver Marlon was born in 1972.
Juhnke's battle with alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
was reported widely in German tabloids and was followed closely by the public. A massive scandal occurred when, strongly intoxicated at a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
hotel, he called a black security guard a "dirty nigger". Although some German media believed a trial would be the result, the hotel employee stated that he would never bring charges against "the German Frank Sinatra". In December 2001, after another bout of heavy schnaps drinking and suffering from Korsakoff's syndrome
Korsakoff's syndrome
Korsakoff's syndrome is a neurological disorder caused by the lack of thiamine in the brain. Its onset is linked to chronic alcohol abuse and/or severe malnutrition...
as a result of his alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...
, he was hospitalized in a nursing home for patients with mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
es in Fredersdorf
Fredersdorf
Fredersdorf may refer to* Fredersdorf, part of Gemeinde Fredersdorf-Vogelsdorf in Landkreis Märkisch Oderland in Brandenburg* Fredersdorf Ortsteil of Gemeinde Zichow in Landkreis Uckermark in Brandenburg...
, Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
.
In February 2005, Harald Juhnke was hospitalized with acute dehydration
Dehydration
In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...
. He died on April 1 at the age of 75.
Awards
- 1978 Goldener Vorhang (Golden Curtain) award of Berlin's "Theaterclub"
- 1980 Goldene Kamera (HÖRZUHörzuHörzu is a German weekly television listings magazine published by Axel Springer. The magazine first appeared in 1946 as the first radio program magazine to be produced in what was then the British zone of occupation...
) - 1990 Goldene EuropaGoldene EuropaThe Goldene Europa award is the oldest German Television award for artists and entertainers. It was awarded from 1968 to 2003. In the years 1989 and 2001, there were no ceremonies...
- Honored as an entertainer of the 1980s and 1990s - 1992 Deutscher FilmpreisDeutscher FilmpreisThe Deutscher Filmpreis is the highest German movie award. From 1951 to 2004 it was awarded by a commission, since 2005 the award has been given by the Deutsche Filmakademie...
- 1992 Bambi
- 1993 Ernst-Lubitsch-Preis
- 1993 Bayerischer Fernsehpreis
- 1993 Karl-Valentin-Orden
- 1993 Romy – Most popular television actor of the year
- 1995 Critic's Award of the Berliner ZeitungBerliner ZeitungThe Berliner Zeitung, founded in 1945, is a German center-left daily newspaper based in Berlin, published by Berliner Verlag. It is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since unification. In 2003, the Berliner was Berlin's largest subscription newspaper—the weekend...
for lifetime accomplishment - 1996 Telestar
- 1998 Goldener Löwe (RTLRTL TelevisionRtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...
) - 2000 Goldene Kamera (HÖRZU)
Filmography
- Gitarren der LiebeGitarren der LiebeGitarren der Liebe is a 1954 West German musical film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring Vico Torriani, Elma Karlowa and Harald Juhnke.-Cast:* Vico Torriani as Roberto Trenti*Elma Karlowa as Ilona*Harald Juhnke as Walter*Topsy Küppers as Gisa...
(1954) - Auch ich war nur ein mittelmäßiger SchülerAuch ich war nur ein mittelmäßiger SchülerAuch ich war nur ein mittelmäßiger Schüler is a 1974 West German comedy film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring Detlev Eckstein, Bernd Herberger and Jutta Speidel...
(1974) - 1976: 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 13: "Pecko" (starring Pierre FranckhPierre FranckhPierre Franckh is a German television actor, director and writer.- Filmography :*1962: Peter Pan *1963: Südfrüchte *1963: Das Haus in Montevideo...
) - 1997: Hauptmann von KöpenickDer Hauptmann von Köpenick (1997 film)Der Hauptmann von Köpenick is a 1997 German television film directed by Frank Beyer and based upon the play The Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer. The play was based on the true story of Wilhelm Voigt, a German impostor who masqueraded as a Prussian military officer in 1906 and became famous as...
- Dir. Frank BeyerFrank BeyerFrank Beyer was German film director. In East Germany he was one of the most important film directors, working for the state film monopoly DEFA and directed films that dealt mostly with the Nazi era and contemporary East Germany. His film Traces of Stones was banned for 20 years in 1966 by the...
(starring Rolf Hoppe, Udo Samel, Sophie Rois)