Jan Spitzer(1947-2022)

German stage, screen and voice actor, trained at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin between 1965 and 1968. Spitzer began as a leading movie actor at the very onset of his career, featuring in key dramatic (Abschied (1968)) and comedic roles (Jungfer, Sie gefällt mir (1969)) for the East German company DEFA. He was then frequently seen in period films, including Johannes Kepler (1974), Der Hasenhüter (1977) and Gevatter Tod (1980) (the latter based on a fairytale by the Brothers Grimm). Spitzer's theatrical credits encompassed stints at the Deutsches Theater Berlin as well as at the Volkstheater München and the Berliner Ensemble. He also sidelined as a musician, initially as an alumnus of the 60s group The Sounds and, subsequently, as a free-lance vocalist. He was also a writer of theatrical music. Spitzer had several minor hits in the early 70s which were recorded on the Amiga label and aired on East German radio. In the 80s, his distinctively deep, masculine voice could be heard in radio plays (notably the Thrawn Trilogy, based on the books by Timothy Zahn, 2012-14), narrating poetry, in video games and as the German synchronisation for a legion of other sonorous-voiced film stars, among them James Earl Jones, Ron Perlman, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Danny Trejo and Gary Busey.