Claus Biederstaedt(1928-2020)

Claus Biederstaedt was born in Stargard, a mid-sized historic town in Pomerania, the son of a senior educational councillor who was also a conductor and taught music and art history. He was conscripted into the army as a 16-year-old and served on the Eastern Front, barely managing to escape to the west ahead of the Russian advance in 1945. His mother, believing her only son killed in action, tragically committed suicide by poison. Biederstaedt eventually reunited with his father in Hamburg and began to study medicine on the way to a career as a physician. However, after matriculating, he changed his plans and instead joined the ensemble of the Deutsches Theatre in Hamburg where he received acting tuition from noted thespians Will Quadflieg and Joseph Offenbach. He made his stage debut in 1950 and two years later first appeared on screen in the medical drama Die große Versuchung (1952), winning a coveted Film Award in Gold as most promising newcomer.

At the peak of his popularity in the '50s and '60s, Biederstaedt popped up in as many as five pictures a year, becoming one of the most sought-after lead actors in German cinema. A cheerful presence, he made himself at home in most contemporary genres, from wartime melodramas to romantic comedies (he famously gave Romy Schneider her first screen kiss in Fireworks (1954)). By the 1970s, he made regular TV appearances (Der Kommissar (1969), The Old Fox (1977), Derrick (1974), etc.) and worked behind the microphone as a singularly prolific voice-over actor, his trademark deep, smoky tones used for dubbing (among others) Peter Falk (Columbo (1971)), James Garner (The Rockford Files (1974)), Gregory Peck (Other People's Money (1991)), Gene Hackman (Lucky Lady (1975)), Richard Harris (A Man Called Horse (1970) ), Yul Brynner (Villa Rides (1968)), Paul Newman (Torn Curtain (1966)) and Marlon Brando (Bedtime Story (1964)). Biederstaedt also acted on and directed for the stage until cancer pre-empted his retirement in 2008. He died on June 18, 2020, ten days prior to his 92nd birthday.