Biography

Pierre Brice was born on 6 February 1929 in Brest, France. After enlisting as volunteer to the French Army and fighting in Indochina, he attended acting lessons and got a first small role in Ça va barder (1955). In 1962, the German producer Horst Wendlandt searched for an actor who should play the Native American chief Winnetou on a Western movie adapted from novels by Karl May and got to know Brice at the Berlin Film Festival. He got the role and portrayed "Winnetou" in ten more movies with his co-star Lex Barker as "Old Shatterhand". These very successful productions made him a superstar in Germany, winning several awards such as Bambi or the Golden Otto of teenager magazine "Bravo". Although appearing on countless other movies and TV shows, he will always be best remembered as "Winnetou", whom he also played at the Bad Segeberg open air theater.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: fippi2000

Pierre Brice began his career as a theater actor, which he had to interrupt when he was drafted as a soldier in the Indochina War. Back from the front, he attended the Paris Conservatory and earned his living as a model and dancer. Among other things, he appeared alongside Brigitte Bardot in photo novels. Brice continued his acting career in the early 1950s, initially only appearing in average films such as "Uprising of the Circassians", "Innocence under Cross-Examination", "The Wife of the Pharaohs", "The Mill of Petrified Women", "Ride to Freedom" or "They call it love." Pierre Brice's rise to international stardom began in 1962 when he appeared on screen for the first time as "Winnetou" in "The Treasure of the Silver Lake". His partner was Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand. Further Karl May film adaptations followed, which brought him stardom and forever welded him to the role of the honest Apache chief. Pierre Brice won many awards for his roles, including "Bambi" in 1965 and 1966.

By 1968, Brice played "Winnetou" in eleven films. As a sought-after actor, he also appeared in several dozen films. But mostly they were less demanding films such as "Robin Hood in the City of Death", "Zorro vs. Maciste - Battle of the Invincibles", "The Golden Goddess of Rio Beni", "The Hell of Manitoba" or "The Repentance of Pierre Grilhem". ". Towards the end of the 1960s, Brice managed to establish himself as a character actor, for example in the drama "The Night Belongs to Us". In 1974 he played an inspector in the comedy "The Gangster's Doll" alongside Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. However, the role of "Winnetou" constantly haunted him. For example, he played him in the comedy "Zärtliche Chaoten" in 1987, and he performed as a redskin on open-air stages until the 1990s. Since the 1970s, Brice has hardly been seen in films. He was more in front of the camera for television and was seen in the three-part TV series "Klinik unter Palmen" alongside Klaus Jürgen Wussow, Sonja Kirchberger, Viktoria Brahms and Hans von Borsody.

He also celebrated successes in TV series, including "Die Hütte am See", "Schloß am Wörthersee" and "Traumschiff". After his television exposure, Brice refocused on his theater career. His awards include the Federal Cross of Merit First Class, the Spanish National Prize and the Prize for the Best Actor in Italy. In 1991, Pierre Brice was honored by the Winnebago Indians with the title of "Rainbow Man." Until 1999, the 70-year-old Brice took over the direction of the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg. In September 2004 he published his autobiography "Winnetou and I". In the same year he was awarded the "DIVA Award". In 2005 he received the "Steiger Award". In 2007 he was made a "Knight of the Legion of Honor" for his services to Franco-German friendship and European cinema. The mime last lived with his wife Hella Krekel in a country house near Paris.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth