Brigitte Rau (31 December 1933 – 24 September 1979) was a German

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

Life

Brigitte Rau was born on the last day of 1933, the daughter of Otto Kurt Rau and Martha Adele Örtel. She appeared as an actress on stage, but she mainly became known through movies and television movies. Rau often took part in comedies and music movies. She had her first film role in 1952 in the family movie '' Fight of the Tertia''. In 1954 she married her professional colleague

Gunnar Möller Gunnar Möller (1 July 1928 – 16 May 2017) was a German television and film actor. He appeared in over 160 film and television productions between 1940 and 2016. He was most successful as a leading man in German cinema of the 1950s, especially w ...

with whom she was seen in the same year in the music movie '' Love and Trumpets''. She continued her acting career after her marriage under her birth name. From her marriage with Gunnar Möller she had three children. Under the direction of

Peter Beauvais Peter Beauvais (September 9, 1916, Weißenstadt, Germany – December 17, 1986, Baden-Baden, Germany) was a German television film director and scriptwriter. As a director for three decades, he helped pioneer and significantly influenced the devel ...

she played in ''Ist Mama nicht fabelhaft?'' in 1958. She also acted at the side of her husband, so in ''Familie Werner auf Reisen'', a TV series. Here she gave Brigitte Werner, wife of Hans Werner, the student councillor, whom her husband impersonated. In the TV series ''Die Gäste des Felix Hechinger'' (directed by

Rolf von Sydow Rolf von Sydow (18 June 1924 – 16 June 2019) was a German film director and author. Life Von Sydow worked as a film director in Germany. He married on three occasions. As an author, Sydow wrote several books and audible books. Works by Syd ...

) Brigitte Rau played the role of Monika Lenz, in the series part ''Ehe in Gefahr'' her husband played her husband Peter Lenz. In the 1970s, Gunnar Möller and Brigitte Rau appeared predominantly together in theatre productions, among others also at the Landesbühne Hannover. In 1977 they both appeared on stage in Heinz Coubier's comedy ''Aimée'' directed by

Helmut Käutner Helmut Käutner (25 March 1908 – 20 April 1980) was a German film director active mainly in the 1940s and 1950s. He entered the film industry at the end of the Weimar Republic and released his first films as a director in Nazi Germany. Käu ...

Circumstances of Death

In 1979, Möller killed the 45-year-old actress in London because she wanted to get divorced from him. At that time, the couple's marriage was already considered to be disrupted by affairs, alcohol and disputes. The family had previously changed residence several times before settling in the Hampstead district of London's artists. After the crime, Möller turned himself in to the police. His case was tried in court in London, and the actor was sentenced to five years in prison, of which he served two years.

Selected filmography

* '' Fight of the Tertia'' (1952) * '' Christina'' (1953) * ''

Annie from Tharau ''Annie from Tharau'' (german: Ännchen von Tharau) is a 1954 West German romance film directed by Wolfgang Schleif and starring Ilse Werner, Heinz Engelmann, Helmuth Schneider.Bock & Bergfelder p.548 It takes its name from a historic song of ...

'' (1954) * ''

Money from the Air ''Money from the Air'' (german: Geld aus der Luft) is a 1954 West German musical comedy film directed by Géza von Cziffra and starring Josef Meinrad, Lonny Kellner, and Grethe Weiser. It was shot at the Wandsbek Studios of Real Film in Hamburg. ...

'' (1954) * ''

A Life for Do ''A Life for Do'' (german: Ein Leben für Do) is a 1954 West German drama film directed by Gustav Ucicky and starring Hans Söhnker, Paola Loew and Heidi Becker. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in West Berlin and on location around Lucern ...

'' (1954) * '' Love and Trumpets'' (1954) * '' Ball at the Savoy'' (1955) * '' The Ambassador'' (1960) * ''

Oh! This Bavaria! ''Oh! This Bavaria!'' (german: O, diese Bayern!) is a 1960 West German comedy film directed by Arnulf Schröder and starring Rudolf Vogel, Liesl Karlstadt and Jürgen von Alten Jürgen von Alten (12 January 1903 – 28 February 1994) was a Ger ...

'' (1960)

References

External links

* 1933 births 1979 deaths German film actresses German television actresses 20th-century German actresses {{Germany-screen-actor-stub