Dirk Bach (23 April 1961 – 1 October 2012) was a German actor, comedian and television presenter, best known as the co-host of ''

Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! ''Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!'', also known colloquially as the ''Dschungelcamp'' (''Jungle Camp''), is a German reality television show, based on the British reality television show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. The ...

'', the German version of '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!''.

Career

Bach was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. After school, he worked in theatres in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, New York,

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. In 1992, Bach was a member of the theatre group in Cologne at the '' Schauspielhaus'' and appeared on the German television channel RTL on the ''Dirk Bach Show''.'''' He performed in ''

Lukas Lukas is a form of the Latin name Lucas. Popularity In 2013 it was the ninth most popular name for boys in Australia. Meaning and different spellings * Amharic - Luqas (ሉቃስ) * Arabic - Luqa (لوقا) / Luqas (لوكاس) * Armenian - Ղ ...

'' (1996–2001) on the German TV channel

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

, for which he received the ''Telestar'' award (1996), the German Comedy Award (1999), and the

Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show is usually held in early February in Hamburg, but has also taken place in Berlin in the past. The gold-plate ...

(2001). In 2002, Bach starred in ''Der kleine Mönch'' on ZDF. Bach worked in ''

Sesamstraße ''Sesamstraße'' (, Sesame Street in English) is a German children's television series in Germany, and a spin-off of the first preschool programme ''Sesame Street''. It airs primarily in Germany and the surrounding German-speaking countries. The ...

'', the German version of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'', as the character Pepe. He often performed with

Hella von Sinnen Hella Kemper (born 2 February 1959), known by her stage name Hella von Sinnen (lit. ''Hella out of her mind'', making pun of the aristocratic "von"), is a German entertainer and television presenter. She has been a regular on several TV shows o ...

on different television productions. From 2004 on, Bach and

Sonja Zietlow Sonja Zietlow (born 13 May 1968) is a German television presenter. Biography Zietlow was born in Bonn. After she graduated from school and before her media career began in 1993, she worked as first officer for the German airline Lufthansa. W ...

presented the German edition of the show ''

I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' is a British reality TV series in which a number of celebrities live together in a jungle environment for a number of weeks, competing to be crowned "King" or "Queen of the Jungle". The show was or ...

''. In 2005, Bach played the character ''Urmel'' in ''Urmel aus dem Eis'' (''

Impy's Island ''Impy's Island'', or ''Urmel from the Ice Age'' (german: Urmel aus dem Eis), is a 2006 German computer-animated feature film based on the children's novel '' Urmel from the Ice Age'' by Max Kruse. Plot summary On a magical tropical island calle ...

''). Since 2006, Bach has hosted the German game show ''Frei Schnauze'' on RTL.

Other work

Bach was an

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist and member of the

LSVD Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland (LSVD), German for the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany, is the largest non-governmental LGBT rights organisation in Germany. It was founded in 1990 and is part of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bis ...

organisation (Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany). He was part of the campaign to bring the

2010 Gay Games The 2010 Gay Games (Gay Games VIII) were an international multi-sport event and cultural gathering organized by, and specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and musicians. It was held from July 31 to ...

to Cologne. He also helped

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

and the organization

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

Personal life and death

Bach lived together with his partner Thomas in Cologne. Bach died on 1 October 2012 in Berlin at the age of 51 from presumed

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

Television

* 1983: ' * 1984: ''Im Himmel ist die Hölle los / Hullygully in Käseburg'' * 1986: ''

Kir Royal The Kir royal is a French cocktail, a variation on the Kir. It consists of crème de cassis topped with champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the ...

'' (TV series) * 1988: ''Krieg der Töne'' (TV experimental film) * 1989: ''Year of the Turtle'' * 1993: ' * 1994: ''Die Weltings vom Hauptbahnhof – Scheidung auf Kölsch'' (TV series) * 1994: ''Drei zum Verlieben'' (TV series) * 1995: ' * 1995: ''Marys verrücktes Krankenhaus'' (TV series) * 1996: ''

'' (TV series) * 1997: ''Rendezvous des Todes'' (TV) * 1998: ' * 1998: ''Varell & Decker'' (TV series) * 1999: ''Zum Sterben schön'' (TV) * 2001: ''Das Rätsel des blutroten Rubins'' (TV) * 2001: ''Der Mann, den sie nicht lieben durfte'' (TV) * 2002: ''

Der kleine Mönch ''Der kleine Mönch'' is a German television series. See also *List of German television series The following is a list of television series produced in Germany: Current Drama * '' 4 Blocks'' ( TNT Serie, 2017–2019) * '' Alarm für Cob ...

'' (TV series) * 2003: ''Karlchens Parade'' * 2003: ''Crazy Race 2 – Warum die Mauer wirklich fiel'' (TV) * 2003: ' * 2005: ''Popp Dich schlank!'' (TV) * 2005: ''Urmel aus dem Eis'' (TV) * 2006: ''Zwei zum Fressen gern'' (TV) * 2006: ''Crazy Race 3 – Sie knacken jedes Schloss'' (TV) * 2007: ''

Die ProSieben Märchenstunde ''Die ProSieben Märchenstunde'' ("ProSieben Fairy Tale Hour") is a television movie series that has been produced since 2006. It features characters that are exclusively portrayed by German and Austrian comedians and actors. The series is shot ...

– Des Kaisers neue Kleider'' * 2009: ''Einfach Bach'' * 2010: ''Teufel Gott und Kaiser – Nibelungenfestspiele Worms''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Dirk 1961 births 2012 deaths Actors from Cologne German male comedians German male film actors German game show hosts German male stage actors German male television actors German male voice actors German television personalities German television presenters German gay actors Gay comedians LGBT entertainers from Germany LGBT actors from Germany LGBT broadcasters from Germany LGBT rights activists from Germany 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors RTL Group people