Ferdinand Heckscher (1806 – 28 February 1891) was a German-Jewish actor.

Biography

Heckscher, who had a fine

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

voice, began his theatrical career as a singer, but, finding his opportunities in this field too limited, he abandoned music entirely in 1833 and devoted his energies to the drama. He studied under Benelli and at the private theater Urania, Berlin, and made his début at the Königstädtische Theatre in that city in 1825. From 1826 to 1830 he was at

Sondershausen Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen. Until 1918 it ...

; from 1830 to 1832 at

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

; 1832–34 at

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

; 1834–41 at the Hoftheater,

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, where he played in company with

Emil Devrient Gustav Emil Devrient (4 September 1803, Berlin – 7 August 1872, Dresden) was a German actor and an occasional operatic bass. Life Gustav Emil Devrient was the youngest son of the six children of the silk merchant Tobias Philipp Devrient and his ...

, Carl Weymar, and F. W. Porth; from 1841 to 1845 at Breslau; and until 1846 as director of the theatre at Sondershausen. He retired shortly after. He appeared as a star at the Hoftheater, Berlin, and in

Cassel Cassel may refer to: People * Cassel (surname) Places ;France * Cassel, Nord, a town and commune in northern France ** Battle of Cassel (1071) ** Battle of Cassel (1328) ** Battle of Cassel (1677) ;Germany * Cassel, Germany, a city in Hesse renam ...

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

, Brunswick,

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, Königsberg, and Danzig. Heckscher's principal roles were Ingomar, Stephan Foster, Wetter von Strahl,

Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

, Don Ramiro, Fiesco, and

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

in Gutzkow's ''Das Urbild des Tartuffes''.

References

1806 births 1891 deaths 19th-century German Jews 19th-century Prussian people Male actors from the Kingdom of Prussia Jewish German male actors Jewish singers German basses Male actors from Berlin {{Germany-stage-actor-stub