Curt Gerhard Westphal, stage name Gert Westphal, (5 October 1920 – 10 November 2002) was a German-Swiss actor, audiobook narrator, recitator and director, one of the best-known audiobook narrators and speakers in German, described as "König der Vorleser" (king of reciters)Die Stimme der Klassiker. / Gert Westphal, Sprecher, Rezitator und Schauspieler, starb im Alter von 82 Jahren
ungekuerzte-lesung.de and "der Caruso der Vorleser" (the Caruso of reciters). After his reading of her husband's works,

Katia Mann Katia Mann (born Katharina Hedwig Pringsheim; July 24, 1883 – April 25, 1980) was the youngest child and only daughter (among four sons) of the German Jewish mathematician and artist Alfred Pringsheim and his wife Hedwig Pringsheim, who was ...

called him "des Dichters oberster Mund" (the poet's principal voice). The literary critic

Marcel Reich-Ranicki Marcel Reich-Ranicki (; 2 June 1920 – 18 September 2013) was a Polish-born German literary critic and member of the informal literary association Gruppe 47. He was regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the fi ...

said he was probably the best reciter of German.

Career

Born in

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 ...

as the son of a culturally interested factory director, Westphal attended the Realgymnasium in

Blasewitz Blasewitz is a larger borough (''Stadtbezirk'') of Dresden, Germany in the city's eastern centre on the Elbe river. It consists of seven quarters (''Stadtteile''): *Blasewitz *Striesen-Ost *Striesen-Süd *Striesen-West *Tolkewitz/Seidnitz-Nord *S ...

, graduating with the Abitur. He trained in acting with Paul Hoffmann at the Dresdner Staatsschauspielhaus, where he made his stage debut in 1940 in a minor role in Goethe's ''

Götz von Berlichingen Gottfried "Götz" von Berlichingen (1480 – 23 July 1562), also known as Götz of the Iron Hand, was a German (Franconian) Imperial Knight (''Reichsritter''), mercenary, and poet. He was born around 1480 into the noble family of Berliching ...

''. He was then drafted for military service and later became a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

. In 1946 he moved to Bremen, where he was both a member of the and an announcer for

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (RB), Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerhaven). With its headquarters sited in Bremen, Radio Brem ...

. Starting in 1948, he headed that broadcaster's radio drama division. In 1953, he took the same position with Südwestfunk in

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with Fra ...

where he remained until 1959. He was in contact with authors such as

Alfred Andersch Alfred Hellmuth Andersch (; 4 February 1914 – 21 February 1980) was a German writer, publisher, and radio editor. The son of a conservative East Prussian army officer, he was born in Munich, Germany and died in Berzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Ma ...

Ingeborg Bachmann Ingeborg Bachmann (25 June 1926 – 17 October 1973) was an Austrian poet and author. Biography Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of Olga (née Haas) and Matthias Bachmann, a schoolteacher. Her f ...

Gottfried Benn Gottfried Benn (2 May 1886 – 7 July 1956) was a German poet, essayist, and physician. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. He was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1951. Biography and work Family and beginnings Go ...

Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant featur ...

and

Carl Zuckmayer Carl Zuckmayer (27 December 1896 – 18 January 1977) was a German writer and playwright. His older brother was the pedagogue, composer, conductor, and pianist Eduard Zuckmayer. Life and career Born in Nackenheim in Rhenish Hesse, he was ...

. He commissioned new radio dramas and collaborated with

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made near ...

Will Quadflieg Friedrich Wilhelm "Will" Quadflieg (; 15 September 1914 – 27 November 2003) was a German actor from Oberhausen. He was the father of actor Christian Quadflieg. He is considered one of Germany's best post-war actors. One of his most widely rec ...

Hans Paetsch Hans Paetsch (7 December 1909 – 3 February 2002) was a German actor. He appeared in 52 films between 1939 and 2002. He is most notable for his voice acting, especially as a narrator of fairy tales and audio dramas. Selected filmography * ...

Oskar Werner Oskar Werner (; born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer; 13 November 1922 23 October 1984) was an Austrian stage and cinema actor whose prominent roles include two 1965 films, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' and ''Ship of Fools''. Other notable ...

Walter Jens Walter Jens (8 March 1923 – 9 June 2013) was a German philologist, literature historian, critic, university professor and writer. He was born in Hamburg, and attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to 1941, when he gained his Ab ...

and

Joachim Fest Joachim Clemens Fest (8 December 1926 – 11 September 2006) was a German historian, journalist, critic and editor who was best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including a biography of Adolf Hitler and books about ...

. As a reciter and audiobook narrator, Westphal recorded major works by German authors, and also translations of writers such as

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

and

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

, with a focus on Russian literature by

Chinghiz Aitmatov Chinghiz Torekulovich Aitmatov (as transliterated from Russian; ky, Чыңгыз Төрөкулович Айтматов, translit=Chynggyz Törökulovich Aytmatov; 12 December 1928 – 10 June 2008) was a Kyrgyz author who wrote mainly in Russia ...

Fjodor Dostojewski Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

, Nikolai Gogol,

Ivan Goncharov Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (, also ; rus, Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в, r=Iván Aleksándrovich Goncharóv, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ɡənʲtɕɪˈrof; – ) was a Russian novelist best known for his ...

Maxim Gorki Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and sociali ...

Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (russian: Никола́й Семёнович Леско́в; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique w ...

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bor ...

Leo Tolstoi Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

and Anton Checkov, among others. In 1994, he performed along with

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...

in a series of readings of correspondence, such as between Hofmannsthal and

Strauss Strauss, Strauß or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is always spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" usually re ...

, and between Zelter and

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

He died in Zürich and was buried in Kilchberg, next to the family grave of Thomas Mann.

Awards

* 1975: Literature prize of

Kanton Zürich Kanton may refer to: *The German name used for the Cantons of Switzerland or the Cantons of Prussia *The Bosnian name used for the Cantons of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina *A variation of Canton, the old English name for Guangzhou in Ch ...

* 1982: Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* 2001: Biermann-Ratjen-Medaille, for cultural achievements for

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Awards for recordings

Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik The Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ("German Record Critics' Award") was established in Germany in 1963 by publisher Richard Kaselowsky with the aim of setting the "most rigorous standards for supreme achievement and quality" in the field ...

** Ehrenurkunde, 1991, as the first and so far only speaker* ** ' by Ingeborg Bachmann, 2001 ** '' Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull'' by Thomas Mann, 2002

Awards for audio plays

* Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden for ''Prinzessin Turandot'' by

Wolfgang Hildesheimer Wolfgang Hildesheimer (9 December 1916 – 21 August 1991) was a German author who incorporated the Theatre of the Absurd. He originally trained as an artist, before turning to writing. Biography Hildesheimer was born of Jewish parents in Hambu ...

, 1955 (direction) * for ''Der trojanische Krieg findet nicht statt'' by

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His wo ...

, music by , 1955 (direction)
SWR *

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...

for ''Wovon wir leben und woran wir sterben'' by , 1957(speaker) * Karl-Sczuka-Preis for ''Ungeduld des Herzens'' by Stefan Zweig, music by Peter Zwetkoff, 1961 (direction) *

for ''A hard day's night'' by

Anders Bodelsen Anders Bodelsen (11 February 1937 – 17 October 2021) was a Danish writer primarily associated with the 1960 new-realism wave in Danish literature, along with Christian Kampmann and Henrik Stangerup. Bodelsen preferred the social-realistic st ...

, 1967 (direction) * for ''Udo der Stählerne'' by and Josef Alois Gleich, January 1994 (narrator)

Literature

* * Oliver W. Grabow: ''Gert Westphal. Gesamtverzeichnis seiner Arbeiten von 1940 bis 2002''. Arethousa Verlag, München 2013, .''Schaffensbilanz.''
(review) Neue Zürcher Zeitung 16 July 2013, retrieved 16 August 2013 * Katrin Krämer: ''Vorlesen ist ein Liebesakt. Gert Westphal – Die Stimme der Literatur'', biographic feature, Radio Bremen 2000, aired 22 November 2015

References

External links

* * *
''Gert Westphal zum 90. Geburtstag''

''"Lyrik und Jazz": Der Groove von Heinrich Heine''
'' Der Spiegel'' 13 September 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Westphal, Gert 1920 births 2002 deaths Actors from Dresden 20th-century German male actors Audiobook narrators Audio directors Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German emigrants to Switzerland German prisoners of war in World War II German male voice actors