Georg Uecker (born 6 November 1962 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) is a German actor. Since 1985, he has played the character of ''Dr. Carsten Flöter'' on the popular German TV series

Lindenstraße ''Lindenstraße'' (literally "Linden Street") was a long-running German television drama series, broadcast by Das Erste. The first episode aired on 8 December 1985 and since then new episodes were broadcast weekly until 2020. Its last timeslot ...

on ARD. Controversially, in 1987, he kissed ''Gert Weinbauer'' (played by actor Günter Barton). This was the first gay kiss in a German series in the evening. A second kiss was in 1990 with character ''Robert Engel'' (actor Martin Armknecht) this brought about discussions on

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 ...

topics in the media. Uecker still continues to play the character. His other television credits include ''

Schillerstraße ''Schillerstraße'' (''Schiller Street'') was a German improvisational comedy show that aired weekly on Sat.1. It was recorded without a script and broadcast unedited to a large extent. The American broadcaster Fox has earned the licence for ''Sc ...

'' (an

improvisational Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

comedy show) and he is often a guest on ''Genial daneben'' (a quiz programme with comedians). He is an LGBT-activist and lives 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 ...

Early life

Georg Uecker is the son of Heiko Uecker, who until 2004 was 'Professor of Nordic Philology' at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, and his wife Kari from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. He grew up

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

ly and spent his childhood in Germany and Norway. He joined a freelance theater group, which was invited to various arts festivals, this was a hobby that could be a profession. Uecker studied

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

Scandinavian studies Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultural studies pertaining to ...

and Romance studies at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. He also took acting classes, played at the Comedia Theater in Cologne and started working at the Schauspielhaus. Then

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra (acting), extra for a particular role or part in a scr ...

Horst D. Scheel asked him to cast for the "Lindenstraße".

Career

Uecker became known as ''Dr. Carsten Flöter'' in the television series ''Lindenstraße'' (translated as 'Linden Road'), where he kissed actor Günter Barton in 1987. It was the first kiss between two men on German television in an evening series. After a second kiss in 1990, with actor Martin Armknecht on the show, both actors received several anonymous death threats after the broadcast of the episode. The WDR and the Lindenstraße production company GFF then filed criminal charges against the unknown person. Uecker received the

Bambi Award The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and ot ...

for his role in ''Lindenstraße'' in 1989 and the

Golden Camera Award The International Cinematographers Film Festival "Manaki Brothers" (known short as Manaki Film Festival) is an annual international film festival organized by the Macedonian Film Professionals Association (MFPA). The festival is held in Bitola, ...

in 1998. Uecker has been other television shows, such as a panel member of "Genial daneben" (lit. 'ingeniously off the mark'), he was the 'gamesmaster' known as 'The Whisperer' on the ''Schillerstraße'' until autumn 2005. He performs as a "

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

expert" in various talk shows. Until 2005, he also produced the late night show ''Blond on Friday'' ('Blond am Freitag') on 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 ...

, and co-developed other ZDF channel shows such as "Kaffeeklatsch". He has worked alongside

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 ...

, Ralph Morgenstern and

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

in 'Cologne Homopromis'.

Filmography

Film

Television

Personal life

Uecker is openly

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

and involved in the

gay rights movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...

, and was awarded in 2010 for his involvement in the fight against

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

and

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, the ReD Award (Reminders Day Award, which has been awarded annually since 2001 in Berlin). In addition, the actor is engaged politically and socially. Since September 4, 2007, he is godfather of the 'Oberstufenzentrums Trade 1' (a commercial high school in Berlin-Kreuzberg) in the project "School without racism - school with Courage" and since January 27, 2010 godfather of the project "

Holzwickede Holzwickede () is a municipality in the district of Unna in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is twinned with Weymouth, Louviers and Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Col ...

without racism - Holzwickede with Courage". In 1993, his partner John, an Englishman from London, "the great love", died of AIDS. Since 2008, it was obvious that Uecker had health problems; especially as strong weight loss was observed. When Uecker made his

HIV infection Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

public in 2016, he explained that his illness was being reduced to the side effects of HIV blockers and he has since gained weight again by switching medication. According to his own information, he learned about the diagnosis in 1993. He is quoted as saying "I'm the prominent 'Longtime Survivor' ". In 1993, he was also battling against "

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition wa ...

" which is, a malignant tumor of the

lymphatic system The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system, and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic or lymphoid o ...

. He had several

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

treatments. Five years later, he had defeated the cancer, he states "I've been cancer-free for 25 years" in 2015. He owns a boot from

Frida ''Frida'' is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Julie Taymor which depicts the professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Starring Salma Hayek in an Academy Award–nominated portrayal as Kahl ...

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

. He had traveled with

Thomas Hermanns Thomas Hermanns (born 5 March 1963) is a German TV presenter, comedian, screenwriter and director. He is the founder of the comedy show ''Quatsch Comedy Club''. Early life Hermanns was born in Bochum. During his childhood he lived in Nuremberg. ...

to an auction in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. His autobiography "I'll do it!" was published by

Fischer Verlag S. Fischer Verlag is a major German publishing house, which has operated as a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group since 1962. The publishing house was founded in 1881 by Samuel Fischer in Berlin, but is currently based in Frankfurt am Main ...

on 22 February 2018. ()

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uecker, Georg 1962 births Living people German male television actors German television personalities German gay actors German LGBT rights activists People with HIV/AIDS Male actors from Munich German people of Norwegian descent