Karin Boyd (born 1953 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

) is a German

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a 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 term is (), li ...

and

Theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Life and career

Boyd was born in 1953 in

. Boyd's father was an American soldier. Boyd's mother was a German. Boyd completed a three-year study acting at the National Theatre School in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

, followed by an additional vocal training at the Department of chanson at the Music School in East Berlin Friedrichshain. After working at several small stages in 1973 she came to the

Maxim Gorki Theatre The Maxim Gorki Theatre (german: Maxim Gorki Theater) is a theatre in Berlin- Mitte named after the Soviet writer, Maxim Gorky. In 2012, the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit named Şermin Langhoff as the artist director of the theatre. History I ...

in Berlin, where she played for ten years. In addition, she also played first film and television roles for the East German

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PRO ...

and

Deutscher Fernsehfunk Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF; German for "German Television Broadcasting") was the state television broadcaster in the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) from 1952 to 1991. DFF produced free-to-air terrestrial television programmin ...

. Her breakthrough as an actress came in 1981 in the role of the dancer Juliette Martens in

István Szabó István Szabó (; born 18 February 1938) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director. Szabó is one of the most notable Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian-speaking world since the ...

's Oscar-winning film ''

Mephisto Mephisto or Mephistopheles is one of the chief demons of German literary tradition. Mephisto or Mephistopheles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Méphisto'', a 1931 French film * Mephisto (1981 film), ''Mephisto'' (1981 film), a German- ...

'' starring

Klaus Maria Brandauer Klaus Maria Brandauer (; born Klaus Georg Steng; 22 June 1943) is an Austrian actor and director. He is also a professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar. Brandauer is known internationally for his roles in ''The Russia House'' (1990), ''Mephisto'' ...

. After her exit visa had been granted, in 1983, she moved with her son to West Germany and played on West German theater stages. She occurred in the popular TV-Series ''

Ein Fall für zwei ''Ein Fall für zwei'' (''"A case for two"'') is a German television series, which premiered on 11 September 1981 on ZDF. The series, set in Frankfurt am Main, features two main characters who solve crimes: a defense attorney and a private inves ...

'' and also in the television series ''

Die Sitte ''Die Sitte'' 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 Cobra 11 – D ...

''. In the 1990s she moderated various TV formats.

Awards

* 1993:

Hersfeld-Preis The Hersfeld-Preis is an award for an actor. It has been awarded annually since 1962 as part of the Bad Hersfelder Festspiele of the ''Gesellschaft der Freunde der Stiftsruine'' and the city of Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersf ...

Karin Boyd in: Hersfeld-Preis
/ref>

Filmography (selection)

* 1969: ''Zeit zu leben'' * 1974: ''Visa für Ocantros'' (TV film) * 1976: ''Soviel Lieder, soviel Worte'' * 1977: ''Die Marquise'' (TV film) * 1978: ''Oh, diese Tante'' (TV film) * 1978: ''

Das unsichtbare Visier ''Das unsichtbare Visier'' (, ''The Invisible Visor'') was an East German television series, broadcast between 1973 and 1979. In its first and longest season it starred Armin Mueller-Stahl in the role of Werner Bredebusch, a Stasi agent active ab ...

: King-Kong-Grippe'' (TV series) * 1979: ''Chiffriert an Chef – Ausfall Nr. 5'' * 1980: ''Früher Sommer'' (TV film) * 1981: ''

'' * 1982: ''Monsieur bleibt im Schatten'' (TV film) * 1986: '' Roncalli'' (TV series) * 1986: ''Deutsche sind weiß, Neger können keine Deutschen sein'' (TV documentary) * 1987: ''Duett in Bonn'' (TV series) * 1988: ' (TV series) * 1996: ''Das Siegel des Todes'' (TV film) * 1998: ''Geraubte Unschuld'' (TV film) * 1988: ''Jenseits von Blau'' * 2001-2006: ''

'' (TV series) * 2006: ''Himmel über Australien'' (TV film) * 2008: ''

A Year Ago in Winter ''A Year Ago in Winter'' (german: Im Winter ein Jahr) is a 2008 German drama film directed by Caroline Link. It is based on the novel ''Aftermath'' by American author Scott Campbell, telling the story of a "complicated family situation" after the ...

'' * 2011: '' The Family'' (TV film)

External links

*
Agency entry of the actress, with photo

Official Homepage of Karin Boyd

Karin Boyd Filmography in: The New York Times

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Karin 1953 births Living people German television actresses German stage actresses Actresses from Berlin 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses