Klaus Johannes Behrendt (born 7 February 1960) is a German actor. Since 1992 he has starred in the

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

version of the popular television crime series ''

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by ...

''; he also starred in the 2008 film ''

Die Bienen – Tödliche Bedrohung ''Die Bienen – Tödliche Bedrohung'' (English: ''Killer Bees'') is a 2008 German television horror film directed by Michael Karen and stars Janin Reinhardt, Rolf Kanies, and Sonja Kirchberger. Plot When Karla brings her father Hans in Mallorc ...

''.

Life and education

Behrendt was born in

Hamm Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railwa ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

, the son of a

pediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

, he grew up in

Ibbenbüren Ibbenbüren ( Westphalian: ''Ippenbürn'') is a medium-sized town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Ibbenbüren is situated on the Ibbenbürener Aa river, at the northwest end of the Teutoburger forest ...

in North Rhine-Westphalia, where he learned the profession of a mountain mechanic. After completing his civil service, he then took acting lessons from 1981 to 1984 at the Hamburg drama school stage studio with Hedi Höpfner (another actress) and then joined a festival engagement at the Theater Bremen. He performed there until 1988 in various works including ''

Danton's Death ''Danton's Death'' (''Dantons Tod'') was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution. History Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Realism in the so-called Vormärz era in German hi ...

'' (by

Georg Büchner Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büchn ...

), ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'' ( Chekov), ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'' (Shakespeare) or '' Three Sisters'' (Chekov).

Career

Behrendt launched his television career in 1989, with a role in the television series '' Rote Erde'' as 'Jupp Kowalla'. Behrendt gained great popularity from 1992 to 1994 and again since 1997 through his role as investigator ''Max Ballauf'' in the WDR crime series ''

''. He was initially as assistant to ''Commissar Flemming'' (Martin Lüttge) in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, later he was commissary leader with his colleague 'Freddy Schenk' (

Dietmar Bär Dietmar Bär (born 5 February 1961, in Dortmund) is a German actor. Since 1997 he has starred as ''Freddy Schenk'' in the popular television crime series ''Tatort'' and in ''Ärzte'' (a TV Series in 1994). He has been in several films, including ' ...

) 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 ...

. In 1990, in the Tatort episode 234 (''Schimanski's weapon'') Behrendt had taken an supporting role as 'Erwin Spilonska'. From 1995 to 1997, Behrendt appeared in the

Sat.1 Sat.1 is a German free-to-air television channel that is a part of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group. It is considered the first privately owned television network in Germany, having been launched in January 1984 as ''PKS'' ''(Programmgesellschaf ...

series ' the leading role of private investigator 'Alexander Stein', in had 29 episodes. In the Sat.1 television movie production '' The Miracle of Lengede'' (or '), Behrendt was seen as a miner, his original profession. The film directed by Kaspar Heidelbach won a Grimme Award in 2004. In the spring of 2005, Behrendt played the lead role in the

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 ...

television series '' Kanzleramt'', as the fictional

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

''Andreas Weyer''. In 2006, he acted again with his colleague and friend, Dietmar Bär in ' (on 'The Sinking of the Pamir') directed by Kaspar Heidelbach, a two-part catastrophe drama for the sinking of the German ship Pamir. In 2007, he played in the ARD television drama ''Einfache Leute'' (Simple people) alongside

Barbara Auer Barbara Auer (; born ) is a German actress. She has appeared in multiple television shows and films including '' My Daughter Belongs to Me'' (for which she won a German Film Award for "Best Actress"), ', ', and ''The Book Thief''. Awards * 19 ...

, as a family man hiding his homosexuality. Behrendt is a member of the ''Bundesverband Schauspiel'' (Federal Association of Acting, BFFS).

Awards

For his acting work in ''

'', Behrendt was first awarded in 1998 with the Goldener Gong (magazine TV award) (for the episode ''Bildersturm''). The same episode also received a nomination for the

Adolf Grimme Prize The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.German Television Award The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programming, created in 1999 by German television channels Das Erste, ZDF, RTL and Sat.1. It was created to be an equivalent to the Emmy Awards, tho ...

for ''Best Series Actor'' of 1999. Two other episodes of the ''Tatort'' were particularly distinguished; ''Odin's revenge'' (or Odins Rache) in 2004 was for the German Television Award and 2004 European Civis Media Award. Then in 2007 episode ''Mine Game'' was nominated for the Marler Media Prize Human Rights award (by the German section of

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 ...

). In 2011, he with the castmates Jan Josef Liefers,

Axel Prahl Axel Prahl (born 26 March 1960 in Eutin) is a German actor and musician. Prahl, born in Eutin, grew up in nearby Neustadt in Holstein. After his A-levels, Prahl started studying music and mathematics, but then went on to acting school in Kiel. ...

and Dietmar Bär received a ''1Live crown'' (German music award). For his performance in a television film (directed by Andreas Kleinert) '' Mein Vater'' (Coming Home) alongside Götz George, Behrendt received the 'Audience Award of the Marl Group' at the Adolf Grimme Prize and the Bavarian Television Award in 2003. In addition, the film was awarded the International Emmy Award for best TV movie. Since 2005, Behrendt is the bearer of the 'Honorary Brand' of the ''Bund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter'' (the League of German Detective or German Criminal Investigation Association). In 2009, he received a nomination for the Golden Camera as Best Actor. Then in 2015, Klaus J. Behrendt and Dietmar Bär were awarded the ''Order of Merit of North Rhine-Westphalia'' for their social commitment. In 2018, Klaus J. Behrendt and Dietmar Bär were awarded the Rhineland Valley of the LVR for their services to the cultural development and significance of the Rhineland.

Personal life

Behrendt has two sons and a daughter from his first marriage, and lives with his second wife Karin and her son from a previous relationship in Berlin-Charlottenburg. His son Tom was in 2016 a German national team rugby player and played with

FC St. Pauli Rugby The FC St. Pauli Rugby is the rugby union section of German sports club FC St. Pauli, based in Hamburg. The squad currently plays in the Rugby-Bundesliga, the highest level of the German rugby league system. Other sports practised at St. Pauli are ...

Partial filmography

*1986: '' Großstadtrevier'' (TV Series) *1988: ''Ein Treffen mit Rimbaud'' – Thomas *1989–1993: ''

Schulz & Schulz ''Schulz & Schulz'' is a TV series consisting of five feature-length films starring Götz George in a dual role as twin brothers Wolfgang and Walter Schulz who were separated during World War II and then raised in different parts of Germany. The ...

'' (TV Series) – Seibt *1990-2019: ''

'' (TV Series) – Max Ballauf / Erwin Spilonska *1991-2010: '' Ein Fall für zwei'' (TV Series) – Dr. Fritsch / Martin Sutter / Klaus Hencke / Walter Schultheis *1992: ''Elenya'' – Franz *1993: ' (TV Movie) – Tom Konnitz *1993: ''Leo und Charlotte'' (TV Movie) – Leo *1995–1998: ' (TV Series) – Alexander Stein *1996: ' (TV Movie) – Jonny *1996: ''Die Spur der roten Fässer'' – Wirt *1997: ''Ein Vater unter Verdacht'' (TV Movie) – Roman Bach *1998: ''Ferkel Fritz'' (TV Movie) – Martin *1998: ''

Kai Rabe gegen die Vatikankiller (''Kai Rabe vs. the Vatican Killers'') is a 1998 German comedy film directed by Thomas Jahn. Plot Director Rufus Lindner is making a movie called "The Vatican Killers", a satirical film about the Pope's underground agents. The hero of the fi ...

'' – Bernd Krüger *1999: ''Verratene Freundschaft – Ein Mann wird zur Gefahr'' (TV Movie) – Ulf Danner *2003: '' Mein Vater'' (TV Movie) – Jochen Esser *2003: ' (TV Movie) – Pit Spieker *2004: ''

Die Stunde der Offiziere ''Die Stunde der Offiziere'' ( en, italic=yes, The Hour of the Officers, link=yes) is a German semi-documentary movie of 2003 telling in chronological order about the German resistance attempts to kill Adolf Hitler and seize power in Germany in th ...

'' (TV Movie documentary) – Oberst von Gersdorff *2005: ''Kanzleramt'' (TV Series) – Bundeskanzler Andreas Weyer *2005: ''Das Gespenst von Canterville'' (TV Movie) – Jochen Brenner *2006: ' (TV Movie) –

Boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervi ...

Acki Lüders *2007: ''Einfache Leute'' (TV Movie) – Bademeister Henrik Bode *2007: ' (TV Movie) – Horst Strasser *2007: ''Jakobs Bruder'' – Jakob Goldt *2008: ''Guter Junge'' (TV Movie) – Achim Maas *2008: ''

'' (TV Movie) – Hans Bergmann *2009: ''Fünf Tage Vollmond'' (TV Movie) – Anton Brunner *2010: ''Ungesühnt'' (TV Movie) – Lukas Dorwald *2010: ''Wie ein Licht in der Nacht'' (TV Movie) – Horst Keller *2011: ''World Express – Atemlos durch Mexiko'' (TV Movie) – Franz Joseph Anson *2011: ' (TV Movie) – Sydal von Friedberg *2012: ''Jahr des Drachen'' (TV Movie) – Thomas Eichner *2012: '' Rommel'' (TV Movie) – General Guderian *2012: ''Der Staatsanwalt'' (TV Series) – Karsten Wippermann / Robert Limmer *2015: ''Letzte Spur Berlin'' (TV Series) – Christian Wagner *2016: ''Liebe am Fjord'' (TV Series) – Henrik Jacobsen

References

External links

*
Interview
with Klaus J. Behrendt and Dietmar Bär {{DEFAULTSORT:Behrendt, Klaus J. 1960 births Living people People from Hamm German male television actors German male film actors 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors