Robert Peter Freytag (7 April 1916 in Vienna – 8 July 2010 in Munich), known professionally as Robert Freitag, was an Austrian-Swiss stage and screen

actor 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

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

Life

Freitag was the son of the Swiss opera singer Otto Freitag (Otto Freytag). He was trained as an actor at the

Max Reinhardt Seminar The Max Reinhardt Seminar (Reinhardt Seminar) is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. It is located in the Palais Cumberland, Penzingerstraße 9, in Vienna's 14th district (). History A ''Lehr ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. During the Nazi era, he went to

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 ...

, where he was active as an actor at the

Schauspielhaus Zürich The Schauspielhaus Zürich ( en, Zürich playhouse) is one of the most prominent and important theatres in the German-speaking world. It is also known as "Pfauenbühne" (Peacock Stage). The large theatre has 750 seats. The also operates three st ...

(Zürich playhouse). In 1945, he married the German actress

Maria Becker Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

, who had studied acting in Vienna and who since had been at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, which had benefitted from the presence of German émigrés during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Becker became a

Swiss citizen Swiss citizenship is the status of being a citizen of Switzerland and it can be obtained by birth or naturalisation. The Swiss Citizenship Law is based on the following principles: * Triple citizenship level (Swiss Confederation, canton, and m ...

by marrying Freitag. In 1949, Freitag began participating in the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

. Later he performed, among other places, at the

Deutsches Schauspielhaus The Deutsches Schauspielhaus is a theatre in the St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany. It was established in 1901 by the renowned stage actress Franziska Ellmenreich. Theatre managers Notable actors Marco Albrecht, Ingrid ...

and the

Hamburger Kammerspiele The Hamburg Kammerspiele (German: ''Hamburger Kammerspiele'') is a private theatre in Rotherbaum, Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hans ...

, both in

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

. With his wife Maria Becker and the German stage actor

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 ...

, he founded the Zürcher Schauspieltruppe in 1956 in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

, where he was also a part-time administrator. That troupe performed throughout the German-speaking countries and in the United States. On stage, he played many classical and modern roles. Beginning in 1941, he appeared in films— in particular in the starring role in

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

. Later, he often appeared on television. Freitag and Maria Becker were divorced in 1966, but they continued to work together, especially in the travelling theater company ''Schauspieltruppe Zürich'' that they had founded. They had three sons, two of whom— Benedict Freitag and

Oliver Tobias Oliver Tobias Freitag (born 6 August 1947), known professionally as Oliver Tobias, is a Swiss-born UK-based film, stage, and television actor and director. Biography Born in Zürich, Switzerland, he is the son of the Austrian-Swiss actor Rober ...

—became actors. In 1994, Freitag's autobiography, ''Es wollt mir behagen, mit Lachen die Wahrheit zu sagen'' was published by Pendo Verlag. In 2001, at the age of 85, he had a role in the made-for-TV film ''Die Liebenden vom Alexanderplatz'' (''The

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

Lovers''), directed by Detlef Rönfeldt. Freitag's second marriage, to the German actress

Maria Sebaldt Maria Katharina Helene Sebaldt (26 April 1930 in Berlin-Steglitz) is a German actress. Life The daughter of a department head of the Paramount film distribution company took private acting lessons from 1946 to 1949 and passed an acting examinat ...

, lasted from 1966 until his death. They lived in

Grünwald, Bavaria Grünwald (German for ''green forest'') is a municipality in the district of Munich, in the state of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Isar The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navi ...

. They had a daughter.

Filmography

External links

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freitag, Robert 1916 births 2010 deaths Austrian male film actors Swiss male film actors Austrian male television actors Swiss male television actors Austrian male stage actors Swiss male stage actors 20th-century Austrian male actors 20th-century Swiss male actors Austrian people of Swiss descent