Ruth Drexel (; 14 July 1930 – 26 February 2009) was a German actress, director, and theatre director/manager. Her best-known role was as "Resi Berghammer" in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

television series, ''

Der Bulle von Tölz ''Der Bulle von Tölz'' is a German television series which has been produced and broadcast by Sat.1 since 1996. As of January 2009, 69 self-contained feature-length episodes have been made. Genre Set in Bad Tölz, Bavaria, the series is about t ...

'', in which she played the mother of the eponymous cop. As of January 2006, she played the role in 58 episodes.

Life and career

Born in

Vilshofen an der Donau Vilshofen an der Donau is a town in the German district of Passau. Demographics Religion The population of Vilshofen is predominantly Christian. In Vilshofen there is a Catholic Church, a Protestant Church and a new Apostolic Church. 78.36 ...

, near

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's po ...

, Drexel trained as an actress 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 ...

, where she was also given her first engagement. She subsequently worked in Berlin (as a member of the

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langho ...

during 1955–56),

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse a ...

and

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 ...

. She also appeared, to great critical acclaim, in new plays by

Franz Xaver Kroetz Franz Xaver Kroetz (; born 25 February 1946) is a German author, playwright, actor and film director. He achieved great success beginning in the early 1970s. ''Persistent'', '' Farmyard'', and ''Request Concert'', all written in 1971, are some o ...

and

Felix Mitterer Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

. In 1980, she co-founded the ''Tiroler Volksschauspiele'' in

Telfs Telfs is a market town in the district of Innsbruck-Land in the Austrian state of Tyrol, west of Innsbruck. It is the third largest municipality in Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical regi ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Em ...

. Drexel's early television work included Wedekind's '' Der Marquis von Keith'' (1962), a German adaptation of

Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada * Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England * Shaw, Berkshire, a village * Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton * Shaw, Swindon, a suburb of Swindon ...

's '' Candida'' (1963), Frisch's '' Biedermann und die Brandstifter'' (1967), and Kroetz's ' (''Jail Bait''), directed by

Rainer Werner Fassbinder Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema movement. Fassbinder's main ...

(1973). She also put in guest appearances on '' Der Kommissar'' and ''

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 ...

''. Drexel was a member of the cast of the cult television series ' (1974) and ''

Zur Freiheit ''Zur Freiheit'' is a German television series. See also * List of German television series External links * 1987 German television series debuts 1988 German television series endings Television shows set in Munich German-language televis ...

'' (1987). In 2005, she started a new television series, '' Agathe kann's nicht lassen'', playing Agathe Heiland, an elderly sleuth modelled on

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

Miss Marple Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Ch ...

Family

Ruth Drexel was married once, to Michael Adami. They had a daughter, Katharina Adami (b. 1956). Drexel had a second child, Cilli Drexel (b. 1975) by her long-time companion, actor Hans Brenner.

Death

Drexel's long-time companion, actor Hans Brenner, died in 1998. Until her own death from cancer in 2009, aged 78, Ruth Drexel lived in Feldkirchen, near Munich.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Ruth Drexel great Interview, German
1930 births 2009 deaths People from Vilshofen an der Donau Deaths from cancer in Germany German stage actresses German television actresses German theatre directors 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses {{Germany-tv-actor-stub