Siegfried Rauch (2 April 1932 – 11 March 2018) was a

German film The film industry in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema made major technical and artistic contributions to early film, broadcasting and television technology. Babelsberg became a household synonym for the early 20 ...

and

television 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 (), lite ...

. In a career spanning over 60 years, he appeared in several international film productions and had leading roles in numerous German television productions.

Career

Siegfried Rauch was born in

Landsberg am Lech Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech) is a town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg am Lech. Overview Landsberg is situat ...

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat ...

. He studied drama at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

and also attended private drama lessons. He began performing in theatres in 1958, beginning with

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

(until 1962), and followed by

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

. In the 1970s, Rauch appeared in the 1970

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

film ''

Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

'' as Captain Steiger. In ''

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

'' (1971), Rauch played the race driver Erich Stahler who is

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and ...

's rival. In

Samuel Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and World War II veteran known for directing low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, often made ou ...

's ''

The Big Red One ''The Big Red One'' is a 1980 American epic war film written and directed by Samuel Fuller, and starring Lee Marvin alongside an ensemble supporting cast, including Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Siegfried Rauch, Bobby Di Cicco, and Kelly Ward ...

'', Rauch played a German army sergeant, the counterpart of Lee Marvin's character, who experiences the same events as Marvin only from a German perspective. Other Hollywood productions in which Rauch appeared were '' The Eagle Has Landed'' (1976) and '' Escape to Athena'' (1979). His most famous leading role on 1970s German television was ''Thomas Lieven'' in '' Es muss nicht immer Kaviar sein'' (It Can't Always Be Caviar), based on the spy novel by Johannes Mario Simmel. His various other roles on television propelled his career as an actor in Germany. From 1999 to 2013 Rauch had one of the leading roles as the captain on ''

Das Traumschiff ' ("The Dream Ship") is a German television drama series by ZDF. The series, about a cruise ship that travels to places around the world, debuted in 1981 and became one of the most-watched television shows in Germany. A total of 83 episodes hav ...

'', one of the most-watched television series in Germany. In this role he was preceded by

Heinz Weiss Heinz Weiss (12 June 192120 November 2010) was a German film actor. Weiss is best known for playing the role of Phil Decker in the Jerry Cotton series of films and the role of Captain Heinz Hansen in ''Das Traumschiff''. He also played the chara ...

and succeeded by

Sascha Hehn Sascha Hehn (born 11 October 1954 in Munich) is a German actor who participated in many feature films, TV shows, modern theatre plays and the dubbing of big international cinema productions (for example "Shrek") for German-speaking audiences. ...

. He also appeared regularly in other German TV productions, including '' Der Bergdoktor'', and remained active until his death.

Personal life

Siegfried Rauch, also known as "Sigi", lived in Obersöchering near Weilheim in southern

. Rauch married Karin in 1964, and they had two sons together.

was the godfather of his son Jakob. Rauch died on 11 March 2018 from sudden heart failure which caused him to fall down stairs at the village fire station near his home. He was 85 years old.

Selected filmography

*'' The Vulture Wally'' (1956) .... Leander *'' The Hunter of Fall'' (1956) .... Toni, Wilderer *''

Kommissar X – Drei gelbe Katzen ''Kommissar X – Drei gelbe Katzen'' is a 1966 Eurospy film written and co-directed by Rudolf Zehetgruber and Gianfranco Parolini. Filmed in Ceylon, it stars Tony Kendall, Brad Harris and Dan Vadis with Harris and Vadis doing their own stuntw ...

'' (1966) .... Nitro *'' Le Saint prend l'affût'' (1966) .... Johnny K.W. Mest (uncredited) *'' Spy Today, Die Tomorrow'' (1967) .... Tazzio *''

The Monk with the Whip ''The Monk with the Whip'' (German: ''Der Mönch mit der Peitsche'') is a 1967 West German mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Vohrer and starring Joachim Fuchsberger, Uschi Glas and Grit Boettcher. It is inspired by the 1926 novel '' The Bla ...

'' (1967) .... Frank Keeney *''Kommissar X – Drei blaue Panther'' (1968) .... Anthony *'' The Zombie Walks'' (1968) .... Dr. Brand *''Peter und Sabine'' (1968) .... Dr. Petter, Klassenlehrer *''Ein dreifach Hoch dem Sanitätsgefreiten Neumann'' (1968) .... Sanitätsgefreiter Neumann *''

'' (1970) .... Capt. Oskar Steiger *' (1970) .... Chauffeur *''Nous n'irons plus au bois'' (1970) .... Werner *' (1970) .... 1. Kommissar *''

'' (1971) .... Erich Stahler *''Pas folle la guêpe'' (1972) *'' Little Mother'' (1973) .... Colonel Pinares *'' The Hunter of Fall'' (1974) .... Huisen-Toni *'' Zwei himmlische Dickschädel'' (1974) .... Lenz *'' Stolen Heaven'' (1974) .... Jungpfarrer Franz Gruber *'' The Eagle Has Landed'' (1976) .... Sgt. Brandt *'' It Can't Always Be Caviar'' (TV miniseries, 1977) .... Thomas Lieven *'' The Standard'' (1977) .... Graf Bottenlauben *'' Waldrausch'' (1977) .... Krispin *'' The Uranium Conspiracy'' (1978) .... The Baron *'' Escape to Athena'' (1979) .... Lt. Braun *'' Flashpoint Africa'' (1980) .... Joe *''

'' (1980) .... Sgt. Schroeder *'' Mein Freund Winnetou'' (1980, TV miniseries) ....

Old Shatterhand Old Shatterhand is a fictional character in Western novels by German writer Karl May (1842–1912). He is the German friend and blood brother of Winnetou, the fictional chief of the Mescalero tribe of the Apache The Apache () are a g ...

*''

Contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination ...

'' (1980) .... Hamilton *' (1984) .... Hans van Wielligh *''Popcorn und Paprika'' (1984) .... Sigi *''

'' (1986, 1997, 1999–2014, TV series) ... Kapitän Paulsen *'' Death Stone'' (1987) .... Hemingway *''

Fire, Ice and Dynamite ''Fire, Ice and Dynamite'' (German original title ''Feuer, Eis und Dynamit'') is a German feature-length sports film directed by Willy Bogner in 1990. It a sequel to '' Fire and Ice''. The screenplay was written by Tony Williamson, based on an ...

'' (1990) .... Larry *'' Wildbach'' (1993–1997, TV series) ... Martin Kramer *'' Sons of Trinity'' (1995) .... Parker *''Geregelte Verhältnisse'' (2001) .... Anton Fenzl *' (2005) .... Franz Flender *''

Kreuzfahrt ins Glück ''Cruise to Happiness'' (in German: ''Kreuzfahrt ins Glück'') is a German television series. It is a ''Das Traumschiff'' spin-off that follows two wedding planners and the couple that hired them. They are all traveling on the Dream Ship cruise ...

'' (2007–2013, TV series) ... Kapitän Paulsen *'' Der Bergdoktor'' (2008–2018, TV series) .... Dr. Roman Melchinger (final appearance)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rauch, Siegfried 1932 births 2018 deaths People from Landsberg am Lech German male film actors German male television actors German male stage actors 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors Deaths from falls