Walter Renneisen (born 3 March 1940) is a German actor. After engagements at the

Schauspiel Bochum The Schauspielhaus Bochum is one of the notable drama theatres in Germany. It is located on Königsallee in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-We ...

Theater Dortmund Theater Dortmund is a theatrical organization that produces operas, Musical theatre, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Dortmund, Germany. It was founded as the Stadttheater Dortmund in 1904. Supported by the German Government, the organiza ...

and

Staatstheater Darmstadt The Staatstheater Darmstadt (Darmstadt State Theatre) is a theatre company and building in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, presenting opera, ballet, plays and concerts. It is funded by the state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt. Its history began in ...

, he has worked freelance. He founded a touring theatre company in 1977.

Career

Born in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

, Renneisen grew up on a farm in

Raunheim Raunheim is a town in Groß-Gerau district in Hesse, Germany and a part of the Frankfurt Urban Region as well as the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region. Geography Location Raunheim lies in the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region between Frankfurt am Main (2 ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

, Germany. He attended the in Rüsselsheim. He played as a percussionist in a band in Frankfurt clubs. After his Abitur, he studied theatre, German and philosophy at the universities of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and

from 1960 to 1964. He then studied at the Westfälische Schauspielschule Bochum. After graduation, he was engaged at the

and

, among others. In Darmstadt, he was inspired by

Rudolf Sellner Rudolf Sellner, born Gustav Rudolf Sellner (25 May 1905 – 8 May 1990) was a German actor, dramaturge, stage director, and intendant.Hugo Thielen: ''Sellner, Gustav Rudolf'', in: ''Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon'', p. 332 He represented i ...

. He has worked freelance since 1977, for the Staatstheater Stuttgart,

Theater Bonn Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts. It operates several performance venu ...

and , among others, and also for several open-air theatres. He has frequently played in TV series such as ''

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 b ...

'', '' Der Alte'', ''

Derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and ...

'', ''

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 '' Siska''. His roles have included Mephisto in Goethe's ''

Urfaust ''Faust'' is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as '' Faust, Part One'' and ''Faust, Part Two''. Nearly all of Part One and the majority of Part Two are written in rhymed verse. Although rarely st ...

'', Cyrano in

Pavel Kohout Pavel Kohout (born 20 July 1928) is a Czech and Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a Prague Spring participant and dissident in the 1970s until he was not allowed to return from Au ...

's ''Der arme Cyrano'', the title role in Brecht's '' Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Herrn Arturo Ui'', and Salieri in Shaffer's ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

''. In 1995, he began to stage his own theatre productions on tour, presenting for example Patrick Süßkind's '' Der Kontrabaß'', ''Die Sternstunde des Josef Bieder'' and ''Deutschland, Deine Hessen''. Renneisen has performed the play ''Der Kontrabaß'' for more than 30 years. He has spoken in more than 800 radio plays. In 2016, he received the Rheingau Musikpreis for his life's work on stage and TV. In 2018, he appeared at the

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

in a show titled ''Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts'', borrowing the title of the novella by Eichendorff (in English given as ''Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing'') and presenting Renneisen's life including 50 years on stage, in literature and in music. Renneisen is married, has two daughters and two sons, and lives in

Bensheim Bensheim () is a town in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany. Bensheim lies on the Bergstraße and at the edge of the Odenwald mountains while at the same time having an open view over the Rhine plain. With about 40,000 inhabita ...

. He is the maternal uncle of English actress

Alex Kingston Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston (born 11 March 1963) is an English actress. Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in ...

Awards

Renneisen has received several awards, including: * 1985 Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden * 1995

Adolf-Grimme-Preis 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.Hessian Order of Merit The Hessian Order of Merit (german: Hessischer Verdienstorden) is a civil order of merit, and the highest award of the German State of Hesse. The order was established 1 December 1989. Criteria The order is presented by the Minister-President of ...

* 2005 Sonderpreis of INTHEGA * 2014

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

* 2016 Rheingau Musikpreis * 2016 Ehrenspange of

References

External links

* *
ZBF Agency Cologne

Walter Renneisen / Ein Schauspieler, der die Hessen kennt
Hessischer Rundfunk 31 October 2013

FAZ 19 June 2003 * Thomas Tritsch

morgenweb.de 23 May 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Renneisen, Walter 1940 births Living people German male television actors German male stage actors Actors from Mainz 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany