Werner Schwier (born 28 May 1921 in

Stadthagen Stadthagen () is the capital of the district of Schaumburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km east of Minden and 40 km west of Hanover. The city consists of the districts Brandenburg, Enzen-Hobbensen, Hörkamp-L ...

; died 3 May 1982 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 ...

) was a German actor,

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

, and television presenter.

Career

Werner Schwier made a name for himself in

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

s on German television. On 14 May 1961 to September 1965, he presented 65 episodes of

Hessischer Rundfunk Hessischer Rundfunk (HR; "Hesse Broadcasting") is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting, public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, ...

and produced the series ''Es darf gelacht werden'' (It is permitted to laugh). The show was a 45 minutes long evening program of the ARD. During the broadcast, three complete short films would be shown. He also had two silent film stars on the show as guests,

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

in 1962 and

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film co ...

in 1963. In the manner of a small film show of the times of the silent films, Schwier presented in a checkered suit, assisted by Konrad Elfers on the Piano and Géza Janós on violin. Before each short film, he would say "I present now, the symbol---assuming the operator approves.", this was followed by a flying

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

on screen, to mark the start of the show. Silent films played only a role on Schwier's afternoon show, which showed only the funny material of the era of silent films. He obtained, with the show, viewers ratings over 80 percent. Schwier added presentation with appropriate dry-humour to the shows, that was not as chaotic as his English counterpart

Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', ''Celebrity Squares'', ''Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Early ...

in 1966 with ''Mad Movies'' or the later '' Vater der Klamotte'' with the corny jokes of

Hanns Dieter Hüsch Hanns Dieter Hüsch (6 May 1925, in Moers – 6 December 2005, in Windeck-Werfen) was a German people, German author, cabaret artist, actor, songwriter and radio commentator. With a working life of more than 53 years on the German cabaret stage a ...

. After the decline of silent films, Schwier also worked as a supporting actor in films, such as '' Es'' (1966), ' (1967), ' (1968) or ' (1979). He was also a guest on the programme '' Kennen Sie Kino?'' mit

Hellmut Lange Hellmut Lange (19 January 1923 - 13 January 2011) was an actor and journalist who became famous as an action hero on TV and eventually succeeded as presenter on popular TV show ''Kennen Sie Kino?'' or ''Do You Know Film?'' Acting career Hellmut ...

Filmography

References

Hörzu ''Hörzu'' () is a German language, German weekly television listings magazine published in Hamburg. History and profile ''Hörzu'' first appeared in 1946 and was published by Axel Springer AG, Axel Springer as the first radio program magazine t ...

, Issue 24 Volume 7. February 1970, Page 39: „Ist Herr Schwier auch schwierig?“

Websites

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Quellen zur Filmgeschichte, Book 47 (21. November 1968 - 2. Januar 1969)

Werner Schwier
on Synchrondatenbank.de
History for Sale - Buster Keaton und Werner Schwier auf einem Autogrammfoto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwier, Werner 1921 births 1982 deaths People from Stadthagen German male film actors German television presenters 20th-century German male actors