David Hirsch
(18 May 1900 – 30 October 1982), known as Wolfgang Heinz, was an Austrian and
East German actor and theater director. He served as President of the
Academy of the Arts in Berlin between 1968 and 1974.
Biography
Early life
Born to journalist and theater director Julius Hirsch and his wife Camilla, David Hirsch was the half-brother of
Heinrich Theodor Hirsch. He left the Archduke Rainer Gymnasium in Vienna at the age of 17 to pursue an acting career. Heinz was exempted from military service due to a lung illness. He moved to Germany, working in theaters in
Friedrichroda and
Eisenach during 1917. Although he never attended an acting studio, he was also given roles in theaters in Berlin, Hamburg and other cities. In November 1918, he joined the cast of the
Deutsches Theater. He had his debut on screen in the 1919 film ''Die Geächteten''; another of his early roles in cinema was that of the first mate on the Empusa in ''
Nosferatu''. He married during 1921, but his wife suffered from
Pleurisy and died after six months. Heinz later acted in the Schauspielhaus Berlin, which he left at 1923, when voice problems forced him to abandon his career for three years. In 1926,
Max Reinhardt accepted him to the cast of the Deutsches Theater again, where he also started to direct plays. Heinz was a close friend of actor
Hans Otto, and under his influence became a member of the
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
at 1930.
Wolfgang Heinz
'. defa.de.
Exile
Along with all the Jewish and leftist actors, Heinz was dismissed from his work on
27 February 1933. He left for the Netherlands, from where he moved to Great Britain, and on to Vienna. He finally settled in Switzerland, in which - with many other exiles from Germany - he acted in the
Schauspielhaus Zürich. At 1938, he began to direct plays in the theater. During his time in Switzerland, Heinz was one of the founders and the president of the Swiss Free Austrian Movement. He rescinded his membership in the KPD at 1943.
[Helmut Müller-Enbergs. ]
Wer war wer in der DDR?: ein Lexikon ostdeutscher Biographien (Band 1)
'. Christoph Links (2005). . Page 388.
After the end of World War II, Heinz emigrated to the Soviet-occupied part of Vienna; at 1946, he joined the
Communist Party of Austria. At first, he was part of the ensemble of the
People's Theater. In 1948, with
Karl Paryla and
Emil Stöhr, he was a founding member, from 1948 to 1956, of the "Neue Theater in der Scala", a "workers' theatre".
The theater held a communist and a pro-Soviet line, and openly defied the ban on
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
's works imposed in Vienna. Heinz met his second wife, Austrian actress
Erika Pelikowsky, while working in the Scala. He was also active as a director in the Deutsches Theater since 1951. In 1956, after the Soviet withdrawal from Austria, the theater was closed. Heinz, Pelikowsky and their daughter Gabriele (born 1948) moved to East Berlin.
Wolfgang Heinz
'. film-zeit.de.
East Germany
In East Germany, Heinz permanently joined the cast of the Deutsches Theater under
Wolfgang Langhoff. He appeared in more than 300 roles, and was best known for his portrayal of the title characters in ''
King Lear'', ''
Life of Galileo
''Life of Galileo'' (), also known as ''Galileo'', is a play by the 20th century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and collaborator Margarete Steffin with incidental music by Hanns Eisler. The play was written in 1938 and received its first theat ...
'', ''
Wallenstein'', ''
Nathan the Wise'' and ''
Professor Mamlock''. Beside this, he also directed 80 plays through the years and appeared in several
DEFA films. From 1959 to 1962, he headed the
National Theatre School in Berlin. In 1960, he became a professor and a member of the
Academy of the Arts. In 1963, he left the
KPÖ
The Communist Party of Austria (german: Kommunistische Partei Österreichs, KPÖ) is a communist party in Austria. Established in 1918 as the Communist Party of German-Austria (KPDÖ), it is one of the world's oldest communist parties. The KPÖ ...
and joined the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany. At the same year, he replaced Langhoff as the theater's director and manager, holding this position until 1969.
[Heinrich Gebauer. ]
Vom Autodidakten zum Charakterdarsteller
'. Berlinische Monatsschrift, May 1999.
At 1966, Heinz was appointed head of the
East German Theater Artists' Association, an office he held until his death. Between 1968 and 1974, he was the president of the
Academy of the Arts.
In 1975, he had made his last appearance on stage, performing Nathan the Wise; afterwards, he became an honorary member of the Deutsches Theater.
Heinz received the
Patriotic Order of Merit at 1965 (with an honorary clasp granted at 1980), the
National Prize of East Germany
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) (german: Nationalpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, ...
in 1968, the
Order of Karl Marx during 1974 and the
Goethe Prize of Berlin in 1976.
On 30 September 1983, he was granted an
honorary citizenship of the city of Berlin by the authorities in East Berlin. After the
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
Heinz's status was retained by the city council, since his theater career in the capital begun before the communist rule and was independent of it.
Berliner Ehrenbürger: Wolfgang Heinz.
' .parlament-berlin.de. Heinz is buried in
Adlershof Cemetery in Berlin.
After his death, a Wolfgang Heinz Ring was bestowed annually to new and promising young actors by the Theater Artists' Association. Following the reunification, the right to award the ring was passed to the manager of the Deutsches Theater.
Filmography
* 1919: ''Die Geächteten''
* 1920: ''
Humanity Unleashed
''Humanity Unleashed'' (german: Die entfesselte Menschheit) is a 1920 German silent drama film directed by Joseph Delmont and starring Eugen Klöpfer, Paul Hartmann and Carl de Vogt. The film portrays a violent leftist attempt to seize power ...
''
* 1921: ''
Nosferatu''
* 1932: ''
A Blonde Dream''
* 1938: ''
Fusilier Wipf''
* 1954: '
* 1955: ''Gasparone''
* 1958: ''
Geschwader Fledermaus
''Geschwader Fledermaus'' (''Bat squadron'') is an East German
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 un ...
''
* 1961: ''
Professor Mamlock''
* 1963: ''Das russische Wunder'' (narrator)
* 1972: ''Der kleine Prinz'' (TV)
* 1973: ''Der nackte Mann auf dem Sportplatz''
* 1978: ''Nun gut, wir wollen fechten''
* 1979: ''Die Rache des Kapitäns Mitchell'' (TV)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinz, Wolfgang (actor)
1900 births
1982 deaths
Actors from Plzeň
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
Austro-Hungarian Jews
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland
Austrian male stage actors
Austrian male film actors
Austrian male silent film actors
German male stage actors
German theatre directors
German theatre managers and producers
German male film actors
German male silent film actors
German male television actors
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany
Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts
20th-century German male actors
20th-century Austrian male actors
German Bohemian people