Wolfgang Stumph (born 31 January 1946) is a German actor and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

artist.

Early life

Stumph was born in Wünschelburg,

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

(

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) in 1946 to German parents. He was expelled from his hometown and grew up without a father in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in the

German Democratic Republic 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 **Ger ...

. After school he trained to become a heavy plate boiler maker and later studied

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

in Dresden, graduating from university as "Engineer-

Pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

". After his studies, he completed a public actor's training and started his professional career as a political cabaret artist in Dresden's "Herkuleskeule" club.

Success

Stumph achieved his breakthrough as an actor shortly 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 ...

with the 1991 comedic film ''

Go Trabi Go ''Go Trabi Go'' is a 1991 German comedy and road movie directed by Peter Timm. It was the first major box office hit about events concerning the newly reunified Germany. Unlike other films in this period that focused on the problems following reun ...

''. In the film he plays a teacher from former

East Germany 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 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

who wants to take his family to Italy for their first holiday, driving there in the family's

Trabant Trabant () is a series of small cars produced from 1957 until 1991 by former East German car manufacturer VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau. In total, four different models were made, the Trabant 500, Trabant 600, Trabant 601, and the Tra ...

(a car affectionately called "Trabi"). ''Go Trabi Go'' was a major hit in the time shortly after the reunification of Germany and drew crowds in both parts of Germany; critics said the film was a way for East Germans to "laugh not precisely at themselves, but at the absurdities of the system under which they lived until last year". After the film, which was followed by a sequel in 1992, Stumph began his first step to a later extensive cooperation with the

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

, the second German public TV channel. From 1993 to 1996 he starred on the ZDF produced

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'' Salto Postale'' as Wolle Stankoweit, a

postal worker A postal worker is one who works for a post office, such as a mail carrier. In the U.S., postal workers are represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL–CIO, National Postal Mail Handlers Union – NPMHU, the National Associatio ...

in the fictional town Niederbörnicke in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

. ''Salto Postale'' was one of the few successful German sitcoms of that time and both the sitcom and Stumph won multiple awards. From 1998 to 2001 he starred in the same role in a sequel sitcom called ''Salto Kommunale''. Since 1995, Stumph stars in a more serious role as detective Stubbe in the ZDF police investigation series ''

Stubbe – Von Fall zu Fall ''Stubbe – Von Fall zu Fall'' (at the beginning only called ''Von Fall zu Fall'' and sometimes only called ''Stubbe'') is a German crime detective television series starring Wolfgang Stumph as detective Stubbe. It is being broadcast on ZDF, the ...

''. His daughter Stephanie Stumph has a recurring role as Stubbe's daughter. ''Von Fall zu Fall'' is one of the most successful shows in Germany and consistently receives high ratings. He also starred in multiple other films, both of comedic and serious nature.

Cabaret

In 1991, Stumph founded the comedy troupe "Anthrak auf Stumphsinn" with Gunter Antrak und Detlev Rothe with which he toured the country with different shows, each consisting of comedy about the former East Germany.

Filmography

Films

(1991) * Go Trabi Go 2 – Das war der wilde Osten (1992) * Ein Fall für TKKG: Drachenauge (1992) * Theaterdonner (TV) (1995) * Bis zum Horizont und weiter (''To the Horizon and Beyond'') (1998) * Ein Stück vom Glück (TV) (2001) * Ein Sack voll Geld (TV) (2002) * Heimatfilm! (2002) * Oskar der Klomann (TV) (2003) * Der Job seines Lebens (TV) (2003) * Derrick – Die Pflicht ruft (voice) (2004) * Der Job seines Lebens 2 (TV) (2004) * Das Schwalbennest (TV) (2004) * Das Blaue Wunder (TV) (2004) *

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

(2006) * Eine Liebe in Königsberg (TV) (2006) * Beim nächsten Kind wird alles anders (TV) (2006) * Heimweh nach Drüben (TV) (2007) *

Keinohrhasen ''Rabbit Without Ears'' (German title: ''Keinohrhasen'', "No Ear Rabbits"), is a 2007 German romantic comedy film, written, produced and directed by Til Schweiger. Co-written by Anika Decker, and starring Nora Tschirner and Schweiger himself, ...

(2007) * Im Meer der Lügen (TV) (2008) * Stürmische Zeiten (TV) (2008) * 30 Tage Angst (TV) (2008) * Salami Aleikum (2009) * Romeo und Jutta (TV) (2009) * (TV) (2011) * (2018)

Television series

* Salto Postale (24 episodes) (1993–1996) *

(1995-) * Die Geliebte (1998) * Salto Kommunale (26 episodes) (1998–2001) * Salto Speziale (3 episodes)

Awards

Telestar The Telestar was a former German television award, created by Das Erste and ZDF. It was succeeded in 1999 by the Deutscher Fernsehpreis The Deutscher Fernsehpreis (''German Television Award'') is an annual German award for television programmin ...

for '' Salto Postale'' (1995) * Goldene Henne Superillu (1996) * Premio Bacco (1999) * Goldene Henne Superillu (1999) * Goldene Henne Superillu (2003) * Krimi des Jahres for ''Stubbe: Tod des Models'' (2004) *

Bayerischer Fernsehpreis Bayerischer Fernsehpreis (the Bavarian TV award) is an award presented by the government of Bavaria, Germany since 1989. The prize symbol is the "Blue Panther", a figure from the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory. The prize money is €10,000 (Spe ...

for ''

'' (2004) * Münchhausen-Preis of the city of

Bodenwerder The ''Münchhausenstadt'' Bodenwerder is a municipality in Holzminden district, Lower Saxony, Germany. It lies on the river Weser and is best known as the birthplace and residence of Baron von Münchhausen. Geography Bodenwerder is located in ...

(2004) * Till-Eulenspiegel-Satirepreis of the city of Bremen (2005) * Signs of Fame Germany (2006) * Goldene Henne Superillu (2009)

References

External links

Official homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stumph, Wolfgang Living people 1946 births German male comedians East German actors People from Kłodzko County Actors from Dresden German male television actors German male film actors German cabaret performers Silesian-German people 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors