Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz"Rühmann (German:[haɪntsˈʁyːman]ⓘ; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German filmactor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a German film legend. Rühmann is best known for playing the part of a comic ordinary citizen in film comedies such asThree from the Filling Station andThe Punch Bowl. During his later years, he was also a respected character actor in films such asThe Captain from Köpenick andIt Happened in Broad Daylight. His only English-speaking movie was the 1965Ship of Fools.
Rühmann was born inEssen as the son of a restaurateur. His father Hermann Rühmann moved to Berlin in 1915, where he probably committed suicide a little later. The exact circumstances of death could never be clarified.[1] His son Heinz began his acting career during the early 1920s and appeared in numerous theatres in Germany during the following years. His role in the 1930 movieDie Drei von der Tankstelle (The Three from the Filling Station) led him to film stardom. He remained highly popular as a comedic actor (and sometime singer) throughout the 1930s and early 1940s. He remained in Germany and continued to work during the Nazi period, as did his friend and colleague,Hans Albers.
During the 1933–45 period, he acted in 37 films and directed four. After January 1933, Rühmann did not speak openly about German politics, but instead kept himself as neutral as possible. He never stated a word against or towards the Nazis in the press, although he had been a supporter ofdemocracy. In 1938, he divorced his Jewish wife Maria Herbot, who then left Germany and traveled to Stockholm where she married a Swedish actor. The divorce caused Rühmann to be accused by some of wanting to secure his career; however, the marriage had probably already fallen apart, and some sources say that he wanted to protect his wife with the divorce.[2] After 1945, Herbot defended her ex-husband against accusations of opportunism.[3] His second wife,Hertha Feiler, whom he married shortly after, had a Jewish grandfather, a fact that caused Rühmann problems with the Nazi cultural authorities. Rühmann retained his reputation as an apolitical star during the entire Nazi era.
Heinz Rühmann as director (sitting on a stool, behind the camera), 1942
During the war years, Rühmann, like others, was co-opted by the State in some films. His role as lead actor in the comedyQuax the Crash Pilot was supposed to distract the populace from the war. In 1941, under the direction ofReichsfilmkammer presidentCarl Froelich, Rühmann played the title role inDer Gasmann, about a gas-meter reader who is suspected of foreign espionage. In 1944, thepremiere ofDie Feuerzangenbowle was forbidden by the Nazi film censor for "disrespect for authority". Through his good relationships with the regime, however, Rühmann was able to screen the film in public. He brought the film to theFührerhauptquartierWolfsschanze for a private screening forHermann Göring and others. Afterward, Göring was able to get the ban on the film lifted byAdolf Hitler. A nostalgic comedy of mistaken identities, the film was probably the most popular of his career and later became a cult hit among college students. As a "state actor", the highest title for an actor during the Nazi era, Rühmann was not drafted into theWehrmacht. He did have to take the basic training to become a military pilot of the reserves (as he happened to be a hobbyist pilot anyway), but for the State, Rühmann was more valuable as an actor and he was spared having to take part in the war effort. In August 1944,Joseph Goebbels put Rühmann on theGottbegnadeten list of indispensable actors.[4]
Rühmann was a favorite actor ofHolocaust diaristAnne Frank, who pasted his picture on the wall of her room in her family's hiding place during the war, where it can still be seen today.[5] The enormous range of Rühmann's popularity during the Nazi era is illustrated by the fact that he was also a favorite actor of Adolf Hitler and his propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
Rühmann had a difficult time resuming his career after the war, but by the mid-1950s, the former comedian had established himself again as a star, only this time asWest Germany's leading character actor.[citation needed] In 1956, Rühmann starred in the title role of the internationally acclaimed pictureDer Hauptmann von Köpenick (The Captain of Köpenick), the true story of aPrussian cobbler,Wilhelm Voigt, who dressed up as an army officer and took over the town hall inKöpenick. In the days of theGerman Empire, the army had an exalted status and Voigt embarrassed the army officers and civil servants who obeyed him without question. Rühmann was also the leading man in the 1960 film version ofThe Adventures ofthe Good Soldier Schweik, after the novel by Czech authorJaroslav Hašek. During the 1960s, he played the popular fictional detectivesFather Brown andInspector Maigret. In 1965, Rühmann was brought to Hollywood by producerStanley Kramer for a supporting role as a German Jew in his all-star movieShip of Fools.
His wife Hertha Feiler died in 1970 and Rühmann married his third wife Hertha Droemer in 1974. In his later years, he also worked as arecitator for West German television. His last film wasFaraway, So Close! (1993) byWim Wenders, in which he played an old fatherly chauffeur named Konrad. Rühmann died in October 1994, aged 92 years. He was buried inBerg-Aufkirchen,Bavaria. His popularity with German audiences continues: In 1995, he was posthumously awarded theGoldene Kamera as the "Greatest German Actor of the Century"; in 2006, a poll voted him number one in the ZDF TV-showUnsere Besten – Favorite German Actors.
