Ralf Wolter
Born(1926-11-26)26 November 1926
Died14 October 2022 (aged 95)
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
NationalityGerman
Years active1948–2012

Ralf Wolter (26 November 1926 – 14 October 2022) was a German stage and screen actor. Wolter appeared in nearly 220 films and television series in his over 60 years as a character actor.

Life and career

Wolter began his long career on the Berlin stage and in cabaret during the late 1940s. He made his first film appearance in Die Frauen des Herrn S. and quickly achieved prominence as an actor for comedic supporting roles. In 1961, he appeared as the baldheaded Soviet agent Borodenko in Billy Wilder's comedy One, Two, Three with James Cagney and Horst Buchholz. Another Hollywood film with Wolter in a supporting role was Cabaret (1972), where he played, alongside Liza Minnelli, the role of the neighbour Herr Ludwig, a publisher of pornographic books who later turns out to be a Nazi.

In Germany, Wolter achieved his greatest fame as the eccentric but friendly trapper Sam Hawkens and as Hadschi Halef Omar in a number of highly successful Karl May film adaptations during the 1960s. He reprised his role as Sam Hawkens in a television series from 1980. He also appeared with Heinz Erhardt in the 1970 comedy What Is the Matter with Willi? and in a few musical films with singing child star Heintje Simons. As his film roles got more obscure during his later years, he turned more and more towards television since the 1970s. He appeared in some of the most successful German television series. As of 2014, Wolter still appeared as a stage and screen actor, one of his final films was Fly Away (2012), co-starring Otto Sander.[1]

In May 2002, he caused a motorway accident on the Bundesautobahn 24 with three deaths.[2] He was sentenced to ten months on conditional discharge.

Wolter was married with his wife Edith from 1959 until his death, they had two children. He died on 14 October 2022, at the age of 95.[3][4][5]

Selected filmography

References

  1. "… Ralf Wolter? | FORUM - Das Wochenmagazin". www.magazin-forum.de. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015.
  2. Hasse, Edgar S. (April 2003). "Wildwest-Wendemanöver auf der a 24: Ralf Wolter vor Gericht". Die Welt.
  3. "Ralf Wolter: Sam Hawkens machte ihn weltberühmt".
  4. "Traueranzeigen von Ralf Wolter | SZ-Gedenken.de".
  5. "Ralf Wolter ist tot". Spiegel. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
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