Harald Juhnke

Harald Juhnke

Harald Juhnke German pronunciation: ['jʊnkə] (10 June 1929 in Berlin-Charlottenburg – 1 April 2005 in Rüdersdorf near Berlin), actually Harry Heinz Herbert Juhnke, was a well-known German actor, comedian and entertainer.

Life

Tomb of Juhnke in Berlin

Juhnke, whose father was a policeman and whose mother came from a family of bakers, grew up in the working-class district Gesundbrunnen of Berlin.

His first stage appearance was in 1948. In 1950, he was hired by the theater of Neustrelitz. In the following years, he worked in several other theaters, including the Freie Volksbühne in Berlin. He became well known in the following decades, often playing the role of the young lover or a comic Berliner. He also dubbed Marlon Brando in German films.

Juhnke began appearing often on German television after 1977. He first played in television series with actors such as Grit Boettcher and Eddi Arent and later hosted the ZDF television show Musik ist Trumpf (Music is Trump), which was seen by up to 30 million television viewers. His role model for the show was Frank Sinatra, whose style of dress and singing he emulated. Juhnke's most popular song was a German rendition of Sinatra's signature song "I Did It My Way".

In 1992, Juhnke experienced a comeback as a film actor. He won praise from critics for character parts in the movies Schtonk!, Der Papagei (The Parrot), and Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (The Captain of Köpenick). In 1995, he played the lead role in the movie Der Trinker (The Drinker), based on the autobiography of German writer Hans Fallada. In working on this film, Juhnke drew on his own experiences with alcoholism.

His first marriage was to the actress and dancer Sybil Werden. The couple had two children: their daughter Barbara was born in 1953, and in 1956 they had a son, Peer. In 1971, Juhnke married actress Susanne Hsiao, daughter of a Chinese restaurateur and an East Prussian mother. Their son Oliver Marlon was born in 1972.

Juhnke's battle with alcoholism was reported widely in German tabloids and was followed closely by the public. A massive scandal occurred when, strongly intoxicated at a Los Angeles hotel, he called a black security guard a "dirty nigger". Although some German media believed a trial would be the result, the hotel employee stated that he would never bring charges against "the German Frank Sinatra". In December 2001, after another bout of heavy schnaps drinking and suffering from Korsakoff's syndrome as a result of his alcohol abuse, he was hospitalized in a nursing home for patients with mental illnesses in Fredersdorf, Brandenburg.

In February 2005, Harald Juhnke was hospitalized with acute dehydration. He died on 1 April at the age of 75.

Awards

Filmography

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