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Marianne Hoppe
Actor

Marianne Hoppe

26 Apr 1909Born
23 Oct 2002Died
93Age at death
63Credits

Biography

Born in Rostock, Hoppe became a leading lady of stage and films in Germany. She was born into a wealthy landowning family and was initially privately educated on her father's private estate. Later she attended school in Berlin and in Weimar, where she began to attend theatre.[1]

Hoppe first performed at 17 as a member of Berlin's Deutsches Theater under director Max Reinhardt. In 1935 she was hired by the controversial German actor and Director of the Prussian State Theatre under the Third Reich, Gustav Gründgens. They were married from 1936-46, until their divorce.

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Speaking years after the marriage had ended Hoppe stated, "He was my love, but never my great love, that was work."[1]

One of the characters in the film Mephisto was reportedly based on her. Hoppe made no secret of her contacts with the Nazi elite in the 1930s/40s, including being invited to dinner by Hitler.[2] Her role in Der Schimmelreiter (The Rider of the White Horse, 1934) made her famous almost overnight, while her "Aryan" face made her a darling of the Nazi elite.[1] Later Hoppe would label this period of her life as "the black page in my golden book".[1]

During her time acting at the home of the Prussian State Theatre, the Schauspielhaus, Hoppe developed her analytical approach to acting, which she stated consisted in her "taking apart every sentence" and giving the use of language a brilliance. This method was to be associated with Hoppe throughout her working life.[1] In 1946 her only child, Benedikt Johann Percy Gründgens, was born.

Four years later after her divorce from Gründgens, Hoppe had a great success as Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, and increasingly played avant-garde roles, written by authors such as Heiner Muller (Quartett, 1994) and Thomas Bernhard, who became her partner in private life as well. She became a favourite of the young and iconoclastic directors Claus Peymann, Robert Wilson and Frank Castorf.

Hoppe died in Siegsdorf, Bavaria, in 2002 from natural causes, aged 93. "German theater has lost its queen", said Claus Peymann of the Berliner Ensemble, whose theatre featured Hoppe's last performance, in Bertolt Brecht's Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, in December 1997.[2] In one of her last interviews Hoppe stated, "I have a go at happiness every day. That takes discipline, a virtue every halfway decent actor should have."

Known for

Filmography

  1. 2017Hitler's HollywoodFilm: Various Roles (archive footage)
  2. 2000The Queen – Marianne HoppeFilm
  3. 1991Tassilo - Ein Fall für sichSeries: Maximiliane (6 episodes)
  4. 1991Der Tod kam als FreundFilm: Frau Weinstein
  5. 1989Geschichten hinterm DeichSeries (6 episodes)
  6. 1989HeldenplatzFilm: Hedwig Schuster
  7. 1988Schloß KönigswaldFilm: Gräfin Hohenlohe
  8. 1988Bei TheaFilm: Thea Ammer
  9. 1986Kir RoyalSeries: Claire Maetzig (1 episode)
  10. 1984Er-Götz-lichesFilm: Zweite Frau Professor
  11. 1983Marianne and SophieFilm: Marianne
  12. 1981Die Baronin - Fontane machte sie unsterblichFilm: Elisabeth v. Ardenne
  13. 1981Der RichterFilm: Mutter
  14. 1979Die MagermilchbandeSeries: Tante Doda (1 episode)
  15. 1978Tod eines VatersFilm: Mother
  16. 1977The Old FoxSeries: Johanna Martinek, Charlotte Steinburger (1 episode)
  17. 1975Wrong MoveFilm: Mother
  18. 1975HeiratskandidatenFilm: Tante Thea
  19. 1975Im Hause des KommerzienratesFilm: Präsidentin
  20. 1970Scene of the CrimeSeries: Witness (1 episode)
  21. 1969The CommissionerSeries: Johanna Blago, Lotte Boszilke, Amalie Schöndorf, Charlotte Echte (1 episode)
  22. 1969Tag für TagFilm: Mrs. Bryant
  23. 1968König Richard IIFilm: Herzogin von Gloster
  24. 1967Death Runs After ThemSeries: Madame Brassac (3 episodes)
  25. 1967Die MissionFilm: Selma Selig
  26. 1966Briefe nach LuzernFilm: Madame Hunter
  27. 1965A Winter's TaleFilm: Die Zeit
  28. 1965Das Leben des Horace A.W. Tabor - Ein Stück aus den Tagen der letzten KönigeFilm: Augusta
  29. 1965Ten Little IndiansFilm: Elsa Grohmann
  30. 1964Conquerors of ArkansasFilm: Mrs. Brendel
  31. 1964HarlekinadeFilm: Edna Selby
  32. 1964Die TeilnahmeFilm: Patricia Taylor
  33. 1963König ÖdipusFilm: Iokasta
  34. 1962Treasure of Silver LakeFilm: Mrs. Butler
  35. 1962Rose BerndFilm: Henriette Flamm
  36. 1962Der Walzer der TorerosFilm: Generalin
  37. 1961The Strange CountessFilm: Mary Pinder, verw. Moron
  38. 195813 Little Donkeys and the Sun CourtFilm: Martha Krapp
  39. 1954Der Mann meines LebensFilm: Helga Dargatter
  40. 1950Nur eine NachtFilm: die Frau
  41. 1949Schicksal aus zweiter HandFilm: Irene Scholz
  42. 1948The Lost FaceFilm: Johanna Stegen alias Luscha
  43. 1945Das Leben geht weiterFilm: Lenore Carius
  44. 1944I Need YouFilm: Julia Bach
  45. 1943Romance in a Minor KeyFilm: Madeleine
  46. 1942Stimme des HerzensFilm: Felicitas Iversen
  47. 1941Goodbye, FranziskaFilm: Franziska Tiemann
  48. 1939Kongo-ExpressFilm: Renate Brinkmann
  49. 1939Der Schritt vom WegeFilm: Effi Briest
  50. 1937Gabriele eins, zwei, dreiFilm: Gabriele Brodersen
  51. 1937Love in Stunt FlyingFilm: Mabel Atkinson
  52. 1937The SovereignFilm: Inken Peters
  53. 1936A Woman of No ImportanceFilm: Hester
  54. 1936When the Cock CrowsFilm: Marie
  55. 1935Anschlag auf SchwedaFilm: Regine Kessler
  56. 1935The Grey Pikes WharfFilm: Käthe Liebenow
  57. 1935Top Sergeant SchwenkeFilm: Maria Schönborn, Verkäuferin im Blumenhaus Floris
  58. 1935Everyone Obeys My CommandFilm: Hella Bergson
  59. 1934Black Fighter JohannaFilm: Johanna Luerssen
  60. 1934Trouble with JolantheFilm: Anna
  61. 1934The Rider on the White HorseFilm: Elke Volkerts
  62. 1933Heideschulmeister Uwe KarstenFilm: Ursula Diewen
  63. 1933Der Judas von TirolFilm: Josefa

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.