Helmut Qualtinger

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1928-10-08

Deathday 1986-09-29 (57 years old)

Place of Birth Vienna, Austria

Helmut Qualtinger

Biography

Helmut Qualtinger was born in Vienna, Austria. He initially studied medicine, but quit university to become a newspaper reporter and film critic for local press, while beginning to write texts for cabaret performances and theater plays. Qualtinger debuted as an actor at a student theater and attended the Max Reinhardt Seminar as a guest student. Beginning in 1947, he appeared in cabaret performances. In 1949, Qualtinger's first theatrical play, Jugend vor den Schranken, was staged in Graz. Up to 1960, Qualtinger collaborated on various cabaret programmes with the Namenlosen Ensemble made up of Gerhard Bronner, Carl Merz, Louise Martini, Peter Wehle, Georg Kreisler, and Michael Kehlmann. Qualtinger was famous for his practical jokes. In 1951, he managed to launch a false report in several newspapers announcing a visit to Vienna of a (fictional) famous Inuit poet named Kobuk (author of "The Burning Igloo"). The reporters who assembled at the railway station however were to witness Qualtinger, in fur coat and cap, stepping from the train. Asked about his "first impressions of Vienna", the "Inuit poet" commented in broad Viennese dialect, "Haaaßis'sdo - [It's hot here]". The short one-man play Der Herr Karl, written by Qualtinger and Carl Merz and performed by Qualtinger in 1961, made the author known across German-speaking countries. "Herr Karl", a grocery store clerk, tells the story of his life to an imaginary colleague - from the days of the Habsburg empire, the First Austrian Republic, the Austrofascist regime leading up to the Anschluss (annexation) by Nazi Germany, World War II and finally military occupation by Allied forces in the 1950s, seen from the perspective of a one who is a prototypical opportunist. Qualtinger's portrayal of the petit-bourgeois Nazi collaborator came at a time when "normality" had just been restored and Austrians' involvement in the Nazi movement was being downplayed and "forgotten", making many enemies for the author, who even received anonymous threats of murder. Beginning in the 1970s, Qualtinger frequently performed recitals of his own and other texts, including excerpts from Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and Karl Kraus' Die letzten Tage der Menschheit (The Last Days of Mankind). These recitals were highly popular and resulted in several records being published. Qualtinger played countless theater, TV and film parts, making his final appearance in The Name of the Rose in 1986, along with Sean Connery. Qualtinger died in Vienna on 29 September 1986, of a liver condition. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Known For

Actor

2019
Ikonen Österreichs

as Self (archive footage)

1986
The Name of the Rose

as Remigio da Varagine

1986
The Diary of Dr. Döblinger

as Dr. Döblinger

1985
Cat's Game

as Viktor

1982
Krimistunde

as Harry Beggs

1979
1978
Feuerwasser

as Sepp O'Brian

1978
End of the Game

as Von Schwendi

1978
Grandison

as Dr. Ludwig Pfister

1977
1976
Mitgift

as Huck

1976
Die Alpensaga

as Allinger

1975
Eiszeit

as Offizier

1974
Krankensaal 6

as Ragin

1974
The Cultist

as Kulterer

1974
3 nach 9

as Self

1973
Weights and Measures

as Anselm Eibenschütz

1972
1971
1971
Geschäfte mit Plückhahn

as Erwin Plückhahn

1971
König Johann

as Johann Plantagenet, König von England

1970
Passion eines Politkers

as Nationalrat Bröschl

1970
Das weite Land

as Natter

1969
1969
1968
Das vierte Gebot

as Schalanter

1968
The Castle

as Bürgel

1967
1967
Kurzer Prozeß

as Inspektor Pokorny

1967
Umsonst

as Pitzl

1967
Der Herr Karl

as Herr Karl

1966
Der Fall Bohr

as Matzenauer

1966
Samba

as Capitano Agamemnon Heredia

1966
Die Hinrichtung

as Scharfrichter Engel

1965
Lumpazivagabundus

as Knieriem, ein Schustergeselle

1965
Der Himbeerpflücker

as Konrad Steisshäuptl

1965
Radetzkymarsch

as Kapturak

1963
Biedermann und die Brandstifter

as Schmitz - ein Ringer

1962
Einen Jux will er sich machen

as Melchior - Hausknecht

1962
Das Profil

as Self

1961
Mann im Schatten

as Oberpolizeirat Dr. Radosch

1961
Die Kurve

as Ministerialdirigent Kriegbaum

1960
The Magnificent Rogue

as Seppl Reber

1959
Die schöne Lügnerin

as Detective Zawadil

1959
Mikosch im Geheimdienst

as Oberst Fedor Fedorowitsch Ganiew

1955
Hanussen

as Ernst Röhm

1955
1955
Du bist die Richtige

as Orientalischer Fürst

1954
1953
Hab’ ich nur Deine Liebe

as Direktor Pokorny

Writer

2023
Der Herr Karl

as Writer

2022
Der Herr Karl

as Writer

1967
1967
Der Herr Karl

as Writer

1963
And So to Bed

as Writer