Hans Hirschmüller turns 75
On 15 March the actor and director Hans Hirschmüller celebrates his 75th birthday. Hirschmüller was part of the team around Rainer Werner Fassbinder during the early part of the director’s career. After training as an actor and working at a range of theaters in Hamburg, Berlin und Stuttgart, Hirschmüller joined the antiteater in Munich. In the following years, he often worked with Fassbinder both on stage and in films such as LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH and KATZELMACHER and in the working-class television series EIGHT HOURS ARE NOT A DAY. However, he most well-known role was that of Hans Epp in MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS, in which he plays the vegetable-peddler protagonist as a taciturn man broken by his harsh childhood and loveless marriage who ultimately succumbs to the pressures of his life despite living in the midst of the West German economic miracle. Hirschmüller received Germany’s coveted “Golden Film Strip” (Filmband in Gold) for his intense performance. He went on to appear in films by Wim Wenders, Peter Zadek and Uli Lommel. In 1990 he was awarded the coveted Grimme television award for his documentary A YEARNING FOR SODOM, a film about fellow actor Kurt Raab’s struggle with AIDS. Today, Hirschmüller continues to work in the theatre. In 2012 he directed a production of Fassbinder’s ANARCHY IN BAVARIA at Berlin’s Theater unterm Turm, recalling his early work with the antiteater. The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation warmly wishes Hans Hirschmüller a very Happy Birthday.
More Information:
Hans Hirschmüller’s website:
http://www.hans-hirschmueller.de/
LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH:
http://www.fassbinderfoundation.de/movies/liebe-ist-kaelter-als-der-tod/
KATZELMACHER:
http://www.fassbinderfoundation.de/movies/katzelmacher/
EIGHT HOURS ARE NOT A DAY:
http://www.fassbinderfoundation.de/movies/acht-stunden-sind-kein-tad/
MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS:
http://www.fassbinderfoundation.de/movies/haendler-der-vier-jahreszeiten/
Photo left: THE MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS, © RWFF
Photo right: KATZELMACHER, © RWFF