Jürgen Holtz

Jürgen Holtz
Born	(1932-08-10)10 August 1932 Berlin, Weimar Republic
Died	21 June 2020(2020-06-21) (aged 87) Berlin, Germany
Education	Theaterhochschule Leipzig
Occupations	Actor Artist
Years active	1957–2020
Organizations	Volksbühne Deutsches Theater Berlin Berliner Ensemble Schauspiel Frankfurt
Awards	Adolf Grimme Prize Gertrud-Eysoldt-Ring Theaterpreis Berlin Konrad Wolf Prize

Jürgen Holtz (10 August 1932 – 21 June 2020) was a German actor on stage and in film, and an artist and author. He appeared in more than seventy films since 1957. On stage he played leading roles in East Berlin, including with the Berliner Ensemble, and from 1983 in the West, in both classics such as Shakespeare and Brecht whose Galilei he played at age 86, and contemporary theatre, such as the title role in the premiere of Moritz Tassow by Peter Hacks.

Life

Born in Berlin, Holtz attended the Humboldt-Oberschule in Berlin-Tegel from 1943, from 1943 bis 1945 the Oberschule in Neustadt bei Coburg, to where he was evacuated. He returned to Berlin, hoping to find his parents. From 1945 to 1948, he attended again the Humboldt Oberschule, then the Schulfarm Insel Scharfenberg in Tegel. With other students, he left for East Berlin in 1949 when the director was fired, where he went to boarding schools in Döllnkrug and Himmelpfort, achieving the Abitur in 1952. Holtz studied acting at the Deutsches Theaterinstitut in Weimar from 1952 and at the Theaterhochschule Leipzig from 1953, graduating in 1955. His first engagements were in Erfurt (1955–1957) and in Brandenburg an der Havel (1957–1960), and Greifswald 1960 to 1964. He then played at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in East Berlin, and from 1966 to 1974 at the Deutsches Theater there. Among is roles was the title role in the world premiere of Moritz Tassow by Peter Hacks in 1966, directed by Benno Besson, and Angelo in Shakespeare's Maß für Maß (Measure for Measure) in 1968, staged by Adolf Dresen.

From 1974, Holtz was a member of the Berliner Ensemble. In 1983, he remained in West Germany after a guest performance, working at the Theater Bochum and the Schauspiel Frankfurt. He played from 1995 at the Deutsches Theater Berlin again, and from 2000 as a guest at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. He often worked in radio, film and television.

At age 86, Holtz played from January 2019 the title role in Brecht's Leben des Galilei, adapted by Frank Castorf for the Berliner Ensemble to a six-hours event; he sometimes appeared naked.

His paintings have been shown in exhibitions, such as in 2020 by the Bernet Bertram gallery in Berlin. He wrote an autobipography, He, Geist! Wo geht die Reise hin? Reden. Einreden. Widerreden, publishd in 2015.

He died of cancer in Berlin.

Film and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	Stereo
2010	Three
2007	Du bist nicht allein
2003	Good Bye, Lenin!	Herr Ganske
2001	Made in Israel
1993	Motzki	title role
1989	Reporter	Struck	TV series
1986	Rosa Luxemburg	Karl Kautsky
1985	Morenga
1957	Berlin, Ecke Schönhauser

Publication

• Jürgen Holtz: He, Geist! Wo geht die Reise hin? Reden. Einreden. Widerreden. in: Theater der Zeit, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-95749-011-7. (autobiography)

Awards

• 1990: Adolf Grimme Prize
• 1993: Actor of the Year
• 1993: Gertrud-Eysoldt-Ring
• 2004: Hessischer Kulturpreis
• 2013: Theaterpreis Berlin
• 2014: Konrad Wolf Prize

External links

• Literature by and about Jürgen Holtz in the German National Library catalogue
• Jürgen Holtz at IMDb
• Cornelia Jentzsch (1 February 2016). "Schauspieler Jürgen Holtz – Mein Beruf ist der des Narren". Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
• Jürgen Holtz, munzinger.de