Actor Michael Heltau is 90 years old

Heltau is at home in many genres and is an actor who, in his long career, has managed to embody the great roles of dramatic literature as well as roles in musicals. He also sang himself in the hearts of his fans as a leader. On his 90th birthday, Heltau released a double CD with “lyrics”.

To that end, the mimes with Peter Michael Braunwarth “dig deep into the world of literature and captured a good cross-section of their lives,” reads the CD advert on Heltau for more than 100 minutes “of people’s great and small joys” and follows up on “life’s inevitable questions.” “.

Idea from the live cycle series at Musikverein

The idea came from a live cycle series at the Musikverein, its third evening titled “Lyrics”. You can experience poems and lyrics from Bertolt Brecht to Paul McCartney, and from Heinrich Heine to Hildegard Knef. In addition, there are occasional musical quotations from Viennese theater musicians with whom the artist has worked repeatedly.

Heltau was born Heribert Michael Huber on 5 July 1933 in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. He spent his childhood in the care of his great-grandparents and moved to Seewalchen am Attersee in 1939, where his father found work as a motorway builder. He attended high school in Gmunden, was expelled from Austria with his family in 1945 and graduated from high school in Ingolstadt.

The stops are in Vienna, Bavaria, Salzburg

Actress Käthe Dorsch had already noticed his talent for mime in a children’s stage show, and so the boy-backed act quickly stumbled. From 1951 to 1953 Heltau attended the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. But he got his first engagement in his old homeland, namely in 1953 at the Stadttheater Würzburg, in 1954 he came to the Bayerische Staatsschauspiel in Munich, and in 1956 he returned to Vienna – to Josefstadt.

From 1964 Heltau participated in the Salzburg Festival. In 1973, for example, he was on stage in the famous Shakespeare set “The Game of the Mighty” by Giorgio Streller. Finally, in 1967, Heltau made his debut at the Burgtheater – a decisive step in the artist’s career, since he became a member of the ensemble in 1972 and has been an honorary member since 2003. Ten years ago, he was chosen as the Burgtheater’s youngest dean to date.

Romeo, Hamlet, Don Carlos, Anatole, Wallenstein

Hiltau, who received Austrian citizenship in 1968, has given brilliant performances in almost all major roles in classical theatrical literature – from Romeo to Hamlet, from Don Carlos to Anatole to Wallenstein and Jago in Shakespeare’s Othello, which was released in 1982 in Munich. , under the direction of Peter Palitzsch, of whom he was a great admirer, became one of the few flops of his career.

At the same time, Heltau also gained a foothold on the musical stage: from 1972 Bluntschli played in Udo Jürgens’ musical “Helden, Helden” at the Theater an der Wien. He embodied Professor Higgins from “My Fair Lady” at the Vienna Volksoper, which awarded him honorary membership in 2004, as well as “Hamlet” in the operatic version of Shakespeare’s play by Ambroise Thomas in 1995 or the honorary play by the aging Honore Lachailles in “Gigi”. (1999).

The final play “Love Letters”

Under the Burgtheater’s new director, Klaus Behmann, Heltau initially joined the ranks of the Castle mime on vacation, but then found success in Gorky’s Children of the Sun, Pirandello’s Henry IV, and Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.

In 1994 he played in Haus am Ring under the direction of Strehler, whom he adored in 1986 as Mackie Messer, risking the French-language opera “Threepenny Opera” in Paris, Cotrone in Luigi Pirandello’s “Die Riesen vom” Berge “, 1999 in the theater Academician alongside Kitty Speiser in Edward Albee’s The Baby Game.In 2004 he appeared in Love Letters for the last time in a play.

The first record occurred in 1965

Since then, Heltau’s second career path as a leader and performer has gained the upper hand, which began in 1965 with a speech – a recording of a solo evening with “Werthers Leiden”, which was followed by other recordings such as “Heltau ‘Singt Brill'”.

On stage, he was particularly successful with the programs “Auf d’Nacht, Herrdirektor”, “But now, Herr Director”, “Once again, Herr Director” and “In the limelight”, which he conceived with his life partner Loek Huisman. His performances and tours made the chanson singer known far beyond the stage.

Dr. Brinkman was turned down for the role

From 1976 to 1988 he presented the ZDF “Liedercircus” series. However, working in film and television never satisfied the Vienna-based actor due to the lack of contact with the audience and thus remained manageable. Among the many roles (and theater directors) he turned down in his career was Dr. Brinkman in the TV series Schwarzwaldklinik.

He realized in time that he would otherwise be unable to enter a stage again without the audience imagining the Doctor’s white coat. Already a recipient of the Karl Skraup Prize and the Kainz Medal as a young actor in the 1970s, he also received the Golden Rathausmann for Vienna and was appointed Austrian Chamber Representative in 1986.

Many awards and honors

In 2001 Heltau was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Sciences and Arts, 1st Class, in 2005 “Nestroy” for his life’s work, and in 2006 he was awarded the Order of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2008 he was awarded the Mozart Ring by the Vienna Mozart Society of which he was president for many years.

In 2010, Heltau received the Burgtheater Ring, created especially for the honorary members of the house, which the group joined in 2014 with the Ring of Honor of the Coll Fellows. ORF honored the actor and singer Monday at 11:15 p.m. at ORF 2 with the painting “Michael Hiltau – Everything for the Stage,” which was created for his 85th birthday. On 9 July at 8.30am ORF III will show an edition of the discussion format ‘Andre Hellers Menschekinder’ produced in 2019, in which the artist offers insight into his life and career.