The Karl May films were recently criticized. But anyone who grew up with them will definitely remember one of their characters: the oddball trapper Sam Hawkens. His actor Ralf Wolter has now died at the age of 95.
The popular film and television actor Ralf Wolter is dead. The star of numerous Karl May films died at the age of 95, as his wife announced. She did not provide any further information. Wolter had withdrawn from public life for a long time.
Alongside "Winnetou" actor Pierre Brice, Wolter celebrated his greatest successes in the 1960s, including in the role of the quick-witted Sam Hawkens. His phrase "If I'm not wrong", with which he often ended a sentence, was almost a dictum. Many viewers also associate Wolter with the film role of a second Karl May character: that of Haji Halef Omar Ben Haji Abul Abbas Ibn Haji Dawuhd al Gossarah.
Wolter's performances alongside Pierre Brice and Lex Barker are arguably some of the most memorable by audiences to date. The actor was seen in many other productions, for example in "Tatort", in "Der Alte", "Ein Schloss am Wörthersee" or "Küstenwache". He had his last appearance in a film in 2012 in "Unto the Horizon, Then Left".
The actor, who has lived in the Bavarian capital for many decades, was born in Berlin. His father was a circus artist, his mother a musician. After attending drama school, Wolter began as a cabaret artist. Theater stations were stages in Berlin and Potsdam, later Munich.
Most recently, there was a discussion about the "Winnetou" stories, which critics accused of cultural appropriation. Hella Brice, Pierre Brice's widow, showed no understanding for this. Wolter did not intervene in the public debate.
