The actor Heinz Behrens, known from the comedy series "Maxe Baumann" on GDR television, is dead. He died last night at the age of 89 in a Berlin hospital, his widow Birgit told the German Press Agency. The MDR reported first.
After the end of the GDR, Behrens was engaged at the Bernhard Theater in Zurich, among others, and was also on stage with Johannes Heesters and Heidi Kabel.
His widow said that just a few days ago her husband was "cheeky" and then pneumonia "got cold" - too much for his weak heart. Up until five years ago he was still on tour with actor Heinz Rennhack, who was also well-known in the GDR, and in the two-person play "Zwei Genies am Rande des Wahnsinns".
Behrens was born in Grünberg (Silesia), today's Zielona Góra in Poland. He studied in Halle (Saale) and was then on stage in Rostock, Erfurt and Dessau. From 1962 he was part of the drama ensemble of East German television. "Egon and the eighth wonder of the world" was his first film in 1964, in which he played a clubhouse manager. He became known as Horst Baumann alongside Gerd E. Schäfer (1923-2001) in the comedy series "Maxe Baumann" in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He also played in "Pensioners never have time" (1976) or in "Polizeiruf" (1980).
The father of one son and grandfather lived with his wife on Lake Zeuthen, which is on the border between Berlin and Brandenburg. He would have been 90 years old on September 30th. "We also wanted to celebrate our rose wedding that day," she said. They met in 2004 in a bar in Dresden when he played in the comedy - and then married when he was 80.
