16 June 2013

Lutz Moik

German actor Lutz Moik (1930 - 2002) became well known with the film adaptation of the fairy tale Das kalte Herz/The Cold Heart (Paul Verhoeven, 1950). The young and fresh-looking star appeared in several East and West German films and also worked for the stage and television.

Lutz Moik
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, no. 1008. Photo: Bayer / Spörr / Europa. Publicity still for Christina (1953, Fritz Eichler).

Lutz Moik
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 1316. Photo: Spörr.

A Military Orphanage In Potsdam
Lutz-Jürgen Moik was born in Berlin in 1930. He was the son of a chemist and a housewife. He and his two brothers had to overcome the early death of their father in 1938, after which the family fell apart. His mother was not able to take care of the family, so Moik spent a part of his childhood in a military orphanage in Potsdam. As a schoolboy he was discovered there by director Robert A. Stemmle who gave him a supporting role in the film Meine Herren Söhne/Gentlemen sons (1942) as the son of Werner Hinz. More film parts followed, such as in Frühlingsmelodie/Spring Melody (Hans Robert Bortfeld, 1944-1945) and Eine reizende Familie/A lovely family (Erich Waschneck, 1944-1948), both filmed during the last months of the war but completed after the liberation. After the war, the 15-year old Lutz worked for the radio. He started a study to become a set designer, and took private acting lessons from Leonore Ehn. In 1947, he got the offer to star in the post-war drama Und finden dereinst wir uns wieder .../And one day we find ourselves again ... (Hans Müller, 1947). After a new venture with director Müller, the DEFA circus film 1 - 2 - 3 Corona (Hans Müller, 1948), Moik stopped with his studies and focused on his acting career. He appeared in both East and West German production, such as the West German crime film Fünf unter Verdacht/City in the Fog (Kurt Hoffmann, 1950) starring Hans Nielsen.

Lutz Moik
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 1020. Photo: Zeyn / Herzog-Film / Wesel. Publicity still for Hanna Amon (Veit Harlan, 1951) .

Lutz Moik
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 694. Photo: Magna Film / Deutsche London Film. Publicity still for Der fröhliche Weinberg/The Happy Vineyard (Erich Engel, 1952).

First German Post-war Color Film
At age 19, Lutz Moik was directed by Paul Verhoeven (not to be confused with the Dutch director) in the fairy tale Das kalte Herz/The Cold Heart (1950). It was the first German post-war color film, and was highly praised both nationally and internationally. In the early 1950s, Moik started an extensive theater, film and television career. Initially he worked both in the East and in West Berlin, but for political reasons he opted for a move to the West. Some of his best-known films there were made in the late 1950s, including Der eiserne Gustav/The Iron Gustav (George Hurdalek, 1958) with Heinz Rühmann, and Fabrik der Offiziere/Operation Terror (Frank Wisbar, 1960) with Helmut Griem. From then on he focused on the stage and worked for theatres in Aachen, Dortmund, Hannover, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf (all in Germany), Bern in Switzerland and Vienna in Austria. As a voice actor, he dubbed American actors like Mickey Rooney in The Bridges at Toko-Ri, George Peppard and Earl Holliman in The Sons of Katie Elder. In the successful family series Till, der Junge von nebenan/Till, the boy next door (Wolfgang Teichert, 1967-1968), he played the father of Till. He also starred alongside Grethe Weiser in the stage play Keine Leiche ohne Lilly (No body without Lilly) (1967). In 1978, he played a small part in the Dutch war drama Pastorale 1943 (Wim Verstappen, 1978) with Rutger Hauer and Sylvia Kristel. Moik played in two episodes of the popular krimi series Tatort (Fritz Umgelter, 1981/Claus Peter Witt, 1983). From the mid-1980s on, he became more and more limited in his profession because of multiple sclerosis. In a wheelchair, Moik played smaller parts and gave readings, often together with his wife, the Austrian actress Anna Moik-Stötzer. His first wife had been actress and cabaret artist Edith Hancke, who played in some DEFA films after the war. One of Lutz Moik’s last screen parts was a guest role in the soap opera Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten/Good Times, Bad Times (1992-1993). In 2002, the 71-years old died of his illness in Berlin. He had two sons with Anna Moik-Stötzer.

Lutz Moik
German postcard by Starfoto Hasemann, no. 57. Photo: Filipp.

Lutz Moik
German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 674. Photo: Magna Film / Deutsche London Film. Publicity still for Der fröhliche Weinberg/The Happy Vineyard (Erich Engel, 1952).

Sources: Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-line.de) (German), Film-Zeit.de (German), DEFA Filmsterne (German), Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

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