Belgian postcard by SB (S. Best), Antwerpen (Antwerp).
German postcard by ISV, no. E 17. Photo: Constantin / Grimm.
Dutch postcard.
West German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK 415. Photo: Melodie / Ufa / Film Hansa / Winkler.
West German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/211. Photo: Bernard of Hollywood.
Unfaithful girlfriend
Freddy Quinn was born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Nidl in Niederfladnitz, Austria, in 1931. Quinn's Irish-sounding name comes from his Irish-born salesman father, Johann Quinn. His mother, Edith Henriette Nidl, was an Austrian journalist.
As a child, Freddy lived in Morgantown, West Virginia, in the US with his father, but he moved back to live with his mother in Vienna. Through his mother's second marriage to Rudolf Anatol Freiherr von Petz, Quinn adopted the name Nidl-Petz.
At the end of World War II, as part of a refugee group, Quinn encountered American troops in Bohemia. Due to his fluent English, the 14-year-old succeeded in pretending to be of American nationality. He was subsequently sent to the US in May 1945 with a military transport. On Ellis Island, he learned that his father had already died in 1943 in a car accident. The boy was immediately sent back to Europe.
In 1954, he was discovered in St. Pauli, the entertainment district of Hamburg, and was offered his first record contract.
He represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. He sang an atypical song, 'So geht das jede Nacht' (Every Night It's Like That), about an unfaithful girlfriend who dates lots of men. All that, and he also lost the contest. His other songs are mostly about the endless sea and the solitary life in faraway lands.
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. 1323. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Ufa (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof). Freddy Quinn and the young Christian Machalet in Freddy unter fremden Sternen / Freddy Under Foreign Stars (Wolfgang Schleif, 1959).
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4477. Photo: Melodie / Constantin / Arthur Grimm / NV Gofilex. Freddy Quinn and Dieter Eppler in Freddy unter fremden Sternen / Freddy Under Foreign Stars (Wolfgang Schleif, 1959).
Dutch postcard by Drukkerij-Uitgeverij Int. Filmpers (I.F.P.), Amsterdam, no. 3031. Freddy Quinn, Corny Collins and Sabina Sesselmann in Freddy, die Gitarre und das Meer / Freddy, the Guitar and the Sea (Wolfgang Schleif, 1959). Caption: Read Song Parade. Each month, more than 20 song texts.
Dutch postcard by Int. Filmpers, Amsterdam (I.F.P.), no. 461. Freddy Quinn and Sabine Sesselmann in Freddy, die Gitarre und das Meer / Freddy, the Guitar and the Sea (Wolfgang Schleif, 1959).
West German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 4028. Photo: CCC / Constantin / Winkler. Freddy Quinn in Freddy und das Lied der Prärie / In the Wild West (Sobey Martin, 1964).
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin, no. 563. Photo: C.P.C.S. / CC Filmkunst Berlin / Avala Film, Belgrad. Freddy Quinn and Mamie van Doren in Freddy und das Lied der Prärie / In the Wild West (Sobey Martin, 1964).
Seafaring loner
Freddy Quinn had his first big hit in 1956 with 'Heimweh'(Homesick), the German version of Dean Martin's 'Memories Are Made Of This'. 'Heimweh' sold over 8 million copies and ranked #1 in the German charts for five months.
He had other hits, often just credited as Freddy, such as 'Die Gitarre und das Meer' (The Guitar and the Sea, 1959), 'La Paloma' (The Dove, 1961) and 'Junge, komm bald wieder' (Boy, Come Back Soon, 1963). He had ten number 1 hits in the German single charts between 1956 and 1966 and sold more than 60 million records.
Freddy Quinn also acted in several films. He debuted with a bit part in Canaris / Canaris: Master Spy (Alfred Weidenmann, 1954), a drama about Admiral Canaris (O.E. Hasse), chief of the intelligence service of Nazi Germany, and his attempt on Adolph Hitler's life.
Due to his musical success, he performed in many Schlager films, frequently cast as the seafaring loner.
Titles include Freddy, die Gitarre und das Meer / Freddy, the Guitar and the Sea (Wolfgang Schleif, 1959) with Corny Collins, Freddy unter fremden Sternen / Freddy Under Foreign Stars (Wolfgang Schleif, 1959) with Gustav Knuth, Freddy und das Lied der Südsee / Freddy and the Song of the Southsea (Werner Jacobs, 1962) and Heimweh nach St. Pauli / Homesick for St. Pauli (Werner Jacobs, 1963) with Jayne Mansfield.
Dutch postcard by Takken, Utrecht, no. 5909.
Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam, no. CK 148, ca. 1963. Photo: Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft, Berlin-Tempelhof (Ufa).
Dutch postcard.
Big German card by ISV, no. EX 26. Photo: Constantin / Rapid / Winkler. Publicity Still for Heimweh nach St. Pauli / Homesick for St. Pauli (1963).
West German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 555. Photo: Karl Bayer.
West German Postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H, Minden/Westf., no. 1693. Photo: Polydor / Winkler. Caption: Freddy Quinn sings on Polydor Records.
Tax evasion
Freddy Quinn also performed on stage in diverse roles such as Prince Orlofsky in 'Die Fledermaus' (The Bat), the king in 'The King and I', and Lord Fancourt Babberly in 'Charley's Aunt'.
He was also an accomplished circus performer who stunned television audiences as a tightrope walker performing live and without a safety net. On another occasion, which was also televised, he rode a lion inside a circus cage while the lion was balancing atop a moving surface.
His popularity petered out in the 1970s, but he continued performing for audiences who were growing old with him. Occasionally, he made light entertainment films like Haie an Bord / Shark On Board (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1971) co-starring Karin Dor or Die Wilden Fünfziger / The Wild Fifties (Peter Zadek, 1983). Jan Onderwater at IMDb thinks the latter is rubbish: "Extremely nauseating film, probably set up as a satire on Das Wirtschaftswunder (German economic miracle of the fifties), but if based on a novel by Simmel, what is one to expect? It gets stuck in an orgy of bad jokes and lots of naked (but attractive) women who are there just for show; furthermore, everything is wrong here: acting, directing, scripting, editing, etc."
In 2004, Quinn was charged with tax evasion. He had declared Switzerland as his main residence, while he had in fact been living in Hamburg, Germany. He pleaded guilty, paid all his tax debts (more than € 900,000), and was eventually fined € 150,000.
About his private life, the singer kept mum. There were several rumours that he was gay. In 2004, it became clear that he had been married for 50 years to his manager, Lilli Marianne Blessmann, who died in 2008. Since 2016, he has been married to Rosi Nidl-Petz. Freddy still lives in Hamburg. He no longer hits high in the charts with his recordings, but he continues to enjoy a large and nostalgic fan base in Germany.
Vintage postcard, no. 390.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 4643.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 4645.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 4645.
German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, no. 4645. Photo: Melodie / Herzog-Film / Marszalek.
Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. AX 5434.
Sources: Steve Leggelt (AllMusic), Wikipedia and IMDb.
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