Red-haired and spirited German actress Kai Fischer (1934) appeared in 54 films between 1955 and 2004. She was the naughty bad girl of the Wirtschaftswunder cinema, and also appeared in sexy roles in international productions, either as a prostitute or a gangster girl. Later she worked with famous directors such as Wim Wenders and Ingmar Bergman.
German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhhof, no. FK 4095. Photo: Ufa.
Austrian postcard by Kellner-Fotokarten, Wien, no. 287.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3034, 1968. Photo: Kai Fischer and Paul Klinger in Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor/The Inn on Dartmoor (Rudolf Zehetgruber, 1964).
Kai Anne Inge Fischer was born in Halle, Germany (according to the German version of Wikipedia while the English version and IMDb mention Prague, Czechoslovakia, as her birthplace) in 1934. Fischer's family was forced to move to Munich in 1945. In the 1950s the young Kai Fischer (or Kay Fischer) appeared in the cabaret Schwabinger Brettl without stage training and worked as a photo model and mannequin.
In 1955, she entered the cinema. She initially played supporting roles in such films as the German-Austrian comedy Oh diese lieben Verwandten/Oh These Dear Relatives (Joe Stöckel, 1955) and Unternehmen Schlafsack/Operation Sleeping Bag (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1955).
She had her first major role in the drama Die Ehe des Dr. med. Danwitz/The Marriage of Doctor Danwitz (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1956), starring Marianne Koch and Karlheinz Böhm. Very popular was the musical comedy Das Wirtshaus im Spessart/The Spessart Inn (Kurt Hoffmann, 1958), starring Liselotte Pulver and Carlos Thompson.
In Italy, Fischer appeared in La ragazza della salina/Sand, Love and Salt (Frantisek Cáp, 1957) with Marcello Mastroianni, and in the comedy Tempi duri per i vampiri/Hard Times for Dracula (Steno, 1959) with Renato Rascel and Christopher Lee.
Until the mid-1960s, Fischer often played sexy, bad girls in films. She was either a gangster bride, a criminal bar girl or a prostitute in such films as Für zwei Groschen Zärtlichkeit/Call Girls (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1957), the French drama Filles de nuit/Girls of the Night (Maurice Cloche, 1958) with Georges Marchal, Mädchen für die Mambo-Bar/$100 a Night (Wolfgang Glück, 1959) and the Edgar Wallace Krimi Zimmer 13/Room 13 (Harald Reinl, 1964), starring Joachim Fuchsberger.
West-German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. I 471. Photo: Real / Europa / Haenchen. Kai Fischer and Maximilian Schell in Die Ehe des Dr. med. Danwitz/Marriage of Dr. Danwitz (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1956).
Austrian postcard by Kellner-Fotokarten, Wien, no. 1394. Photo: Deutsche Cosmopol-film / Brünjes. Publicity still for Ich war ihm hörig/I Was All His (Wolfgang Becker, 1958).
From 1963 to 1965 Kai Fischer played the first female private detective on German television in the ZDF series Die Karte mit dem Luchskopf (Hermann Kugelstadt, 1963-1965). She also wrote the scripts for 13 episodes of the series. At times, she also worked internationally, like in the Jayne Mansfield vehicle Too Hot to Handle (Terence Young, 1960), The Hellfire Club (Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman, 1961) with Peter Cushing, and Escape from East Berlin (Robert Siodmak, 1962). In Italy, she was seen in Spaghetti Westerns like Le pistole non discutono/Guns Don't Talk (Mario Caiano, 1964) starring Rod Cameron.
In these films, her erotic charisma was often used. She even made some soft sex films like Josefine Mutzenbacher (Kurt Nachmann, 1970). It was only in the 1970s that she was able to gradually free herself from her sexy image. She became well known for her role as Tiger Lilli in the popular TV series Salto Mortale (Michael Braun, 1969-1972) starring Gustav Knuth. She also could be seen in episodes of Krimis like Der Kommissar/The Commissioner (1975) and Derrick (1978).
She played a more serious role in the arthouse film Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter/The Fear of the Goal at the Penalty (1972) by Wim Wenders. She also got a part in Ingmar Bergman’s film The Serpent's Egg (1977) with Liv Ullmann.
Until the end of the 1980s, Kai Fischer played parts in film and television productions, including Lena Rais (Christian Rischert, 1979), and the romantic comedy Kassensturz/Banks And Robbers (Rolf Silber, 1984). She also played stage roles, wrote books, and, under a pseudonym, criminal novels. From 1984 on, Fischer worked as a businesswoman. Since then, she has only appeared in episodes of television series, such as Alte Gauner (1985), Der Fahnder (1986), Tatort (1988) and Liebesgeschichten/Love Stories (1990).
In 1970 she recorded an LP, Kai Fidelity with naughty songs. Kai Fischer stayed refreshingly naughty. Her last film appearance was in the Rosa von Praunheim epic Der Einstein des Sex (1999) about Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, founder of the First Institute of Sexual Sciences.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1108, 1959. Photo: publicity still for Das Wirtshaus im Spessart/The Spessart Inn (Kurt Hoffmann, 1958).
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Kai Fischer and Paul Klinger in Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor/The Inn on Dartmoor (Rudolf Zehetgruber, 1964).
Sources: Stephanie d’Heil (Steffi-Line - German), Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 19 March 2024.
German postcard by Ufa, Berlin-Tempelhhof, no. FK 4095. Photo: Ufa.
Austrian postcard by Kellner-Fotokarten, Wien, no. 287.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3034, 1968. Photo: Kai Fischer and Paul Klinger in Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor/The Inn on Dartmoor (Rudolf Zehetgruber, 1964).
Either a gangster bride, a criminal bar girl or a prostitute
Kai Anne Inge Fischer was born in Halle, Germany (according to the German version of Wikipedia while the English version and IMDb mention Prague, Czechoslovakia, as her birthplace) in 1934. Fischer's family was forced to move to Munich in 1945. In the 1950s the young Kai Fischer (or Kay Fischer) appeared in the cabaret Schwabinger Brettl without stage training and worked as a photo model and mannequin.
In 1955, she entered the cinema. She initially played supporting roles in such films as the German-Austrian comedy Oh diese lieben Verwandten/Oh These Dear Relatives (Joe Stöckel, 1955) and Unternehmen Schlafsack/Operation Sleeping Bag (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1955).
She had her first major role in the drama Die Ehe des Dr. med. Danwitz/The Marriage of Doctor Danwitz (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1956), starring Marianne Koch and Karlheinz Böhm. Very popular was the musical comedy Das Wirtshaus im Spessart/The Spessart Inn (Kurt Hoffmann, 1958), starring Liselotte Pulver and Carlos Thompson.
In Italy, Fischer appeared in La ragazza della salina/Sand, Love and Salt (Frantisek Cáp, 1957) with Marcello Mastroianni, and in the comedy Tempi duri per i vampiri/Hard Times for Dracula (Steno, 1959) with Renato Rascel and Christopher Lee.
Until the mid-1960s, Fischer often played sexy, bad girls in films. She was either a gangster bride, a criminal bar girl or a prostitute in such films as Für zwei Groschen Zärtlichkeit/Call Girls (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1957), the French drama Filles de nuit/Girls of the Night (Maurice Cloche, 1958) with Georges Marchal, Mädchen für die Mambo-Bar/$100 a Night (Wolfgang Glück, 1959) and the Edgar Wallace Krimi Zimmer 13/Room 13 (Harald Reinl, 1964), starring Joachim Fuchsberger.
West-German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. I 471. Photo: Real / Europa / Haenchen. Kai Fischer and Maximilian Schell in Die Ehe des Dr. med. Danwitz/Marriage of Dr. Danwitz (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1956).
Austrian postcard by Kellner-Fotokarten, Wien, no. 1394. Photo: Deutsche Cosmopol-film / Brünjes. Publicity still for Ich war ihm hörig/I Was All His (Wolfgang Becker, 1958).
The first female private detective on German TV
From 1963 to 1965 Kai Fischer played the first female private detective on German television in the ZDF series Die Karte mit dem Luchskopf (Hermann Kugelstadt, 1963-1965). She also wrote the scripts for 13 episodes of the series. At times, she also worked internationally, like in the Jayne Mansfield vehicle Too Hot to Handle (Terence Young, 1960), The Hellfire Club (Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman, 1961) with Peter Cushing, and Escape from East Berlin (Robert Siodmak, 1962). In Italy, she was seen in Spaghetti Westerns like Le pistole non discutono/Guns Don't Talk (Mario Caiano, 1964) starring Rod Cameron.
In these films, her erotic charisma was often used. She even made some soft sex films like Josefine Mutzenbacher (Kurt Nachmann, 1970). It was only in the 1970s that she was able to gradually free herself from her sexy image. She became well known for her role as Tiger Lilli in the popular TV series Salto Mortale (Michael Braun, 1969-1972) starring Gustav Knuth. She also could be seen in episodes of Krimis like Der Kommissar/The Commissioner (1975) and Derrick (1978).
She played a more serious role in the arthouse film Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter/The Fear of the Goal at the Penalty (1972) by Wim Wenders. She also got a part in Ingmar Bergman’s film The Serpent's Egg (1977) with Liv Ullmann.
Until the end of the 1980s, Kai Fischer played parts in film and television productions, including Lena Rais (Christian Rischert, 1979), and the romantic comedy Kassensturz/Banks And Robbers (Rolf Silber, 1984). She also played stage roles, wrote books, and, under a pseudonym, criminal novels. From 1984 on, Fischer worked as a businesswoman. Since then, she has only appeared in episodes of television series, such as Alte Gauner (1985), Der Fahnder (1986), Tatort (1988) and Liebesgeschichten/Love Stories (1990).
In 1970 she recorded an LP, Kai Fidelity with naughty songs. Kai Fischer stayed refreshingly naughty. Her last film appearance was in the Rosa von Praunheim epic Der Einstein des Sex (1999) about Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, founder of the First Institute of Sexual Sciences.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1108, 1959. Photo: publicity still for Das Wirtshaus im Spessart/The Spessart Inn (Kurt Hoffmann, 1958).
East-German collectors card in the 'Neu im Kino' series by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 500/6/68. Kai Fischer and Paul Klinger in Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor/The Inn on Dartmoor (Rudolf Zehetgruber, 1964).
Sources: Stephanie d’Heil (Steffi-Line - German), Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 19 March 2024.
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