East-German actor Jan Spitzer (1947) was a star of the DEFA in the late 1960s. He also worked as a pop singer and as a stage and voice actor.
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 192/70. Photo: Karin Blasig.
Jan Spitzer was born in 1947 in Sangerhausen, Germany. He loved pop music and formed in 1963 of the amateur band The Sounds, which covered songs by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Between 1965 and 1968 he studied acting at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst ‘Ernst Busch’ in Berlin. As a student, he made his film debut in the anti-war film Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968) with Rolf Ludwig. Spitzer played the leading role of a seventeen year-old Munich boy, who decides in 1914 that he will not take part in the First World War. This means a farewell to his class and his family.
He then appeared in the historical comedy Jungfer, Sie gefällt mir/Maiden, I like you (Günter Reisch, 1969) with Wolfgang Kieling and Monika Gabriel.
In 1970 he released the pop single, Wer bist du? (Who are you?) and in the next years he recorded more songs. He did not like the Schlager genre, so in 1975 he decided to focus on his acting career.
His first bigger role was in the family film Philipp, der Kleine/Little Philipp (Herrmann Zschoche, 1978) as the father of a little boy who wishes to be taller in order to be noticed by the others. Then he comes across a magical flute.
In the meanwhile, Spitzer worked for television and could be seen in several TV series and TV movies like Im Schlaraffenland/In the land of Cockaigne (Kurt Jung-Alsen, 1975) with Erwin Geschonneck and Katharina Thalbach, which was shown in cinema in other East-European countries. He also appeared in the Eastern Blauvogel/Bluebird (Ulrich Weiß, 1979). And he played Friedrich Engels in the TV series Marx und Engels - Stationen ihres Lebens/Marx and Engels – Stations of their lives (1978-1980) with Jürgen Reuter as Karl Marx.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3246, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Ebert. Publicity still for Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3270, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Ebert. Publicity still for Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).
Jan Spitzer played a supporting part in the film Bürgschaft für ein Jahr/Guarantee for one year (Herrmann Zschoche, 1981) with Kathrin Sass as a divorced woman in her late twenties who will soon be fully deprived of her custody rights for her three children, who already reside in a home for the displaced, due to many years of willful neglect. Sass won the Silver Bear for her role at the Berlin Filmfestival.
Spitzer played a leading role in the Soviet-East-German co-production Dve strochki melkim shriftom/Two Lines in Small Font (Vitaliy Melnikov, 1981). He also appeared in the Czech fantasy film Carovné dedictví/Magical heritage (Zdenek Zelenka, 1986) and in the Eastern Präriejäger in Mexiko: Benito Juarez/Bounty hunter in Mexico: Benito Juarez (Hans Knötzsch, 1988) starring Gojko Mitic.
On TV, he guest-starred in the popular Krimi series Polizeiruf 110/Police Call 110 (1984-1991). After the Wende, Spitzer mostly worked for television but also narrated video games and was the German voice of James Remar, Chris Cooper, Jon Voight, Rutger Hauer and Alan Arkin in international films.
His most recent feature film is the drama Mutterseelenallein/All Alone (Bernd Böhlich, 2005) about a mother (Katrin Sass) who is confronted with her son being suspected of having murdered a girl on a garbage dump. Spitzer played her ex-husband.
Jan Spitzer is also a stage actor and he had engagements in Altenburg, Halle, Schwerin, at the Deutschen Theater in Berlin, at the Volkstheater in Munich and the Berliner Ensemble.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 51/69. Photo: DEFA / Kreuss. Publicity still for Jungfer, Sie gefällt mir/Maiden, I like you (Günter Reisch, 1969).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 97/69. Photo: DEFA / Karin Blasig. Publicity still for Jungfer, Sie gefällt mir/Maiden, I like you (Günter Reisch, 1969).
Jan Spitzer sings Mädchen aus Berlin (Girl from Berlin) in an East German TV show in 1969. Source: Thyrathron (YouTube).
Sources: Deutsche Mugge.de (German), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 192/70. Photo: Karin Blasig.
A farewell to his class and his family
Jan Spitzer was born in 1947 in Sangerhausen, Germany. He loved pop music and formed in 1963 of the amateur band The Sounds, which covered songs by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
Between 1965 and 1968 he studied acting at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst ‘Ernst Busch’ in Berlin. As a student, he made his film debut in the anti-war film Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968) with Rolf Ludwig. Spitzer played the leading role of a seventeen year-old Munich boy, who decides in 1914 that he will not take part in the First World War. This means a farewell to his class and his family.
He then appeared in the historical comedy Jungfer, Sie gefällt mir/Maiden, I like you (Günter Reisch, 1969) with Wolfgang Kieling and Monika Gabriel.
In 1970 he released the pop single, Wer bist du? (Who are you?) and in the next years he recorded more songs. He did not like the Schlager genre, so in 1975 he decided to focus on his acting career.
His first bigger role was in the family film Philipp, der Kleine/Little Philipp (Herrmann Zschoche, 1978) as the father of a little boy who wishes to be taller in order to be noticed by the others. Then he comes across a magical flute.
In the meanwhile, Spitzer worked for television and could be seen in several TV series and TV movies like Im Schlaraffenland/In the land of Cockaigne (Kurt Jung-Alsen, 1975) with Erwin Geschonneck and Katharina Thalbach, which was shown in cinema in other East-European countries. He also appeared in the Eastern Blauvogel/Bluebird (Ulrich Weiß, 1979). And he played Friedrich Engels in the TV series Marx und Engels - Stationen ihres Lebens/Marx and Engels – Stations of their lives (1978-1980) with Jürgen Reuter as Karl Marx.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3246, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Ebert. Publicity still for Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3270, 1968. Photo: DEFA / Ebert. Publicity still for Abschied/Farewell (Egon Günther, 1968).
The German voice of Rutger Hauer
Jan Spitzer played a supporting part in the film Bürgschaft für ein Jahr/Guarantee for one year (Herrmann Zschoche, 1981) with Kathrin Sass as a divorced woman in her late twenties who will soon be fully deprived of her custody rights for her three children, who already reside in a home for the displaced, due to many years of willful neglect. Sass won the Silver Bear for her role at the Berlin Filmfestival.
Spitzer played a leading role in the Soviet-East-German co-production Dve strochki melkim shriftom/Two Lines in Small Font (Vitaliy Melnikov, 1981). He also appeared in the Czech fantasy film Carovné dedictví/Magical heritage (Zdenek Zelenka, 1986) and in the Eastern Präriejäger in Mexiko: Benito Juarez/Bounty hunter in Mexico: Benito Juarez (Hans Knötzsch, 1988) starring Gojko Mitic.
On TV, he guest-starred in the popular Krimi series Polizeiruf 110/Police Call 110 (1984-1991). After the Wende, Spitzer mostly worked for television but also narrated video games and was the German voice of James Remar, Chris Cooper, Jon Voight, Rutger Hauer and Alan Arkin in international films.
His most recent feature film is the drama Mutterseelenallein/All Alone (Bernd Böhlich, 2005) about a mother (Katrin Sass) who is confronted with her son being suspected of having murdered a girl on a garbage dump. Spitzer played her ex-husband.
Jan Spitzer is also a stage actor and he had engagements in Altenburg, Halle, Schwerin, at the Deutschen Theater in Berlin, at the Volkstheater in Munich and the Berliner Ensemble.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 51/69. Photo: DEFA / Kreuss. Publicity still for Jungfer, Sie gefällt mir/Maiden, I like you (Günter Reisch, 1969).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 97/69. Photo: DEFA / Karin Blasig. Publicity still for Jungfer, Sie gefällt mir/Maiden, I like you (Günter Reisch, 1969).
Jan Spitzer sings Mädchen aus Berlin (Girl from Berlin) in an East German TV show in 1969. Source: Thyrathron (YouTube).
Sources: Deutsche Mugge.de (German), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.
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