Rolf Herricht (1927-1981) was one of East Germany's most celebrated comedians. He starred in several popular DEFA comedies during the 1960s and the 1970s.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 2041, 1964. Photo: Herbert Kroiss / DEFA. Rolf Herricht with chimpanzee in Geliebte Weiße Maus/Beloved White Mouse (Gottfried Kolditz, 1964).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 3335, 1969. Photo: DEFA / Wenzel. Doris Abesser and Rolf Herricht in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 106e. Photo: DEFA / Pathenheimer. Rolf Herricht and Klaus Piontek in Seine Hoheit - Genosse Prinz/His Highness - Comrade Prince (Werner W. Wallroth, 1969).
Rolf Oskar Ewald Günter Herricht was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1927.
He graduated from school in 1943 after passing a 'War Abitur', a form of an Abitur designated to free school pupils to be mobilised. In 1945, he was drafted to the Volkssturm and assigned as an anti-aircraft battery assistant.
After the war's end, the 18-years-old began working as a property master and stage manager in a theatre in his native Magdeburg, while studying acting in a local studio. After completion, he went to appear on the stages of theatres in Salzwedel, Stendal, Staßfurt, Güstrow and also in the Kleist Theater in Frankfurt am Oder.
Herricht first met fellow actor Hans-Joachim Preil in 1951, while they both worked in Bernburg. The two formed the 'Herricht and Preil' comedy duo, staging their first sketch, 'The Chess Match', in 1953. In the sketch, Preil vainly attempts to play chess with Herricht, who is completely oblivious to the rules of the game. In their act, Herricht played the naïve 'funny man', while Preil served as the instructing 'straight man'. Preil wrote the sketches and the two were active until Herricht's passing away in 1981.
In 1957, Herricht returned to the Magdeburg Theater, where he remained until 1961. He mainly played comical characters, like the scribe in 'The Beaver Coat' and the drunkard from Auerbach's Cellar in 'Faust I'. During his time in Magdeburg, he also worked on the radio.
He and Preil first performed on television when one of their sketches was broadcast by Deutscher Fernsehfunk in 1959. The show was well received by the audience and the two began making regular appearances on TV. Herricht and Preil became the German Democratic Republic's most celebrated comedians.
East-German postcard by VEB Bild und Heimat Reichenbach I.V., no. G 6104, 1964. Photo: Denger / Deutscher Fernsehfunk DDR, 1962.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 3317, 1969. Photo: DEFA / Wenzel. Rolf Herricht in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968).
Rolf Herricht made his film debut in DEFA's comedy Bevor der Blitz einschlägt/Before the Lightning Strikes (Richard Groschopp, 1959), playing a minor part of a locomotive constructor. The same year, he starred in the romantic comedy Musterknaben/The Goodies (Johannes Knittel, 1959) with Hartmut Reck and Brigitte Krause.
Herricht later appeared in some twenty feature films, while also playing in many television films. In 1964, he joined the regular cast of the Metropol Theater in Berlin. He also had a career as a singer.
Herricht appeared on screen in relatively minor roles until writer Maurycy Janowski and director Gottfried Kolditz decided to create a film the plot of which would be based on his comical skill, the musical Geliebte weiße Maus/Beloved White Mouse (Gottfried Kolditz, 1964). Herricht portrayed a traffic policeman who falls in love with a woman and only dares speak to her when she makes an accident on the road. The picture met with considerable success.
Herricht starred in several other popular DEFA comedies during the 1960s and the 1970s: among others, he played the erratic National People's Army reserve soldier Ralf Horricht in Der Reserveheld/The reserve hero (Wolfgang Luderer, 1965) and the last-minute-travel-guide Hurtig in Meine Freundin Sybille/My Friend Sybille (Wolfgang Luderer, 1967) with Evelyn Opoczynski.
His crime comedy Hände hoch oder ich schieße/Hands Up or I'll Shoot (Hans-Joachim Kasprzik, 1965), in which he again appeared as the eccentric policeman officer Holms, was banned at the 11th plenary session of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
His later films included Seine Hoheit - Genosse Prinz/His Highness - Comrade Prince (Werner W. Wallroth, 1969) with Rolf Ludwig, Husaren in Berlin/Hussars in Berlin (Erwin Stranka, 1971) with Manfred Krug, and Der Mann, der nach der Oma kam/The man who came after Grandma (Roland Oehme, 1972), also starring Ilse Voigt. Herricht was twice awarded the Kunstpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic): in 1973 and in 1977.
Rolf Herricht, a chain smoker, died of a heart attack at the age of 53, while performing the role of one of the gangsters in 'Kiss Me, Kate' on the stage of the Metropol. He is buried in Berlin's I Französischer Friedhof. He was married to Christa Herricht. They had one child, daughter Dana.
28 years after Herricht's death, the banned film Hände hoch oder ich schieße/Hands Up or I'll Shoot was finally completed and distributed in 2009, making it the last East German film to be released.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 56/77, 1977. Photo: Uhlenhut.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 30/80, 1979. Photo: Peter Söllner.
Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 2041, 1964. Photo: Herbert Kroiss / DEFA. Rolf Herricht with chimpanzee in Geliebte Weiße Maus/Beloved White Mouse (Gottfried Kolditz, 1964).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 3335, 1969. Photo: DEFA / Wenzel. Doris Abesser and Rolf Herricht in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 106e. Photo: DEFA / Pathenheimer. Rolf Herricht and Klaus Piontek in Seine Hoheit - Genosse Prinz/His Highness - Comrade Prince (Werner W. Wallroth, 1969).
The naïve, funny man
Rolf Oskar Ewald Günter Herricht was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1927.
He graduated from school in 1943 after passing a 'War Abitur', a form of an Abitur designated to free school pupils to be mobilised. In 1945, he was drafted to the Volkssturm and assigned as an anti-aircraft battery assistant.
After the war's end, the 18-years-old began working as a property master and stage manager in a theatre in his native Magdeburg, while studying acting in a local studio. After completion, he went to appear on the stages of theatres in Salzwedel, Stendal, Staßfurt, Güstrow and also in the Kleist Theater in Frankfurt am Oder.
Herricht first met fellow actor Hans-Joachim Preil in 1951, while they both worked in Bernburg. The two formed the 'Herricht and Preil' comedy duo, staging their first sketch, 'The Chess Match', in 1953. In the sketch, Preil vainly attempts to play chess with Herricht, who is completely oblivious to the rules of the game. In their act, Herricht played the naïve 'funny man', while Preil served as the instructing 'straight man'. Preil wrote the sketches and the two were active until Herricht's passing away in 1981.
In 1957, Herricht returned to the Magdeburg Theater, where he remained until 1961. He mainly played comical characters, like the scribe in 'The Beaver Coat' and the drunkard from Auerbach's Cellar in 'Faust I'. During his time in Magdeburg, he also worked on the radio.
He and Preil first performed on television when one of their sketches was broadcast by Deutscher Fernsehfunk in 1959. The show was well received by the audience and the two began making regular appearances on TV. Herricht and Preil became the German Democratic Republic's most celebrated comedians.
East-German postcard by VEB Bild und Heimat Reichenbach I.V., no. G 6104, 1964. Photo: Denger / Deutscher Fernsehfunk DDR, 1962.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 3317, 1969. Photo: DEFA / Wenzel. Rolf Herricht in Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle/Captain Florian of the Mill (Werner W. Wallroth, 1968).
Banned by the Socialist Unity Party
Rolf Herricht made his film debut in DEFA's comedy Bevor der Blitz einschlägt/Before the Lightning Strikes (Richard Groschopp, 1959), playing a minor part of a locomotive constructor. The same year, he starred in the romantic comedy Musterknaben/The Goodies (Johannes Knittel, 1959) with Hartmut Reck and Brigitte Krause.
Herricht later appeared in some twenty feature films, while also playing in many television films. In 1964, he joined the regular cast of the Metropol Theater in Berlin. He also had a career as a singer.
Herricht appeared on screen in relatively minor roles until writer Maurycy Janowski and director Gottfried Kolditz decided to create a film the plot of which would be based on his comical skill, the musical Geliebte weiße Maus/Beloved White Mouse (Gottfried Kolditz, 1964). Herricht portrayed a traffic policeman who falls in love with a woman and only dares speak to her when she makes an accident on the road. The picture met with considerable success.
Herricht starred in several other popular DEFA comedies during the 1960s and the 1970s: among others, he played the erratic National People's Army reserve soldier Ralf Horricht in Der Reserveheld/The reserve hero (Wolfgang Luderer, 1965) and the last-minute-travel-guide Hurtig in Meine Freundin Sybille/My Friend Sybille (Wolfgang Luderer, 1967) with Evelyn Opoczynski.
His crime comedy Hände hoch oder ich schieße/Hands Up or I'll Shoot (Hans-Joachim Kasprzik, 1965), in which he again appeared as the eccentric policeman officer Holms, was banned at the 11th plenary session of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
His later films included Seine Hoheit - Genosse Prinz/His Highness - Comrade Prince (Werner W. Wallroth, 1969) with Rolf Ludwig, Husaren in Berlin/Hussars in Berlin (Erwin Stranka, 1971) with Manfred Krug, and Der Mann, der nach der Oma kam/The man who came after Grandma (Roland Oehme, 1972), also starring Ilse Voigt. Herricht was twice awarded the Kunstpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic): in 1973 and in 1977.
Rolf Herricht, a chain smoker, died of a heart attack at the age of 53, while performing the role of one of the gangsters in 'Kiss Me, Kate' on the stage of the Metropol. He is buried in Berlin's I Französischer Friedhof. He was married to Christa Herricht. They had one child, daughter Dana.
28 years after Herricht's death, the banned film Hände hoch oder ich schieße/Hands Up or I'll Shoot was finally completed and distributed in 2009, making it the last East German film to be released.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 56/77, 1977. Photo: Uhlenhut.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Verleih, Berlin, no. 30/80, 1979. Photo: Peter Söllner.
Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.
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