East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 79/162, 1956. Photo: DEFA / Pathenheimer Kurt Schmidtchen in Das tapfere Schneiderlein/The Brave Tailor (Helmut Spiess, 1956), based on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.
East German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 847/615, 1958. Photo: DEFA / Neufeld. Kurt Schmidtchen and Alice Prill in Meine Frau macht Musik/My Wife Makes Music (Hans Heinrich, 1958).
Too close to Western commercial cinema
Kurt Schmidtchen was born in 1930 in Berlin, Germany. After finishing primary school, Schmidtchen took private drama lessons from Otto Stoeckl. He then worked at various theatres in East Berlin.
After a few TV appearances, he made his debut in the title role of the DEFA production Das Tapfere Schneiderlein/The Brave Tailor (Helmut Spiess, 1956), based on the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm.
The film was the first of 19 adaptations of Grimm's fairy tales that DEFA realised until 1990. The screenplay deviated from the original fairy tale and, for example, concealed the negative characteristics of the little tailor still present in the Grimms' tale. In addition, the film was given ‘Marxist tendencies’, including new characters such as the scheming Prince Eitel and the maid Traute (Christel Bodenstein), and a new ending with the marriage of the little tailor to Traute and the nobility's flight from the country.
In the following years, Schmidtchen acted in several productions by the DEFA, including alongside Götz George in the light-hearted romance Alter Kahn und junge Liebe/Old Barge, Young Love (Hans Heinrich, 1957) and the musical Meine Frau macht Musik/My Wife Makes Music (Hans Heinrich, 1958) starring Lore Frisch and Günther Simon.
The latter film was a hit at the box office but drew criticism from East Germany's communist authorities who regarded its style as too close to Western commercial cinema.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 81/121, 1956. Photo: DEFA / Pathenheimer Kurt Schmidtchen in Das tapfere Schneiderlein/The Brave Tailor (Helmut Spiess, 1956).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 1/360. Photo: Gerhard Puhlmann.
Nonstop nonsense
Kurt Schmidtchen left for West Berlin after the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. After his departure, his East German films were no longer shown in cinemas in the GDR.
In West Germany, he predominantly played in theatres again. By the early 1970s, he was increasingly involved in television, often as a comic type. He played an ongoing role as Shorty Timmermann in the series Fußballtrainer Wulff/Soccer Coach Wulff (1970-1972) with Horst Niendorf.
He also appeared in guest roles in Krimi series such as Kommissariat IX (1979) and Der Alte/The Old Fox (1984).
He is best known in Germany through his collaboration with comedian and actor Dieter Hallervorden. From 1975 to 1980, he belonged to the ensemble of Hallervorden's sketch series Nonstop Nonsens and from 1983 to 1984 to the show Zelleriesalat. Schmidtchen also appeared in other Hallervorden TV productions, including Mein Gott, Willi! (1980) and Onkel & Co. (1981). On stage, he collaborated in programmes by Hallervorden's cabaret Die Wühlmäuse.
One last major role he played as Alwin Bunte in the ZDF series Ein Heim für Tiere/A Home for Animals (1986-1992) as the eternal admirer of Aunt Martha (Angela Pschigode). Kurt Schmidtchen died in 2003 in Berlin, aged 72.
West German autograph card, 1979.
Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch, German and English) and IMDb.
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