West German postcard by ISV, no. H 27. Photo: Constantin / Lothar Winkler. Caterina Valente and Bill Haley and the Comets in Hier bin ich - hier bleib' ich / Here I Am, Here I Stay (Werner Jacobs, 1959).
Big German card by ISV, no. EX 26. Photo: Constantin / Rapid / Lothar Winkler. Freddy Quinn in Heimweh nach St. Pauli / Homesick for St. Pauli (Werner Jacobs, 1963).
Romanian postcard by Casa Filmului Acin. Photo: Lothar Winkler. Claudia Cardinale and John Wayne in Circus World (Henry Hathaway, 1964).
Vintage postcard, no. 2175. Photo: Lothar Winkler. Image: Italian lobby card (locandina) by Izaro Films. Clint Eastwood in Per qualche dollaro in più / For A Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965).
Vintage postcard. Photo: Raquel Welch in Le plus vieux métier du monde / The Oldest Profession in the World (Michael Pfleghar, a.o., 1967).
Photographing actors and singers the way they wanted to see themselves
Lothar Winkler was born in Neuköln, Berlin in 1947. In 1947, Winkler joined the German tabloid newspaper B.Z. as a police reporter. Decades later, journalist Martina lovingly remembered her colleague in the newspaper: "Contacts with underworld king Gerhard Hirschfeld brought him red-hot photos. Including late-night phone calls: 'You, Winkler! We're just breaking into Karstadt. Do you want to take photos?' Lothar wanted to. Sure." Winkler also told her about his first big coup in 1956: "Winkler travelled to Monaco in his VW bus, which was his photo studio. The princely wedding. And stood in the 50th row. Crap. At night, he photographed a drunk man at the casino. Threw the photo into the developer. ‘I thought I was crazy,’ he said in one of the many B.Z. interviews. The drunk was Onassis. Winkler brought the photo to Onassis' yacht. Onassis laughed his head off, collected the negative. And on the day of the wedding, he invited Winkler into his helicopter, from which he rained roses on Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier."
Around that time, Lothar Winkler became the in-house photographer for Bravo magazine. During the 1950s and 1960s, he helped the youth magazine to its first successes with his ‘star cuts’. He was a photographer whom the stars trusted. He became friends with two of the German superstars of the era, Caterina Valente and Freddy Quinn and their careers were closely linked to Winkler's career. He became friends with Valente while shooting on the set of the Schlager film Das einfache Mädchen / The Simple Girl (Werner Jacobs, 1957). The encounter with Valente was another breakthrough for Winkler. Winkler later accompanied Caterina Valente on her tours to America, Mexico, and Japan. Winkler elicited many private details from the singer and actress in his photos: wearing a bobble hat, she sleeps in the passenger seat of a car. Another picture shows her knitting, looking somewhat bemusedly at the camera through her white glasses.
Especially for the photobook 'Meine Freunde, die Stars' (2006), singer and actor Freddy Quinn wrote a letter to his deceased companion: "I like to remember our many journeys together, our worldwide adventures, which you documented with your photos!" Quinn called Winkler one of his few friends. Winkler made the stills for his Schlager films Freddy und der Millionär / Freddy and the millionaire (Paul May, 1961) and Heimweh nach St. Pauli / Homesick for St. Pauli (Werner Peters, 1963). Not only did the German superstars give Winkler access to their lives and work, but the photographer also got up close and personal with many international stars of the 1950s and 1960s. Winkler photographed Jayne Mansfield getting dressed with her children. Winkler met Claudia Cardinale unpacking her suitcase with an unaffected, girlish smile. He photographed Steve McQueen on set during the filming of The Great Escape (John Sturges, 1963). Behind the scenes, he depicted a muddied McQueen in costume, in conversation with his wife, Neile McQueen-Adams. Four years later, he photographed Raquel Welch in a lacy Viennese corset on the set of Le plus vieux métier du monde / The Oldest Profession in the World (Michael Pfleghar, a.o., 1967).
Winkler's foray into the rock business is also impressive. He photographed Jimi Hendrix on a children's carousel, Elvis Presley getting out of an aeroplane, and the Motown girl group The Supremes at one of their concerts. Winkler also photographed Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, backstage, smoking, reading, gazing dreamily into the camera. Anna Reimann in Der Spiegel: "But why did Lothar Winkler manage to gain the trust of the big stars? His pictures are a tribute to the stars and their lives: Lothar Winkler photographed actors and singers the way they wanted to see themselves. He staged their ideal world and made it accessible to a wide audience through his publications. Winkler was a photographer who saw his craft as the task of taking beautiful pictures of beautiful people. Winkler never raised questions with his photos; he did not want to criticise. Lothar Winkler's photos are therefore above all, the documentation of a zeitgeist: the post-war longing for a perfect world and beautiful appearances. Today, there are either artistic but distanced portraits of well-known actors and music stars, or the quick, garish snapshot, the main purpose of which is to reveal as many juicy details as possible. There is nothing in between."
As the great era of German cinema drew to a close at the end of the 1960s, Lothar Winkler changed track and started to photograph unknown, naked women for such magazines as Neue Revue, Playboy and Quick. Ingrid Steeger was one of his first models. He also photographed Amanda Lear 'as the Lord created her'. Winkler died in 2000 at the age of 73. In 2006, his ex-wife Marianne Winkler, who was married to him from 1959 to 1968, compiled hundreds of photos together with film expert Michael Petzel. She published them in the illustrated book, ‘Meine Freunde, die Stars' (My Friends, the Stars). The book is divided into several chapters: In addition to snapshots from the Berlin Film Festival, photos from the shooting of the Karl May films in Croatia, and a section entitled ‘Stars International’, Winkler's friends Caterina Valente and Freddy Quinn have each been given their own chapter.
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen no. 789. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
In the late 1950s, blonde Elke Sommer (1940) was a European sex symbol before conquering Hollywood in the early 1960s. With her trademark pouty lips, high cheekbones and sky-high bouffant hairdos, Sommer made 99 film and television appearances between 1959 and 2005. The gorgeous German film star was also one of the most popular pin-up girls of the sixties, and posed twice for Playboy.
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 850. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
German actor Thomas Fritsch (1944-2021) was the son of ‘Sunny boy’ Willy Fritsch. Thomas was a teen idol of the early 1960s who made several light entertainment films and recorded popular Schlagers. He also appeared on stage and TV and as a voice actor, he dubbed many Hollywood blockbusters in German.
German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf., no. 737. Photo: Kolibri / Lothar Winkler.
German Stage and film actress Sabine Sinjen (1942-1995) was a teenage star of the 1950s, who became a protagonist of the Neue Deutsche Film in the 1960s.
German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf., no. 582. Photo: Lothar Winkler. Publicity card for Polydor Schalip, which announces the singles 'Sugar Baby / Ich denk' an dich' and 'Come on and Swing / Du passt so gut zu mir'.
German singer and actor Peter Kraus (1939) was a teen idol in the 1950s and was nicknamed ‘the German Elvis’.
German postcard by Starpostkarten-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 701. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
German competitive figure skater Ina Bauer (1941-2014) made her first appearance on the senior level at the 1956 West German Figure Skating Championships in Cologne, where she finished second. In the following years, she won three consecutive West German national titles in 1957, 1958 and 1959. She competed at a total of four European and World Championships, improving her results very quickly along the way. After retiring from competition, she toured with Ice Follies and starred in two films with Austrian alpine skier Toni Sailer: the comedy Ein Stern fällt vom Himmel / A Star Falls from Heaven (Géza von Cziffra, 1961) and Kauf dir einen bunten Luftballon / Buy yourself a colourful balloon (Géza von Cziffra, 1961).
German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, no. 3930. Photo: Rialto / Constantin / Winkler. Mario Adorf in Winnetou - 1. Teil / Apache Gold (Harald Reinl, 1963).
Swiss actor Mario Adorf (1930) is a very active star of European cinema, known for his Mediterranean looks, his dark oily frizzy hair and his imposing figure. He started as a talented newcomer in German films of the 1950s, he hammed his way through the 1960s as a villain in Euro-westerns and action pictures, but he is now best known for his roles in some classics of the Junge Deutsche Film (The Young German Cinema) such as Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum (1978) and Lola (1981). He appeared in over 200 films and TV films.
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 891. Photo: Lothar Winkler. Klaus Kinski in Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (Harald Reinl, 1964).
Intense and eccentric Klaus Kinski (1926–1991) was one of the most colourful stars of European cinema. In a film career of over 40 years, the German actor appeared in more than 130 films, including numerous parts as a villain in Edgar Wallace thrillers and Spaghetti Westerns. The talented but tempestuous Kinski is probably best known for his riveting star turns in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and other films directed by Werner Herzog.
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 901. Photo: Lothar Winkler. Klaus Kinski and Pierre Brice in Winnetou - 2. Teil/Last of the Renegades (Harald Reinl, 1964).
Handsome and well-built French actor Pierre Brice (1929-2015) was a Superstar in Germany during the 1960s. For hundreds of thousands of European kids, Brice was the Indian Winnetou, a long-haired saint with a gun. He appeared as the fictional chief of the Mescalero Apache tribe in eleven Euro-Westerns based on the novels by Karl May.
German postcard by Krüger. Photo: Winkler.
French rock legend and film star Johnny Hallyday (1943-2017) was the father of French Rock and Roll. He was a European teen idol in the 1960s with record-breaking crowds and mass hysteria, but he never became popular in the English-speaking market. Later, he concentrated on being an actor and appeared in more than 35 films.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/376. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
Austrian actress Maria Perschy (1938-2004) was the sexy leading lady of many European films of the late 1950s before she made a short career in Hollywood in films by John Huston and Howard Hawks. In the 1970s, she appeared in Spanish and Italian low-budget Horror films, and she became a cult figure.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/377. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
Danish-German singer Dorthe Kollo or just Dorthe (1947) was a popular Schlager singer in the 1960s. She appeared often on TV in both Denmark and Germany.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/379. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
Danish singer and film actress Gitte Hænning (1946) rose to fame as a child star in the 1950s. As Gitte, she became one of the most famous Schlager singers of the German and Danish languages.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/380. Photo: Teldec / Winkler / RCA.
Rita Pavone (1945) was one of the biggest teenage stars in Europe during the 1960s, and one of the few Italian pop stars to gain a foothold in the American market. Pavone also starred in several 'Musicarellos'.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/381. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
Attractive Austrian actress Heidelinde Weis (1940-2023) appeared in several European films in the 1960s. She was a respected theatre actress in the German-speaking countries, where she also regularly appears in TV films and series.
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/407. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
Curvaceous Austrian actress Marisa Mell (1939-1992) became a cult figure of 1960s Italian B-films. Her most famous role is criminal mastermind Eva Kant in Mario Bava’s Diabolik (1968).
German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/408. Photo: Lothar Winkler.
Croatian singer and actress Dunja Rajter (1946) is a dark-haired beauty who had a successful career in Germany from 1963 on. To film fans she is probably best known for her roles as a squaw in two Winnetou Westerns.
German postcard by Rüdel Verlag, Hamburg. Photo: Lothar Winkler, Berlin.
Rebellious, gravel-voiced actress, chanteuse and author Hildegard Knef (1925-2002) was one of the most important film stars of post-war Germany. She also appeared in foreign films and on Broadway, billed as Hildegard(e) Neff. Her outspokenness often caused unease in a country eager to please. Germany’s sole diva led a roller coaster life full of successes and sufferings.
Sources: Anna Reimann (Spiegel - German), Martina (B.Z. Die Stimme Berlins - German), Hipp-Foto and IMDb.
No comments:
Post a Comment