The popular actor of "Commissar Rex" is dead

The actor Rolf Hoppe, for example known from the fairy-tale film "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel" (1973) and the Oscar-winning film "Mephisto" (1981), has died. He died Wednesday at the age of 87, as his family's German press agency announced Thursday. At the Salzburg Festival, he had been several times Mammon in "Everyman".

Last year, Hoppe won several awards – the Märchenfilmfestival Award for his work at Annaberg-Buchholz and the Ball of the Semper Opera Dresden. Three years ago, he received the German Actors Award for his work. The award was founded at that time with his innovative and inspiring actor work.

"I especially like small roles," Hoppe said about three years ago in an interview shortly before his 85th birthday. "The most important thing is a good house." Hoppe was smoking his pipe – the doctor had prescribed it in the 1940s, instead of cigarettes.

The film career started in DDR

Born in Thuringia, he began his film career in the GDR. He became internationally known in 1981 for his portrayal of Nazi Prime Minister Hermann Göring in "Mephisto" by Istvan Szabo, who received the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film the following year. Also father of pianist Clara Schumann in Peter Schamoni's "Spring Symphony", Hoppe was world-clbad. At the Salzburg Festival, he was several times Mammon in "Everyman". He was also known to the Canadian public with roles in such series as "Kommissar Rex" or "SOKO Kitzbühel".

Hoppe has not retired in recent years: "I like to work, it's also a good job," he said. Only with his strength he had to be more economical. One of his projects: his own theater. Already in 1995, the actor had bought a farm in the suburbs of Dresden and founded the Hoftheater Dresden with friends, according to the theater's website. But in recent years, he was only a spectator.

More than 400 film and theater roles

His "Spielwut" Hoppe lived for the first time in an amateur theater troupe in his hometown, Ellrich, on the southern outskirts of Harz. At that time, the Thuringian earned his money as a coachman and a baker. Since 1963, Hoppe has completed more than 400 film and theater roles and has shaped almost every clbadic and comic figure in the world's theatrical literature. He never succumbed to the temptation to turn his back on the GDR when he was touring abroad. And he also remained in demand in the new film Germany, played in "The Children of Bronsteins", "Schtonk!" and "Mario and the magician".

In just over 50 years of career, there were more than two white spots: "I would never play a child murderer," said the actor once, long regarded as a "bad guy". The other exception is rather unintentional: a love role has never been offered. "A fat man can love too." His record did not obscure that. "I have a good life." He had no fear of death, he only wanted a tolerable transition. "When it's time, then it's time."