German postcard by Kunst und Bild, no. A 1189. Photo: T. v. Mindszenty / Deutsche London (TLF).
Carl Raddatz in
Geständnis unter vier Augen/Confession Under Four Eyes (André Michel, 1954).
German actor
Carl Raddatz (1912-2004) was much in demand by film producers in the 1940s and especially in the 1950s. He appeared in several Nazi propaganda films, but he also gave Joseph Stalin a German voice. Through the years he would become one of the leading character actors of the German theatre.
Carl Raddatz was born as Werner Fitz in Mannheim, Baden. He took acting lessons from Willy Birgel, who engaged him for the Mannheimer Nationaltheater. Engagements in Aachen, Darmstadt, Bremen and finally Berlin followed. In Berlin he would have his greatest successes. In the Ufa studios in Babelsberg he made his film debut in the propaganda film Urlaub auf Ehrenwort/Furlough on Word of Honor (Karl Ritter, 1938). Soon followed more Ufa productions like Liebelei und Liebe (Arthur Maria Rabenalt, 1938) with Paul Hörbiger as well as Verklungene Melodie/Dead Melody (Viktor Tourjansky, 1938) with Brigitte Horney and Willy Birgel. In the next years Raddatz became established as a star and appeared in well-known productions like Befreite Hände/Freed Hands (Hans Schweikart, 1939) opposite Brigitte Horney and Olga Tschechowa, Zwielicht/Twilight (Rudolph von der Noss, 1940) with Viktor Staal, Der 5. Juni/June the 5th (Fritz Kirchhoff, 1942), opposite Kristina Söderbaum in Immensee (Veit Harlan, 1943), and Opfergang/The Great Sacrifice (Veit Harlan, 1944), and in the poetic love-triangle Unter den Brücken/Under the Bridges (Helmut Käutner, 1945) with Hannelore Schroth. He also played in Nazi-Propagandafilms like Wunschkonzert/Request Concert (Eduard von Borsody, 1940), Heimkehr/Homecoming (Gustav Ucicky, 1941), and Stukas (Karl Ritter, 1941).
After the war, Carl Raddatz rather smoothly continued his career with films like the episode film In jenen Tagen/In Those Days (Helmut Käutner, 1946-1947), and Epilog/Epilogue (Helmut Käutner, 1950). Next to his films, he worked mainly in the theatre. In the mid-1950s he became a darling of the public with the films Rosen im Herbst/Roses in Autumn (Rudolf Jugert, 1955) with Ruth Leuwerik, Nacht der Entscheidung (Falk Harnack, 1956) with Hilde Krahl, and Made in Germany (Wolfgang Schleiff, 1957) with Winnie Markus. To his other popular post-war films belong Gabriela (Géza von Cziffra, 1950) opposite Zarah Leander, Regina Amstetten (Kurt Neumann, 1953), and Das Mädchen Rosemarie/Rosemary (Rolf Thiele, 1958) with Nadja Tiller. Giulietta Masina was his partner in Jons und Erdme/La donna dell'altro (Victor Vicas, 1959). His career ended slowly with The Counterfeit Traitor (George Seaton, 1962) starring William Holden, and finally the Hans Fallada adaptation Jeder stirbt für sich allein (Alfred Vohrer, 1975) with Hildegard Knef. For TV, he appeared opposite Ruth Leuwerik in the series Die Buddenbrooks (1979) based on the classic novel by Thomas Mann and in an episode of the popular crime series Derrick (1990). He always remained true to the theater. For years he was a member of the ensemble of the Staatlichen Schauspielbühnen Berlin and impersonated many interesting roles which heaved him to the guild of leading character actors. In the 1950s he had also dubbed stars like Humphrey Bogart, Robert Taylor, and Lee Marvin, and after WWII he gave Joseph Stalin his voice on German TV. In 1972 he was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz and in 1979 the Filmband in Gold. Carl Raddatz died in 2004 in Berlin. He was married three times, among others with the actress Hannelore Schroth, his partner in the film Unter den Brücken/Under the Bridges (Helmut Käutner, 1945).
Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia, Filmportal.de, and IMDb.
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