Werner Friedrich Dissel (26 August 1912 – 22 January 2003) was a German actor, director, and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime.
Biography Dissel's began working as a newspaper photographer in the late 1920s. After the Nazis' rise to power, he became a member of an antifascist group headed by Harro Schulze-Boysen, and was involved in the resistance newspaper Wille zum Reich.Harro Schulze-Boysen. Dieser Tod paßt zu mir. Harro Schulze-Boysen - Grenzgänger im Widerstand, Briefe 1915 bis 1942. . Pages 228, 237. Dissel was caught and imprisoned from 1937 to 1939.Erika Bucholtz. Das "Hausgefängnis" der Gestapo-Zentrale in Berlin: Terror und Widerstand 1933-1945. . Page 217. During his time in prison, the Gestapo arranged for Boysen to visit him, in the hope that something incriminating would be said while the two would be left alone in a tapped room; Boysen passed a cigarette pack to Dissel, on which he wrote that the police had no concrete evidence against him.Michael Mueller, Geoffrey Brooks. Canaris: the life and death of Hitler's spymaster. . Page 108. After his release, Boysen convinced him to volunteer into the Wehrmacht, so he could "destroy Hitler's army from within". Dissel joined the armed forces shortly before the German Invasion of Poland, and served in a military meteorology unit. At 1942, he barely avoided an arrest during the Gestapo's crackdown on the Red Orchestra.Katholische Filmkommission für Deutschland. Film-Dienst, Volume 56, Issues 1-6. 2002. Page 58.
After the war, he openly joined the KPD and decided to pursue his old dream to become an actor. Dissel joined a cabaret in Wiesbaden, and in 1950 emigrated to East Germany.Thomas Grimm. Erinnerung als Verantwortung: das Zeitzeugen-Archiv in Text und Bild. . Pages 44, 219. There he appeared in numerous plays, TV shows and movies. He worked with the Berliner Ensemble, DEFA and DFF. He continued his acting career after the reunification.Lexicon of the GDR's Stars, Berlin, 1999. . In total, he appeared in more than a hundred film and television productions.
He received the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic at a collective awarding in October 1986.Erika Tschernig, Monika Kollega, Gudrun Müller. Unsere Kultur: DDR-Zeittafel, 1945-1987. Dietz Verlag (1989). . Page 402.
Selected filmography
1954: Ernst Thälmann 1956: Die Millionen der Yvette - Zeitungsverkäufer 1956: The Captain from Cologne 1958: Les Misérables - Brevet 1958: Ein Mädchen von 16 ½ - Rohn 1959: Goods For Catalonia - Portier 1959: Bevor der Blitz einschlägt - Sylvio O. Schmitt - Kunstkritiker 1959: Love's Confusion - 2. Taxichauffeur 1959: The Goodies 1960: The Opportunists - Fario 1961: Die Liebe und der Co-Pilot - Meteorologe 1961: Der Fremde 1961: The Gleiwitz Case - Volksschullehrer 1961: Ärzte 1962: Rotkäppchen - Wolf 1963: Naked among Wolves - Otto Lange 1963: Jetzt und in der Stunde meines Todes - Herr Merker 1964: Die Maskierten - Sheriff McElliott 1964: Pension Boulanka - Dr. Vollmer 1965: Solange Leben in mir ist - Bethmann-Hollweg 1965: Denk bloß nicht, ich heule - Mantek 1966: Schwarze Panther 1966: Zejscie do piekla - Rudolf Knoll 1967: Geschichten jener Nacht - Kilian (segment "Materna") 1968: Heroin - Zollrat Donkenberg 1971: Liberation III: Direction of the Main Blow - Alfred Jodl 1974: Ulzana - Mexikanischer Arzt 1974: Johannes Kepler - Richter 1975: Am Ende der Welt - Amtsdiener Göpel 1975: Till Eulenspiegel - Scholastischer Professor 1976: Mann gegen Mann - Angler 1976: Beethoven - Tage aus einem Leben - Grisslinger 1978: Rotschlipse 1980: Levins Mühle - Plontke 1980: - Vater Nichelmann 1984: Kaskade rückwärts - Gast 1986: Der Traum vom Elch - Paulchen 1987: Stielke, Heinz, fünfzehn... - Invalide 1987: Kindheit - Lehrer 1988: Fallada: The Last Chapter - Doktor 1989: Coming Out - Older homosexual man (Walter) 1989: Der Magdalenenbaum - Opa Panse 1990: Die Architekten - Alter 1990: Grönland - Professor Kah 1991: - Merz 1992: - Notar 1992: 1992: Verlorene Landschaft 1992: 1992: Der Besucher - Blind man 1994: Heller Tag 2000: Anatomy - Paula's Grandfather
References
External links
Werner Dissel at Rotten Tomatoes