Burkhard Driest (; 28 April 1939 – 27 February 2020) was a German actor, writer and director, known for his acting work in Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Querelle. He also wrote novels and screenplays.
Life Driest was born in Stettin, Germany (now Poland), on 28 April 1939, the son of a graduate economist and a piano teacher. At the end of World War II, the family fled to Peine, Lower Saxony. His parents were divorced in 1950. The children stayed with the mother, who moved to Göttingen, but he returned to his father in 1957. In an anthology from 1995, Driest described his memories of childhood and adolescence under the title Halbstark in Peine. He was dismissed from school four times but achieved the Abitur as the third-best of that year.
Driest studied law for ten semesters in Kiel, Berlin and Göttingen. On 11 May 1965, three weeks before his oral law examination, he robbed the savings bank () in Burgdorf. He was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three years and four months. He then worked in the port of Hamburg, and as a waiter and taxi driver in London. He published his first novel, Die Verrohung des Franz Blum (The brutalization of Franz Blum), with autobiographical aspects, in 1974. He wrote the screenplay for a 1974 film of the same name, directed by Reinhard Hauff, with Jürgen Prochnow in the title role, and Driest in a minor role. Peter Zadek invited him to play the role of Stanley Kowalski in Endstation Sehnsucht (A Streetcar Named Desire) by Tennessee Williams, with Rosel Zech as Blanche, at the Schauspielhaus Bochum. The same year, Driest was a guest on Dietmar Schönherr's talk show, with Romy Schneider and Bubi Scholz. During this live appearance, Schneider touched Driest's arm, saying "Sie gefallen mir! Sie gefallen mir sehr!" (I like you! I like you a lot!) in words from a recent popular film in which Schneider had starred. The incident won him increased attention.
Driest worked with directors such as Werner Herzog (for Stroszek), Sam Peckinpah (for Cross of Iron), and Reinhard Hauff on four projects. He wrote together with Lukas Heller the script for the satire , which premiered in 1978 but was a failure with critics and the audience.
Driest wrote versions of the screenplay for Rainer Werner Fassbinder's final film, Querelle, but they were not accepted. He played the role of Mario, alongside Jeanne Moreau and Brad Davis.Selbst-Porträt der Kindheit und Jugend in: Florian Langenscheidt (Hrsg.): Bei uns zu Hause. Prominente erzählen von ihrer Kindheit. Düsseldorf 1995, . Driest wrote texts for the Peter Zadek's musical Andi and revue Falco meets Amadeus at the Theater des Westens. Driest lived in Switzerland after 1983, working as an actor and producer. In 1984, he made his debut as a film director, with . He wrote a detective novel published in 2003 and also worked as an artist.
Personal life Driest was married three times. His daughter is the writer . He died in Berlin on 27 February 2020 at age 80 after a long illness.
Filmography Driest worked in films as an actor, screenwriter, director and producer, including:
As actor 1974: – Walter 'Tiger' Kuul 1976: Der Kommissar: Der Held des Tages (TV series episode) – Hartmut Stimmel 1977: Cross of Iron – Schütze Maag 1977: Stroszek – Souteneur 1978: – Gerd Müller 1980: – Nick Dellmann 1982: Querelle – Mario 1983: The Roaring Fifties – Major Assimov 1984: Die Story 1984: Der Havarist – Sterling Hayden 1984: Smaragd – Klopfer Martin 1985: Kalt in Kolumbien 1986: Kir Royal (TV series, 1 episode) – Schläger 1987: Taxi nach Kairo – 1. Polizist 1990: Ein Fall für zwei: Madonna (TV series episode) – Malik 1992: Den demokratiske terroristen – Horst 1997: Der Ausbruch (TV film) – Peter Stolzek 1998: – Lasinger 2000: I Love You, Baby – Decker 2003: Hamlet_X – Observer 2009: Lasko – Die Faust Gottes (TV series, 4 episodes) – Abt Patrizius 2011: Toni Costa: Kommissar auf Ibiza – Der rote Regen (TV series episode) – El Cubano (final film role)
As screenwriter 1974: Die Verrohung des Franz Blum, script based on his own novel of the same name
1978: Son of Hitler 1980: Slow Attack 1982: Querelle 1984:
As director 1984:
As producer 1978: Son of Hitler
1982: Querelle
Other works Works by Driest are held by the German National Library, including:Publications by Burkhard Driest German National Library
Novels 1974: Die Verrohung des Franz Blum, Rowohlt, Reinbek 1981: Mann ohne Schatten 1997: Sanfte Morde 2003: Der rote Regen 2005: Liebestod 2006: Brennende Schuld 2008: Sommernachtsmord 2010: Küchenkunst, LangenMüller, Munchen 2011: Die Maikäfer und der Krieg (Roman), LangenMüller, München
References
External links
Burkhard Driest deutsches-filmhaus.de Schauspieler und Autor Burkhard Driest ist tot