Michael Degen (31 January 1928 – 9 April 2022) was a German-Israeli actor, in film and theatre, as well as a theatre director and writer.
Early life Born in Chemnitz as the younger son of Jewish parents,Deutsches Filmhaus: Degen Degen survived the Holocaust in Berlin, while his older brother was sent to Palestine via Denmark and Sweden. His father, Jacob Degen, was a language professor and businessman of Russian Jewish descent. On 13 September 1939, Jacob Degen was arrested by the Secret State Police and taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Subjected to severe abuse over the weeks that followed, he was released on 2 February 1940 but never recovered from his injuries, dying shortly afterward. To survive, Michael and his mother, Anna, hid in a Berlin allotment until the end of the war.
In 1946, Degen appeared on stage for the first time and received his education through a scholarship at the acting school of the Deutsches Theater in East Berlin. In 1949, he emigrated to Israel for two years. Degen served as a soldier in Israel and acted in theatres in Tel Aviv.
Career In 1954, Degen joined Bertolt Brecht's Berliner Ensemble at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in East Berlin. In 1955–1956, he worked with the Schauspiel Köln. From 1956 to 1963 he was at the Mannheim National Theatre, followed by the Schauspiel Frankfurt in 1963–1964. From 1967 to 1973, he worked at the . During his career, he played Shakespeare's Hamlet 300 times. A reviewer of The Times wrote of Degen's acting in Harry Buckwitz's 1965 Hamlet production at Schauspiel Frankfurt, "Nervously impulsive and sometimes violently emotional". Degen performed in Munich, Salzburg and Hamburg and worked with directors including Ingmar Bergman, George Tabori Peter Zadek and Claude Chabrol. He was Molière's Dom Juan in Ingmar Bergman's production at the Salzburg Festival and Adam in Kleist's The Broken Jug. He was also a director: his premiere was in Goethe's Urfaust in 1972. He was a director for four years at the , Munich. Degen began appearing in films in 1963. In Franz Peter Wirth's Buddenbrooks television adaptation (1979), he played the role of Bendix Grünlich. He played Adolf Hitler in Michael Kehlmann's 1988 film as well as Dr. Martin Sanders in Diese Drombuschs. His last role was the vain Vice-Questore Patta in the television series Donna Leon.
Degen wrote in his 1999 debut (Not All Were Murderers. A childhood in Berlin.) about his own experiences during the Nazi era.
Personal life Degen lived with his third wife in Hamburg. He had four children from previous marriages. He was an Israeli and German citizen.
He died on 9 April 2022 in Hamburg, at the age of 94. An obituary of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called Degen "an actor of melancholic elegance".
Legacy In 2006, Jo Baier filmed Degen's memoirs with Aaron Altaras and Nadja Uhl for ARD ().
Awards 1969 Großer Hersfeld-Preis 1988 2003
Selected filmography Source: + Film Year Title Role Notes1974 SupermarketFrank 197621 Hours at MunichMohammed KhadifTV film 1977Beyond Good and EvilKarl Andreas 1979PhantastenSollierTV film 1982Hauptmann OttoTV film 1983Dr. Gustav OppermannTV film 1987Karl Brunner1988Paul MeyerdiercksTV filmAdolf HitlerTV film1990Dr. MReimar von GeldernWaldemar SolgrubTV film1998Eine ungehorsame FrauGeorg WinterbornTV filmFrankfurt MillenniumWalter2000WalterRote GlutGustav KohmersTV film 2001Leo & ClaireLeo Katzenberger 2002Krahn 2003Babiy YarGenadij Lerner2012FenglerHannah ArendtKurt Blumenfeld
Source: + TV Series Year Title Role Notes 1979The BuddenbrooksBendix Grünlich3 episodes 1987–1990Diese DrombuschsDr. Martin Sanders15 episodes 1988Game, Set and MatchWerner Volkmann13 episodes 1993–1994Auto FritzeOtto Fritze26 episodes 1994Anna Maria – Eine Frau geht ihren WegHannes SeebergerFirst episode 1996Tanz auf dem VulkanKarl ReichmannTV miniseries 2000–2019Donna LeonVice-Questore Patta25 episodes 2004Fritz HofmannTV miniseries 2008Jochen BühlerTV miniseries
Writings and
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