Regnier, Charles |
| ACTOR, THEATRE DIRECTOR, TRANSLATOR (GERMANY) |
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BORN 22 Jul 1914, Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg - DIED 13 Sep 2001, Bad Wiessee, Bayern BIRTH NAME Regnier, Karl Friedrich Anton Hermann CAUSE OF DEATH stroke GRAVE LOCATION Badenweiler-Lipburg, Baden-Württemberg: Friedhof, Lipburger Strasse |
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Charles Regnier was the son the physician Anton Karl Regnier and his wife Emile Maria Friederike, born Harrer. He grew up in Strasbourg and Badenweiler, where his mother's parents owned the hotel "Schloss Hausbaden". After his father killed himself in 1924 he lived with his mother and his three brothers in Heidelberg and in Montreux. In 1929 his mother fell ill with tuberculosis and they moved to Davos. There he met the author Alfred Henschke (known as Klabund) who interested him for literature and theatre. In 1930 the now impoverished family moved to Berlin. There Charles met the almos blind author Ernst Blass and he frequently visited him to read for him from books. He took acting lessons and probably in 1932 he played in his first short film "La lettre" that he shot together with friends in Praque. In 1933 he failed to pass the exams from the Reichsttheaterkammer and was unable to attend a state drama school. In 1934 he was arrested on the charge of homosexuality and imprisoned in the Lichtenburg concentration camp. Nine months later he was released after signing a non disclosure document. He moved to Italy where he opened a souvenir shop in Portofino. After a while he returned to Berlin where he took private acting lessons. In 1938 he was engaged at the theatre in Greifswald. There he met the actress Pamela Wedekind who took an interest in him. She was eight years his senior. One night she asked him to stay for the night and their son Anatol (b.1943) suggests in his book "Du auf deinen hochsten Dach" that this was his first experience with 'the mystery of woman'. They married on 22 June 1940 in Berlin and had two further children, Carola (b.1945) and Adriana (b.1946). Invited by Pamela, his former companion Kai Molvig lived with them in Schwabing in Munich from 1942 onwards. Pamela helped him to overcome his inner doubts regarding his acting. On her recommendation, he was contracted by Otto Falckenberg for the Kammerspiele in Munich in 1941. He worked there until 1958 and from 1946 he also taught at Falkenberg's acting school. In 1949 he played in the movie "Der Ruf" and in 1952 in Fritz Kortner's "Minna von Barnhelm". Further films followed. From 1961 to 1962 he was engaged at the Burgtheater in Vienna. After many movies he had his own television series on German television called "Mordkommission" in which he played Chief Iinspector George Wieker. He also wrote screenplays, directed plays and translated books from the French. In 1986 Pamela died after a long illness. He married the actress Sonja Ziemann in 1989 and with her he toured theatres in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. His last part was in 1999 in the play "Endspurt" by Peter Ustinov. He died in 2001 and was buried in the grave of his mother's family in Badenweiler. Family • Wife: Wedekind, Pamela (1940-1986, Berlin: Standesamt Moabit) |
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 Charles Regnier. (1955) |
 The grave of Charles Regnier in Badenweiler-Lipburg, Baden-Württemberg. Picture by Androom (22 Aug 2023) |
Sources • Regnier, Anatol, Du af deinem höchtsten Dach, Tilly Wedekind und ihre Töchter, BTB Verlag, 2005 |
