Tappert, Horst (1923-2008)

Tappert, Horst

ACTOR (GERMANY)

BORN 26 May 1923, Elberfeld, Rheinland (now: part of Wuppertal) - DIED 13 Dec 2008, Planegg, Bayern
CAUSE OF DEATH diabetes
GRAVE LOCATION Gräfelfing, Bayern: Gemeindefriedhof, Grosshaderner Strasse 2 (U-165 (ashes))

Horst Tappert was born in Elberfeld (now part of Wuppertal) as the son of a civil servant. between 1937 and 1940 he worked as an apprentice to become an industrial businessman. In 1940 he was called to serve in the Wehrmacht. Around 1943 he served for the Waffen-SS, a fact he never mentioned during his lifetime. In 1945 he was a prisoner of war in Seehausen/Altmark.

After the war he worked as an accountant at the Theater der Altmark in Stendal. He was persuaded to try his luck as an actor and he debuted in Paul Helwig's comedy "Flitterwochen". In 1946 he studied acting under Paul Rose. He worked in Göttingen, Kassel, Bonn and Wuppertal before he joined the Kammerspiele in Munich in 1956. In 1957 he married his third wife, the actres Ursula Pistor. Before that he was married to Hildegard Muthmann from 1942 to 1947 and to Mechthild Bonner from 1947 to 1954. He had three children, Karin (1942-2010), Ralph (b.1948) and Gary (1949-2001). With Ursula he settled in Gräfelfing near Munich.

In the late 1950s he started appearing in movies and television productions and in 1960s many roles followed. When the produdcer Helmut Ringelmann planned a new crime series he thought of Tappert who had appeared before in "Der Kommissar". The new series became "Derrick". It was written by Herbert Reinecker and from 1974 to 1998 Tappert played chief inspector Stephan Derrick 281 times. "Derrick" was broadcasted in over 100 countries.

Tappert died in 2008 in Planegg near Munich. In 2013 his Waffen-SS past came out and in 2016 German national television decided to broadcast no more old "Derrick" episodes.

Related persons
• cooperated with Denk, Paula

Events

20/10/1974

The first episode of the German television series "Derrick" is broadcasted. The title of the episode was "Der Waldweg". Horst Tappert played the part of Stephan Derrick and Fritz Wepper was his assistant Harry Klein. Other actors were Wolfgang Kieling, Lina Karstens, Herbert Bötticher, Karl Lieffen and Hilde Weissner. The screenplay was written by Herbert Reinecker, Dietrich Haugk was the director and Helmut Ringelmann was the producer. 281 episodes of "Derrick" would be produced. [Reinecker, Herbert][Weissner, Hilde]