Heinz Drache(1923-2002)
- Actor
This actor's chief claim to fame lies in being the most in-vogue screen
cop of post-war German cinema. He first established his reputation in
the role of the charismatic Inspector Yates in
Francis Durbridge's miniseries
Das Halstuch (1962), which hit
an impressive eighty percent in TV ratings. He continued in the same
vein (same part, same crew cut, different names) apprehending villains
in a series of Edgar Wallace potboilers
with lurid titles evocative of the genre:
The Avenger (1960),
The Indian Scarf (1963),
Coffin from Hong Kong (1964),
Again the Ringer (1965) and
The Horror of Blackwood Castle (1968),
among others. After his contract with Constantin Filmverleih expired,
he took a sabbatical from the screen and returned to the stage.
Drache was smitten by the performing arts from childhood (at the age of
fourteen, he could recite Goethe's "Faust" by heart). He started acting
on stage as an extra in his senior year at high school. Though intended
for flight training in the Luftwaffe, he was excused from active
military service and permitted to continue his theatrical training in
Berlin. Whilst at the Deutsches Theater, he was spotted by
Gustaf Gründgens and given a key part
in the bizarre comic fantasy "Der Schatten" ("The Shadow", based on a
Russian play). This turned out to be a substantial hit. While it did
not make him a star, it led to further character roles under the
direction of Gründgens in classics like "Danton's Death", "Candida" and
"Othello". Following engagements at the Berliner Schillertheater and
the Kleine Komödie in Munich, Drache made his first film appearance in
1954. For the next eight years, he alternated youthful romantic leads
with more challenging assignments in serious drama
(Spy for Germany (1956),
The Rest Is Silence (1959)).
His archetypal crime fighting image was inaugurated with ""Der Rächer"
and cemented with "Das Halstuch". Audiences took a shine to the
easy-going approach and quick-witted, often cynical repartee of his
screen detectives. Drache also made good use of his distinctively
sonorous voice, frequently synchronising for English-speaking stars
like Sean Connery,
Christopher Lee,
Kirk Douglas and
Richard Widmark.
On the stage, Drache was able to escape typecasting and occasionally
portrayed rather less wholesome characters. The screen, however, rarely
permitted him to show his acting range. After a period of relative
absence (just five appearances between 1969 and 1985), he returned
somewhat reluctantly in familiar guise as the elegant, pin-stripe
suited Kriminalhauptkommissar Hans Georg Bülow in TV's top crime-time
series Tatort (1970). However, the era
for anachronistic gentlemen sleuths had passed and a mixed critical
reception prompted Drache to quit the show after just six episodes.
After that, he quietly faded from the spotlight and died in Berlin in
April 2002 at the age of 79.
cop of post-war German cinema. He first established his reputation in
the role of the charismatic Inspector Yates in
Francis Durbridge's miniseries
Das Halstuch (1962), which hit
an impressive eighty percent in TV ratings. He continued in the same
vein (same part, same crew cut, different names) apprehending villains
in a series of Edgar Wallace potboilers
with lurid titles evocative of the genre:
The Avenger (1960),
The Indian Scarf (1963),
Coffin from Hong Kong (1964),
Again the Ringer (1965) and
The Horror of Blackwood Castle (1968),
among others. After his contract with Constantin Filmverleih expired,
he took a sabbatical from the screen and returned to the stage.
Drache was smitten by the performing arts from childhood (at the age of
fourteen, he could recite Goethe's "Faust" by heart). He started acting
on stage as an extra in his senior year at high school. Though intended
for flight training in the Luftwaffe, he was excused from active
military service and permitted to continue his theatrical training in
Berlin. Whilst at the Deutsches Theater, he was spotted by
Gustaf Gründgens and given a key part
in the bizarre comic fantasy "Der Schatten" ("The Shadow", based on a
Russian play). This turned out to be a substantial hit. While it did
not make him a star, it led to further character roles under the
direction of Gründgens in classics like "Danton's Death", "Candida" and
"Othello". Following engagements at the Berliner Schillertheater and
the Kleine Komödie in Munich, Drache made his first film appearance in
1954. For the next eight years, he alternated youthful romantic leads
with more challenging assignments in serious drama
(Spy for Germany (1956),
The Rest Is Silence (1959)).
His archetypal crime fighting image was inaugurated with ""Der Rächer"
and cemented with "Das Halstuch". Audiences took a shine to the
easy-going approach and quick-witted, often cynical repartee of his
screen detectives. Drache also made good use of his distinctively
sonorous voice, frequently synchronising for English-speaking stars
like Sean Connery,
Christopher Lee,
Kirk Douglas and
Richard Widmark.
On the stage, Drache was able to escape typecasting and occasionally
portrayed rather less wholesome characters. The screen, however, rarely
permitted him to show his acting range. After a period of relative
absence (just five appearances between 1969 and 1985), he returned
somewhat reluctantly in familiar guise as the elegant, pin-stripe
suited Kriminalhauptkommissar Hans Georg Bülow in TV's top crime-time
series Tatort (1970). However, the era
for anachronistic gentlemen sleuths had passed and a mixed critical
reception prompted Drache to quit the show after just six episodes.
After that, he quietly faded from the spotlight and died in Berlin in
April 2002 at the age of 79.