Munich – After the death of Joachim Fuchsberger, many friends and fans say goodbye to their "Blacky".
But where does the nickname actually come from?
A mysterious search for clues in the past.
Joachim "Blacky" Fuchsberger died on Thursday at the age of 87 in his home in Grünwald.
An eventful life lies behind him: With over 80 film and television appearances, the actor is considered a legend in the industry.
His breakthrough came in the 1960s with the Edgar Wallace films.
His scandalous nightgown appearance on "Auf Los geht's Los" will not be forgotten.
Just like his role as stadium announcer at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
Hardly anyone associates a memory with "Blacky".
But where does Joachim Fuchsberger's nickname come from, by which he is also internationally known?
"Blacky" has become so common over the years that hardly anyone knows where it really comes from.
As soon as you start looking for clues, you will find several versions of how Fuchsberger got his nickname.
Here you can read all the stories.
How "Jackie" once became "Blacky".
As a youth at the time of the Second World War, Joachim Fuchsberger also had to do military service.
In 2011 he told the Frankfurter Rundschauer about the dark chapter in his life.
A time that he himself felt was "permanent rape": "I too was supposed to be accepted into the Waffen-SS and I refused. But that was risky," reports Fuchsberger, "You were quickly classified as a slacker. That's why I volunteered for the paratroopers."
The then 16-year-old received his training at Wittstock in Brandenburg.
From this time he is said to have taken the operational name "Jackie".
Due to a misunderstanding, the nickname stuck: A friend is said to have misunderstood the name and called him "Blacky" instead of "Jackie".
Blacky the buddy
Another way Joachim Fuchsberger got his nickname "Blacky" could have come from his time before his television career.
In the years after the war, Fuchsberger worked for four months as a miner in a pit near Recklinghausen, where hard coal was mined.
Not only the sooty work underground, but also his raven-black hair could have led to the nickname, at least the Bayerischer Rundfunk claims.
But maybe a combination of both.
Joachim Fuchsberger and the "Whisky, Black & White"
In an interview with Stern in 2007, Joachim Fuchsberger told a completely different story about his nickname: it is said to come from his time in Munich in the 1950s, when he worked as a newscaster for Bayerischer Rundfunk.
"I was picked up from a party at the broadcasting center at four in the morning, pretty blue," Fuchsberger said at the time.
"At six I sat half sober at the microphone and got really muddled. Drunk at the microphone - a scandal."
Which was not entirely without consequences: Joachim Fuchsberger had to report to the boss for this faux pas.
He is said to have asked him what he had been drinking.
Fuchsberger responded: "Something with Whisky, Black & White."
The program director's comment: "Well, if you ever become a father, you'll get little Blackys."
According to Spiegel Online, jokingly warned of the consequences of excessive consumption of the whiskey brand, which is said to have been largely responsible for one or the other pregnancy.
Some colleagues found it so funny, says the then 80-year-old, that from then on they just called him Blacky.
Joachim "Blacky" Fuchsberger: His life in pictures
Joachim "Blacky" Fuchsberger: His life in pictures
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