As of: March 25, 2024, 12:05 p.m
By: Jonas Erbas
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Fritz Wepper played popular television roles for decades, but also gained plenty of theater and cinema experience over the course of his remarkable career.
© Sven Simon/Imago
After a long and serious illness, Fritz Wepper began his last journey.
This means that a German acting legend is gone forever.
Fritz Wepper (†82) spent his last days in a hospice in Upper Bavaria, where he passed away.
Until recently, the cult actor received daily visits from his wife Susanne Kellermann (49) and their daughter Filippa (12).
In recent years, the Munich native had repeatedly had to struggle with health setbacks, including blood poisoning (2011), from which he was never able to fully recover, and cancer (2021).
Fritz Wepper is dead: Munich cult actor began his career at a young age
Fritz Wepper, who was born in Munich, attended the Wittelsbacher-Gymnasium in the Maxvorstadt district, like his brother Elmar (†79), who died on October 31, 2023.
He gained his first television and stage experience at the age of nine when he appeared in various children's programs on Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR).
He also took part in productions at the Munich State Theater and the Munich Youth Theater.
In 1955 he celebrated his film debut in a supporting role in Hermann Kugelstadt's black-and-white circus film “The Dark Star”.
Four years later, in 1959, Fritz Wepper's big breakthrough came: in the anti-war film "Die Brücke" he played the 16-year-old Wehrmacht soldier Albert Mutz.
Roles in other film and television productions followed, including the Edgar Wallace film “The Man with the Glass Eye” (1969) and the Oscar-winning musical film “Cabaret” (1972).
Fritz Wepper will never be forgotten: Legendary thanks to “Derrick” and “For Heaven’s Sake”
However, Fritz Wepper was particularly popular in his role as Harry Klein in the ZDF crime series “The Commissioner” (from 1969 to 1974) and “Derrick” (from 1974 to 1998).
From 2002 to 2021, the player, who was awarded six Bambis, played Mayor Wolfgang Wöller in the ARD series “For Heaven's Sake”.
In October 2023 he finally announced that he would be withdrawing from the acting business due to his serious illnesses.
At the end of 2023, he had to receive palliative treatment for five weeks due to blood poisoning and was unable to spend the Christmas holidays at home.
The sudden death of his brother Elmar had previously taken a toll on him.
The actor leaves behind his second wife Susanne Kellermann, their daughter Filippa and daughter Sophie Wepper (42), who comes from his first marriage to Angela von Morgen (1942-2019).
Sources used:
br.de