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'Germany's James Dean' dies at 69
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- Horst Buchholz, who starred in the classic Western "The Magnificent Seven" and was known as Germany's James Dean for playing rebellious teenagers, has died of pneumonia in Berlin at the age of 69. More recently he played a riddle-loving Nazi physician in the Roberto Benigni's 1997 Oscar-winning film "Life is Beautiful." Buchholz died on Monday at the Charite hospital, a spokesman said. He was treated for a broken thigh in December and released in February. Born in Berlin's working class Prenzlauer Berg district on December 4, 1933, Buchholz dropped out of school early to take acting lessons. After a successful Berlin theatre career, he established himself as a film actor in the 1950s. Apart from "The Magnificent Seven" in 1960, co-starring with Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen and James Coburn, Buchholz also found international acclaim with Billy Wilder's 1961 comedy "One, Two, Three." His distinct craggy voice dubbed more than 1,000 imported films. His breakthrough came as a wavy-haired rebel in the 1956 West German film "Die Halbstarken," or the Wolf pack. "Horst Buchholz was the first German actor that the world outside accepted after the war, treating him with mercy for being born late enough not to have anything to do with it," wrote Die Welt newspaper. The son of a shoemaker, who was killed during World War Two, Buchholz first role was in 1948 at age 15 in a Berlin theatre. He spent several years in Hollywood in the early 1960s and made films in France, Spain, Italy and Britain. "We actors are like whores -- for a good film I'm the world's biggest whore," he once said. His last major role was in "Life is Beautiful." Buchholz played the grey-haired physician Dr Lessing, who is cultivated, well-read and develops a friendship with a Jewish waiter in Italy. But he nevertheless does nothing to stop the mass murder when they meet again in a concentration camp. In addition to working with directors Wilder, Benigni and Wim Wenders, Buchholz also worked with top actors such as Romy Schneider, Heinz Ruemann, Peter Falk, Hildegard Knef and Mario Adorf. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Myriam Bru, and two children. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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