"Der Bulle von Tölz" and much more: Ottfried Fischer turns 70
Ottfried Fischer moved again before his 70th birthday. The cabaret artist and actor now lives in Gauting near Lake Starnberg. In Passau, everyday life in a wheelchair was too difficult, Ottfried Fischer and his wife Simone told the German Press Agency.
The star of series such as "Der Bulle von Tölz" and "Pfarrer Braun" is in a wheelchair as a result of his Parkinson's disease. On November 7, "Otti" turns 70 and plans to celebrate with colleagues and companions in Munich.
In June, Ottfried Fischer appeared with his wife at the opening of the Munich Film Festival. Public appearances by the TV star have become rare.
A career in one fell swoop
In the past, it was hard to imagine television without the native of Lower Bavaria. He began his career in the 1980s. Director Franz Xaver Bogner hired him for the series "Irgendwie und Sowieso" and "Zur Freiheit". Then things went from strength to strength.
From the 1990s onwards, he entertained audiences with his cult cabaret show "Ottis Schlachthof". Fischer could be seen in "Zärtliche Chaoten" and "Go Trabi Go". And in 1995, he slipped into the role of grumpy detective Benno Berghammer for the first time. "Der Bulle von Tölz" became the role of a lifetime.
His personal highlight is another: "Irgendwie und Sowieso". He told dpa in 2018 that this is also the series he is most often asked about, with people often reciting entire dialogs to him. "Sir Quickly is already good for a little immortality."
Parkinson's changed a lot in Fischer's life
In 2008, the cabaret artist made his Parkinson's disease public. He joked: "Don't worry, I don't do shake rhymes!" But even if he didn't let it take away his sense of humor, the disease changed a lot in Fischer's life.
In addition, the series "Der Bulle von Tölz" was discontinued in 2009 after the death of his film mother Ruth Drexel. In November 2012, he hosted "Ottis Schlachthof" on Bavarian television for the last time. Just under a year later, the series "Pfarrer Braun" was also over. After that, there were no more role offers.
He said of his retirement from the stage and television that he had made more than 150 films. "You know what you've done. It was a life on the wheel." In the evening, he would receive a note telling him what he had to do the next day. "And then you drive there, complete your workload and drive home with the note for the next day." This heteronomy is not the ideal of a creative profession.
Plenty of private headlines
Success and celebrity also brought plenty of private headlines for Fischer. The separation from his wife, with whom he has two daughters, occupied the media. His relationship with his current wife Simone brought him new happiness.
Last year, he said in an interview that Simone was his best friend: "She has so many good things that I wouldn't know what to do without her." The couple moved to Passau in 2017. Ottfried Fischer had inherited his grandparents' town house there and had it renovated.
Numerous awards - the Golden Romy, the Bavarian Cabaret Prize, the Order against Animal Seriousness and the German Comedy Prize - underline Fischer's success. Hape Kerkeling once said in a laudatory speech that Fischer had supported many artists - including himself in "Ottis Schlachthof" - and paved the way for them. Alluding to Fischer's corpulence, Kerkeling joked: "A comedian as big as you just doesn't fit into a small, thin man."
Ottfried Fischer's cabaret show "Ottis Schlachthof" was popular on television. The role of grumpy detective Benno Berghammer in "Der Bulle von Tölz" is considered one of Ottfried Fischer's most notable film appearances. Ottfried Fischer often performs with his wife in cabaret acts.
Source: www.dpa.com
