Actress Heidelinde Weis died at the age of 83
Austrian actress Heidelinde Weis has died at the age of 83. The death of the versatile actress, who was known from more than 100 appearances in films and TV productions such as "Derrick", "Der Alte" and "Traumschiff", was confirmed to the German Press Agency (dpa). The broadcaster ORF and the "Kronen Zeitung" had previously reported on this.
Weis was born in 1940 in Villach in the southern Austrian state of Carinthia and first got a taste of the stage as a 14-year-old in a school play. She trained as an actress at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. "I think I learned this profession because I wanted to play theater," she told ORF in 2008. Weis has performed on stages in Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich, among others. She played alongside Klaus Maria Brandauer at the Salzburg Festival.
Weis suffered several strokes of fate
Weis was known to television audiences from the TV movie "Die Frau in Weiß" and from series such as "Schwarzwaldklinik". However, she did not want to become a series star, but mainly played guest roles. She only accepted some engagements for financial reasons, she revealed to the German Press Agency on her 80th birthday: "Films that I only made to earn money to finance the fence around our large property". TV adaptations of plays by Shakespeare and Anouilh, on the other hand, were important to her.
Strokes of fate could not deter Weis from her career. As a young woman, she developed multiple sclerosis and was confined to a wheelchair for several years. She cared for her husband, the theater producer Hellmuth Duna, for years during an illness. After his death in 1998, she often appeared in front of the television cameras again, including in Rosamunde Pilcher adaptations.
Return to her Austrian homeland
Heidelinde Weis also recorded three albums as a singer in the 1970s. However, she herself did not really believe in her talent. When she was awarded the German Record Prize, she initially thought it was a misunderstanding, as she told ORF.
After spending almost her entire professional life in Germany, Weis returned to Villach a few years ago. She could still be seen on stage in October: Together with Brandauer, she read from the correspondence between the poet Christine Lavant and the painter Werner Berg at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
"It was great": Weis used these words to describe her career in 2020. But she was not a woman who lived in the past. Last year, Weis published her memoirs entitled "The best is yet to come".
People might reminisce about Heidelinde Weis's notable roles in both movies and TV series, such as "Die Frau in Weiß" and "Schwarzwaldklinik". Despite facing numerous challenges, including multiple sclerosis and caring for her huband, Weis continued to perform in the theater and on television, even returning to her Austrian homeland to grace the stage once more.
Source: www.dpa.com
