- And so his eyes landed in the "Crime Scene" precinct.
His Eyes Made Him Famous: German Actor and Entrepreneur Horst Lettenmayer (1941 - 2024) Has Died. The "Munich Evening News" reported this on Monday (5th August), citing his daughter Julia-Alina Lettenmayer. According to this, the man who has been seen with his gray-blue eyes and iconic legs in the "Tatort" intro for over 50 years, died at the age of over 80 on July 20th in his apartment. He was buried on July 31st, his 83rd birthday, at the Munich North Cemetery.
How Horst Lettenmayer Became Famous
Almost every Sunday at 8:15 PM, Horst Lettenmayer's eyes gaze through a slit at the music of Klaus Doldinger onto the German "Tatort" viewers. Then, his legs are seen running over glossy asphalt.
The sequence used to this day in the famous crime intro of the ARD was filmed in 1970 at Munich-Riem Airport. At that time, the NDR was filming the first "Tatort" with the title "Taxi to Leipzig", and the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation was responsible for the intro. Lettenmayer famously received a one-time payment of 400 DM for this acting job. According to the "Munich Evening News" on the occasion of his death, Lettenmayer had apparently taken legal action against this during his lifetime. "No one thought at the time that this thing would run unchanged for 38 years," he once said in an interview.
"They're Looking for Some Eyes - Why Don't You Give Them a Call?"
As the first reported in an article about the 1000th episode, the famous crime series has been introduced by the same intro since 1970. "The eyes and legs in the intro belong to the former actor Horst Lettenmayer. Forty-six years ago, he received a life-changing call from his agency - 'They're looking for some eyes, why don't you give them a call?' - which made him a regular on the screens after the 'Tagesschau' on Sundays."
Lettenmayer also appeared in the "Tatort" again almost twenty years later. He played the role of union boss Günther Bröggemann in the "Tatort: The Pot" in 1989, alongside Götz George (1938 - 2016) as Commissioner Horst Schimanski and Eberhard Feik (1943 - 1994) as Commissioner Christian Thanner. His role is brutally murdered in the "Tatort" episode. Incidentally, the actor Miroslav Nemec (70), who played the Munich commissioner from 1991 onwards, also appears in this "Tatort" episode.
Despite his legal disputes over the payment for the iconic "Tatort" intro, Horst Lettenmayer continued to be a beloved figure in German television, as evidenced by his return to the series in the "Tatort: The Pot" in 1989.
Horst Lettenmayer's impact on German television was significant, and his impact was felt even after his passing, as his legacy as the face of the "Tatort" intro lived on.
