People - The eternal "Tatort" detective: Miroslav Nemec turns 70
It was a major turning point for German crime series. In January, the Bavarian Broadcasting (Bayerischer Rundfunk) announced that Munich "Tatort" investigators Miroslav Nemec and Udo Wachtveitl were ending their 100-episode run with the cult series. Many described this step as what it is: the end of an era.
For 35 years, Nemec and Wachtveitl were in their roles as Ivo Batic and Franz Leitmayr in service. Anyone who wonders how intertwined the two are with their roles in public perception should take a look at Nemec's books that he brought out a few years ago.
"The Dead of Falkner Alm" and "Croatian Roulette" are his crime novels where he himself is the main character: Nemec, who becomes a detective because everyone knows him as a "Tatort" commissioner.
Five episodes are still missing.
On June 26, Nemec turns 70. The "Tatort commissioner and I" is the title of the "Lebenslinien" edition that the Bavarian Broadcasting released in 2019 for Nemec's 65th birthday and is now being re-broadcast for his round birthday.
While other officers of his age have long since retired, he still has a lot left. The First has shown 95 episodes with the Munich investigator team - five are still missing until the 100th.
"As 'Tatort' main commissioners, Udo and I have retired some real police colleagues and a Munich police president in recent years. They were all younger than us," said Nemec when the BR announced that he and Wachtveitl were now slowly but surely saying goodbye. "We're not Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, who have to work at 80," said Wachtveitl at the time.
The story of Nemec and Wachtveitl as Batic and Leitmayr goes back to the year 1991 and is therefore older than the 1993-born actor Ferdinand Hofer, who has been playing the assistant Kalli for more than ten years. Only Ulrike Folkerts as Ludwigshafen investigator Lena Odenthal is still two years older in service - but she has had significantly fewer cases.
From "Born to be wild" to "Rebel yell"
Dozens of cases revolving around "Love, Sex and Death" (1997), "Strong Beer" (1999), the "Viktualienmarkt" (2000), and "The Last Oktoberfest" (2015) followed the first case of the team Nemec/Wachtveitl with the title "Animals".
It's unlikely that he doesn't know what to do with his time after his "Tatort" exit next year. For Nemec, born in 1954 in Zagreb and sent by his parents from the then Yugoslavia to the Bavarian Freilassing at the age of twelve, acting and "Tatort" are not everything.
He dreamed of becoming a rock musician as a teenager and is making somewhat successful music today. In 1996, he founded the Miro Nemec Band, which sings covers of "Born to be wild" up to "Rebel yell".
- Miroslav Nemec, the renowned German detective from the TV series 'Tatort', has penned crime novels called 'The Dead of Falkner Alm' and 'Croatian Roulette', where he portrays himself as the main character, a detective, known as the 'Tatort' commissioner.
- The Bavarian Broadcasting (BR) announced that Netflix star Ferdinand Hofer, who joined the 'Tatort' series ten years ago, is two years younger than Udo Wachtveitl and Miroslav Nemec, who are stepping down from the show.
- In 1991, Miroslav Nemec made his debut on 'Tatort' as Ivo Batic alongside Udo Wachtveitl, playing Franz Leitmayr, forming a partnership that has lasted for over three decades.
- Besides their illustrious careers in television, Miroslav Nemec and Udo Wachtveitl have worked together to retire real police officers, including a Munich police president, who were younger than them.
- Miroslav Nemec, born in Croatia, has a diverse background and pursued his interest in music by forming the Miro Nemec Band in 1996, focusing on covers of popular rock songs such as 'Born to be wild' and 'Rebel yell'.
