Widow of Jopie Heesters Resorts to Deception to Meet Age Requirement
For six decades, Simone Rethel-Heesters has graced the stage. At 75, she's still going strong - her husband, Johannes "Jopie" Heesters, never contemplated retirement. Some find her appearance too youthful for her age, so she employs tricks.
Taking a break? Not an option for Simone Rethel-Heesters. Her husband, Johannes Heesters, was 107 when he last appeared on stage - she's got more than three decades left. Her 75th birthday celebration is scheduled for June 15, at home in Starnberg, with a grand garden party.
Simone Rethel-Heesters is still in the spotlight, on the stage or behind the easel. In 2023, the descendant of painter Alfred Rethel exhibited her artwork in Berlin. "I wouldn't call painting a hobby. It's a profession - one I put aside for a while," she says about her secondary income. "Because I come from a painter family, that's something that belongs to me. The Expressionists are my role models." She mostly paints in oil, often from photographs she's previously taken. "The visual is my means of expression."
These days, she spends more time in her studio at her house in Starnberg. Prior to that, theater performances and book writing took priority. Boredom is foreign to her. Rethel's belief: "People become discontent and often sick when they no longer have anything to do, when they are no longer needed, when they no longer engage and no longer take an interest." Those who stop taking on tasks, setting goals, getting engaged, and staying interested, stop participating in life. Her husband, Johannes Heesters, who passed away at the end of 2011 at 108, lived this extreme form - and it seems to be working for her as well.
Appearing Younger
At casting calls, they told her she looked too young for her age. In response, she started wearing a gray wig. She played the role of a maid in the TV series "Storm of Love" in gray - and received praise: It suited her. She's currently experimenting with gray wigs for a photo series - an experiment, she says. Some producers have shown interest.
She has long advocated for an active old age, as she did in her latest book "Age-less - Boundless". Since 2005, Rethel-Heesters has been an ambassador for the initiative "Elderly in Dignity". She has also criticized the negative societal image of aging and older people. "We are today - thank God - very sensitive and careful with statements about people and their different life forms, so as not to discriminate, but we hardly notice how older people in the media and our immediate environment are discriminated against on a daily basis. I am protesting loudly about this."
If age were respected more, "then we wouldn't have to be afraid of aging." Many older people are still full of creative power. Women have it even harder to be respected in old age.
As a child, she was already enamored with Heesters. At 11, she saw him for the first time on television and was smitten. Later, they became a couple and married in 1992. She was then 42, he was 88 years old. Their marriage with the more than twice as old Heesters caused quite a stir. "He was 88, but he wasn't that old for me," says Rethel-Heesters. "For me, that was normal. Jopie was younger in his way. He had an incredible temperament. He was an exception."
After their marriage in 1992, the two often shared the stage. In the 90s, they were in "A Blessed Age" by Chekhov and "The Cherry Orchard" in 2002. She is less frequently seen alone on stage or on screen. Heesters' performances take precedence. "Poppie," as she called him, accompanied him, sometimes even asking questions that, with his over 100 years, he had a hard time understanding. The actress once quoted his statement at the wedding: "Why should I stop? Then I'll lose touch. And I'll soon only talk about illnesses."
Long Career in Acting
Rethel-Heesters started her own career early. As the daughter of an interior architect and stage designer and a photographer, she received artistic inspiration, painted, and photographed. Her acting talent quickly became evident. A teacher recommended acting to her after a school performance.
At 16, she made her debut as the leading actress in the film "The Pious Helena" under the direction of Axel von Ambesser. He was her artistic mentor, encouraged her to become an actress, and sent her to drama school. During her training, she gave the role of Mariechen in Eichendorff's "The Suitors" at the Bavarian State Theatre in Munich. Ambesser directed, and after discovering her talent, he engaged her for the stage and television multiple times.
Simone Rethel often performed at the "Little Comedy" in Munich. Guest performances took her to the Berliner Ensemble, the Düsseldorfer Komödie, and the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg. She played Katharina in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." She appeared in various TV series and was in front of the camera for films like "The Lord of Barmbeck" and "The Easter Outing."
Following her husband's demise, Rethel-Heesters shifted her attention towards her professional endeavors. Beyond "Storm of Love," she featured in "Rosenheim Cops," "Soko Stuttgart," "Schwarzach 23," and recently, in the twelfth season of "Hubert without Staller."
Her photo collections, "Embracing Grace in Maturity" and "A Century with Johannes Heesters - Man and Time," were a tribute to her spouse. They shared nearly 25 years together. "That period in my life brought me immense joy."
