Heino Ferch

Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Heino Ferch


caption =
birthdate = birth date|1963|8|18|mf=y
location = Bremerhaven, Germany
spouse = Marie-Jeanette Steinle

Heino Ferch (b. 18 August, 1963, Bremerhaven, Germany) is an award-winning German film and television actor.

Life

The son of the cargo vessel skipper was on stage for the first time in his life at the age of 15, while he was still attending grammar school: as a member of the stage ballet company in the musical "Can-Can" he performed the tumbling acrobatics acts on the stage of the City Theater in his home town of Bremerhaven.

During the same time period, he traveled through Europe as a federal member of the National League of Gymnastics.

1987 Ferch finished his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts "Mozarteum" in Salzburg, Austria (Europe). In addition to the main subject drama, he also took courses in tap dancing, ballet and singing.

From 1987 until 2006 Heino Ferch lived in the city of Berlin, a city whose fate of division after World War II and reunification in 1989 is repeatedly reflected in his work as a movie actor ("„Menteurs“, „The Tunnel, Mord am Meer, The Airlift, The Wall - Berlin 1961" and upcoming in 2008 "The Miracle of Berlin"). After his wedding in 2005 Heino Ferch moved his main residence to Bavaria.

Until 1999 he had a nine-years-relationship with the German actress "Suzanne von Borsody". In the year of 2000 he met the daughter of the former under-secretary of state for cultural affairs for the city of Berlin physician "Dr. Julia von Pufendorf". From this relationship he became father of a daughter (Louisa, *2000).

In the year of 2002 at the Bavarian Television Award celebration Heino Ferch met the National League Member of the military eventing squad "Marie-Jeanette Steinle".

Three years later, in 2005, Ferch and Steinle married during the world's biggest sailing ship unification event "Sail 2005" in the captain's lounge of the three-mast sailing ship Dar Młodzieży in Bremerhaven. The church wedding followed ten days later in Munster "St. Maria Ascension" in Dießen at Bavarian Ammersee.

The happily married couple Heino and Marie-Jeanette Ferch are highly active in Polo sports - as players and in the promotion of the young. Both reported DPV-Handicap is -1 (Heino Ferch) and +-0 (Marie-Jeanette Ferch) (season 2008).

Work

Theatre

His first engagement after completing his studies Heino Ferch accepted at the "Freie Volksbuehne" Berlin. He was an ensemble-member from 1987-1990 - under the direction of Hans Neuenfels (et al). 1990 - 1994 he was ensemble member at the "Schiller Theatre", Berlin ( "Die Raeuber; Mockinpott; Kasimir und Karoline; As you like it" - director: Katharina Thalbach).1992 he appeared at the "Theater des Westens" in "Der Blaue Engel" (screenplay after a novel by Heinrich Mann) under the direction of Peter Zadek.

He also appeared as guest actor at the "Salzburg Festival" ("Un re in ascolto; Jedermann; Macbeth; Il ritorno d´Ulisse"), at the "Scala Milan" and at the "Burgtheater Vienna" (Die Geisel).

Film

In 1987 he made his feature film debut with a brief appearance in "Schloß Koenigswald" (directed by Peter Schamoni). 1989 he played his first leading part in "Wedding" (which is the name of a Berlin working class quarter), as amok runner Klaus Asmus (director: Heiko Schier).

1994 followed among many others the notable TV-mini production "Deutschlandlied" (directed by Tom Toelle) where he played the part of Hanno Schmidbauer, a young cabinet maker at the end of World War II.

1996 he appeared as Napola - Commander Obersturmbannfuehrer Raufeisen in "The Ogre" (quote by Oscar award winner, director Volker Schloendorff: "…"the young sympathetic social climber Raufeisen, wonderfully portraied by Heino Ferch"..“).

1997 is the year of his breakthrough as a film actor with his appearance as Jewish singer Roman Cycowski in "The Harmonists" (director: Josef Vilsmaier) a famous German a capella singing ensemble of the early 30s of the 20th century.

In 1997 he also played the leading part in "Wintersleepers", an early masterwork by director Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run, The Parfume")

In 1997 Ferch embodied not less than nine completely different movie characters. In seven of these he played the leading role or co-lead. ("Comedian Harmonists, Wintersleepers, Life is All You Get, Play for your life, The Guardian Angel, Coma, Buddies, Lucie Aubrac, It happened at broad daylight")

In 1998 we saw him as gangster Ronnie in Tom Tykwers world success movie "Run Lola Run". "'

In 2001 started the TV-mini "The Tunnel" (director: Roland Suso Richter) on a dramatic escape of 32 persons from the GDR. The "far above average level movie" (UfA) received seven film awards and was sold in more than 28 countries.

Ferch received the "Golden Camera" award as best actor for his appearance as Harry Melchior, a fictional figure after escape agent Hasso Herschel.

In the year of 2004 the film "The Downfall" (director: Oliver Hirschbiegel) had it's cinema start. The film received an "Oscar" nomination and was subsequently sold into 145 countries around the world. In this film Ferch embodied Hitler's architect and Minister for Armaments, Albert Speer (sometimes called "the first architect of the Third Reich").

After the turn of the millennium the German film production company "teamworx" started a new TV-format: the so called "event movies". Striking events form German history are combined with semi fictional story telling „"making the past come alive"“ ("teamworx"-claim) (e.g. The Tunnel, The Airlift, Dresden, Storm Tide).

Heino Ferch repeatedly spearheaded this format as featuring lead actor.

In 2005 eight million German viewers watched the TV-event "The Airlift" with Heino Ferch starring as American General Philipp Turner, a fictional character after General William H. Tunner, the organizator of the air-supply bridge in 1948/49 for the locked-in city of Berlin.

The film received the "Golden Camera award" as best TV-film of the year and was sold into 43 countries.

In 2007 the "teamworx" event-movie "Hunt for Troy", an epic tale of a vision, of a relentless search for the treasury of Homer's Troy, became a success in 32 countries. Heino Ferch embodied the German business man and self made archeologist Heinrich Schliemann.

Parallel to these big productions Heino Ferch regularly appears as leading part in smaller productions – often high quality thrillers. Most of these received various film awards. (e.g. "The lawyer and his guest, The account, Hell in the head, Killing at seaside, Hunt for Justice".)

Also character parts in European co-productions and Canada, as "Lucie Aubrac" (directed by Claude Berri), "Julius Caesar" (directed by Uli Edel), "Napoléon" (dir.: Yves Simoneau), "The Seagull's Laughter" (dir: Ágúst Guðmundson) "Hunt for Justice- The Louise Arbour Story" (dir.: Charles Binamé) "The Trojan Horse – H2O Part II" (dir: Charles Binamé) and "D´Artagnan et les trois Mousquetaires" (dir.: Prierre Aknine) helped to establish the German actor's visibility in an international setting.

Today (2008) Heino Ferch is one of the most popular and prolific actors in Germany.

elected filmography

*2008 - "Der Baader Meinhof Komplex"
*2008 - "The Trojan Horse" (TV, CAN, US)
*2007 - "Messy Christmas"
*2007 - "Hunt for Troy" (TV)
*2006 - "The Wall - Berlin ´61" (TV)
*2006 - "Ghetto"
*2005 - "The Airlift" (TV)
*2005 - "Hunt for Justice - The Louise Arbour Story" (TV, CAN)
*2005 - "D'Artagnan et les trois mousquetaires" (TV, FR)
*2004 - "Downfall"
*2003 - "A Light in Dark Places"(TV)
*2002 - "Extreme Ops"
*2002 - "Napoléon" (TV, FR)
*2001 - "The Seagull's Laughter"
*2002 - "Julius Caesar" (TV, USA, IT, FR)
*2001 - "Der Tunnel"
*1999 - "The Green Desert"
*1998 - "Four for Venice"
*1997 - "The Harmonists"
*1997 - "Life Is All You Get"
*1997 - "Wintersleepers"

Awards

Adolfe Grimme Award
*Adolf Grimme Award for series/miniseries (A Light in Dark Places / "Das Wunder von Lengede")Bambi Awards
*Bambi Award for national film ("Downfall")
*Bambi Award for TV event of the year (A Light in Dark Places / "Das Wunder von Lengede")Bavarian Film Awards
*1997 Special Award ("The Harmonists / Comedian Harmonists") [http://www.bayern.de/Anlage19170/PreistraegerdesBayerischenFilmpreises-Pierrot.pdf] Bavarian TV Awards
*Bavarian TV Award ("Der Tunnel")Golden Camera
*Golden Camera ("Der Tunnel")Jupiter Award
*Jupiter Award ("The Wall - Berlin ´61")

External links

*
* Heino Ferch Filmography on [http://www.filmszenen.net/filmography_heino_ferch.html www.filmszenen.net]
* Scene photos of Heino Ferch in different film roles [http://www.kino.de/kdgalerie.php4?db=mlnamen&typ=fotoline&dbnr=24329&bildnr=75&quelle=&vbildtyp=&frame=1 from kino.de]