Ralf Wolter

Ralf Wolter
Born	(1926-11-26) 26 November 1926 Berlin, Germany
Nationality	Germany
Years active	Late 1940s-2012

Ralf Wolter (born November 26, 1926 in Berlin) is a German stage and screen actor. Wolter appeared in nearly 220 films and television series in his over 60 years as a character actor.

Life and career

Wolter began his long career on the Berlin stage and in cabaret during the late 1940s. He made his first film appearance in Die Frauen des Herrn S. and quickly achieved prominence as an actor for comedic supporting roles. In 1961, he appeared as the baldheaded Soviet agent Borodenko in Billy Wilder's comedy One, Two, Three with James Cagney and Horst Buchholz. Another Hollywood film with Wolter in a supporting role was Cabaret (1972), where he played Liza Minnelli's neighbour Herr Ludwig, a publisher of pornographic books who later turns out to be a Nazi.

In Germany, Wolter achieved his greatest fame as the eccentric but friendly trapper Sam Hawkens in a number of highly successful Karl May film adaptions during the 1960s. He reprised his role as Sam Hawkens in a television series from 1980. He also appeared with Heinz Erhardt in the 1970 comedy What Is the Matter with Willi? and in a few musical films with singing child star Heintje Simons. As his film roles got more obscure during his later years, he turned more and more towards television since the 1970s. He appeared in some of the most successful German television series. As of 2014, Wolter still appears as a stage actor, his latest film is Bis zum Horizont, dann links! (2012), co-starring Otto Sander.

In 2002, he caused a motorway accident with three deaths. He was sentenced to ten months on conditional discharge.

Selected filmography

• Your Life Guards (1955)
• The Model Husband (1956)
• A Thousand Melodies (1956)
• The Old Forester House (1956)
• Confessions of Felix Krull (1957)
• The Legs of Dolores (1957)
• Spring in Berlin (1957)
• Victor and Victoria (1957)
• The Muzzle (1958)
• A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)
• Triplets on Board (1959)
• Of Course, the Motorists (1959)
• Freddy, the Guitar and the Sea (1959)
• Peter Voss, Hero of the Day (1959)
• The Goose of Sedan (1959)
• Conny and Peter Make Music (1960)
• The High Life (1960)
• One, Two, Three (1961)
• Ramona (1961)
• Robert and Bertram (1961)
• Freddy und das Lied der Südsee (1962)
• Treasure of the Silver Lake (1962)
• Die zwölf Geschworenen (1963, TV film)
• Apache Gold (1963)
• Old Shatterhand (1964)
• Coffin from Hong Kong (1964)
• Massacre at Marble City (1964)
• The Shoot (1964)
• The Treasure of the Aztecs (1965)
• The Pyramid of the Sun God (1965)
• The Desperado Trail (1965)
• Treasure of San Gennaro (1966)
• Winnetou and the Crossbreed (1966)
• Ein Fall für Titus Bunge (1967, TV series)
• The Heathens of Kummerow (1967)
• Spy Today, Die Tomorrow (1967)
• Sexy Susan Sins Again (1968)
• The Valley of Death (1968)
• Hannibal Brooks (1969)
• Die tolldreisten Geschichten – nach Honoré de Balzac (1969)
• Charley's Uncle (1969)
• Heintje: A Heart Goes on a Journey (1969)
• House of Pleasure (1969)
• Alle Kätzchen naschen gern (1969)
• What Is the Matter with Willi? (1970)
• Love, Vampire Style (1970)
• Aunt Trude from Buxtehude (1971)
• Meine Tochter - Deine Tochter (1972)
• Cabaret (1972)
• The 500 Pound Jerk (1973, TV film)
• Old Barge, Young Love (1973)
• Waldrausch (1977)
• Graf Dracula beißt jetzt in Oberbayern (1979)
• Mein Freund Winnetou (1980, TV miniseries)
• Piratensender Powerplay (1982)
• A Love in Germany (1983)
• Drei gegen Drei (1985)
• Der Schatz im Niemandsland (1987, TV miniseries)
• High Score (1990)
• Ein Schloß am Wörthersee (1990, TV series)
• Mit Leib und Seele (1990–1993, TV series)
• Vendetta (1995)
• Killer Condom (1996)
• Dinosaurier – Gegen uns seht ihr alt aus! (2009)
• Bis zum Horizont, dann links! (2012)

External links

• Ralf Wolter at IMDb