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'{{Infobox person | name = Werner Stocker | image = Werner Stocker Darius1.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Werner Stocker as [[Darius (Highlander)|Darius]] in [[Highlander: The Series]] | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1955|4|7|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Flintsbach am Inn]], [[Bavaria]], [[West Germany]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|5|27|1955|4|7|mf=y}} | death_place = [[Munich]], [[Bavaria]], [[Germany]] | height = | othername = | yearsactive = 1982–1993 | spouse = | website = | awards = '''Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Actor''' <br> 1988 ''[[Herbstmilch (film)|Herbstmilch]]'' }} '''Werner Stocker''' (April 7, 1955 – May 27, 1993) was a German [[actor]]. He studied acting at the {{Interlanguage link multi|Neue Münchner Schauspielschule|de}} and at the [[Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts]]. Stocker appeared in the 1987 American [[television film]] ''[[The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission]]''. He is probably best known for his role as Darius, the immortal monk who was Duncan's friend in the first season of "Highlander: The Series" in 1993. It was his final role as he passed away from a brain tumour in 1993 shortly after finishing filming for the series. ==''Highlander: The Series''== Werner Stocker also featured in the fantasy hit ''[[Highlander: The Series]]'' as [[Darius (Highlander)|Darius]], a 2,000-year-old immortal priest. The script of the episode "[[Highlander: The Series (season 1)#ep13|Band of Brothers]]" describes Darius as a monk with a "hideously ugly face",<ref name ="S2">Episode "Band of Brothers", Final shooting script, p. 1, in ''Highlander the Series'' (season 1) (DVD, Davis-Panzer Productions, Inc., 2001), disc 9.</ref> but when the producers cast the part, they chose Stocker, who did not fit this description. Creative Consultant David Abramovitz explains, "Darius, originally in the script, was written as almost to look like the [[Quasimodo|Hunchback of Notre Dame]], to be physically ugly and with a glorious soul. And when I got to France, I noticed that they cast this young, handsome German actor named Werner Stocker. I said, 'Wait a minute. What's going on here? He's supposed to be ugly.' And it seemed that the Germans, who were putting up a great deal of money, didn't want the only German actor in the show to be ugly; so he wasn't ugly. And this was one of the cases where politics won out and it didn't hurt anything because he was wonderful in the part."<ref name="DA">David Abramovitz, at {{cite web |url=http://www.highlandercatalog.com/s1ep13.shtml |title=Highlander: The Official Site |accessdate=2003-08-29 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030829102021/http://www.highlandercatalog.com/s1ep13.shtml |archivedate=August 29, 2003 }}, last accessed February 1, 2007</ref> Associate Creative Consultant Donna Lettow says about Darius' character development, "It was always planned that Darius would die in "[[Highlander: The Series (season 1)#ep22|The Hunters]]". The original plan for Darius was that he would reappear in flashbacks, much like [[Hugh Fitzcairn|Fitzcairn]] does now."<ref>Donna Lettow, at [http://www.highlanderworldwide.com/conventions/prev/hldu2-lettow.shtml Highlander_Worldwide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519000621/http://www.highlanderworldwide.com/conventions/prev/hldu2-lettow.shtml |date=2006-05-19 }}, last accessed January 26, 2007</ref> Abramovitz confirms, "Darius would have played a bigger part in the show, but Werner passed away."<ref name="DA1">David Abramovitz, in Scott Thomas, ''There Can Be Only One'', ''Retrovision'', n°1, November 1997 issue, p. 47.</ref> Stocker's unexpected illness effectively prevented this. Producer [[Bill Panzer]] remembers that Stocker "had announced that he had a brain tumor,"<ref>Episode "Band of Brothers", Bonus Material, Bill Panzer's interview, in ''Highlander: The Series'' (season 1) (DVD, Davis-Panzer Productions, Inc., 2001), disc 5.</ref> and that it happened "before we started shooting ["The Hunters"], just before. It involved a tremendous amount of rewriting."<ref>Episode "The Hunters", Bonus Material, Bill Panzer's interview, in ''Highlander: The Series'' (season 1) (DVD, Davis-Panzer Productions, Inc., 2001), disc 8.</ref> The season 1 promotional booklet recounts, "Just days before going into production actor Werner Stocker was stricken ill and was unable to work. By now the character of Darius had become an integral part of the story and the writers had to scramble to adjust the story line."<ref name="BK">Season 1 promotional booklet, in ''Highlander: The Series'' (season 1), (DVD, Davis-Panzer Productions, Inc., 2001)</ref> Abramovitz recalls, "This was the episode when we learned that Werner Stocker was extremely ill. (...) I got a call at three o'clock in the morning, saying Werner would not be available, we were shooting in a day and a half, and there was fear if we were going to have to shut down. I went into work, wrote twenty-five straight hours, without a break, and got out a script and the show went on and it turned out pretty well."<ref name="BK"/> The promotional booklet further says, "Footage from previous episodes was successfully used to fill in for the absent actor and the season finale went on to mark a huge shift in the ''Highlander'' saga, forever altering the future of the series with the introduction of "[[Watcher (Highlander)#The Hunters|Hunters]]" and "Watchers"."<ref name="BK"/> Commenting on Stocker's performance as Darius, Abramovitz says, "He had an elegance, presence, and I was happy with the episode "Band of Brothers"."<ref name="DA"/> [[Adrian Paul]] thinks, "[He] had a very ethereal quality himself and I think Werner played [Darius] very well."<ref name="AP">Adrian Paul, AOL Live Chat, May 1997, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121103195921/http://www.angelfire.com/realm/highlander/aplive.doc transcript], last accessed February 1, 2007</ref> The promotional booklet reports that Darius was "played with soulful grace by (...) Stocker. Stocker was an instant hit with fans."<ref name="BK"/> Stocker died on May 27, 1993, of a [[brain tumor]]. The episodes "[[Highlander: The Series (season 2)#ep14|Unholy Alliance]]" and "[[Highlander: The Series (season 2)#ep15|Unholy Alliance Part Two]]" are dedicated to him.<ref>Episode "Unholy Alliance", in ''Highlander: The Series'' (season 2) (DVD, Davis-Panzer Productions and Gétévé, 2003), disk 5.</ref><ref>Episode "Unholy Alliance, Part II", in ''Highlander: The Series'' (season 2) (DVD, Davis-Panzer Productions and Gétévé, 2003), disk 5.</ref> ==Awards== *1983 {{Interlanguage link multi|Deutscher Darstellerpreis|de|3=Deutscher Darstellerpreis|lt=German Actor Award}} (''Deutscher Darstellerpreis'') as Best Young Actor *1988 [[Bavarian Film Awards (Best Acting)|Bavarian Film Award]] (''Bayerischer Filmpreis'') shared with [[Dana Vávrová]] for ''[[Herbstmilch (film)|Herbstmilch]]'', Best Young Actors<ref>[http://www.bayern.de/Wirtschaftsstandort/Medienstandort/Medienpreise/preistraeger_filmpreis.html Bavarian Film Awards official site] (in German), last accessed November 24, 2007</ref> *1989 [[Deutscher Filmpreis|German Film Award]] in Gold shared with [[Dana Vávrová]] ==Filmography == * 1977 - ''Les rebelles'' (TV miniseries) * 1980 - ''{{Ill|The Ungrateful (film)|de|3=Die Undankbare|lt=The Ungrateful}}'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Franz Josef Wild|de}} (TV film) * 1980 - ''[[SOKO 5113]]'' (TV series) "Rosis Brüder" Part 1 and Part 2 * 1981 - ''[[Exil (miniseries)|Exil]]'', directed by [[Egon Günther]] (TV miniseries) * 1981 - ''Der Richter'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Stephan Meyer (director)|de|3=Stephan Meyer (Regisseur)|lt=Stephan Meyer}} (TV film) … Edwin * 1981 - ''{{Ill|Collin (film)|de|3=Collin (Film)|lt=Collin}}'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Peter Schulze-Rohr|de}} (TV film) … Peter Urack * 1982 - ''Warum hast du so trauige Augen'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Tom Toelle|de}} (TV film) * 1982 - ''[[Die Weiße Rose (film)|Die Weiße Rose]]'', directed by [[Michael Verhoeven]] … Christoph Probst * 1982 - ''Die fünfte Jahreszeit'' (TV miniseries) … Leopold Perwanger * 1984 - ''[[Derrick (TV series)|Derrick]]'' (TV series) - Season 11, Episode 02: "Die Verführung" … Willi Stein * 1984 - ''Abenteuer aus dem Englischen Garten'', directed by [[Margit Saad]] (TV film) … Emil * 1984 - ''{{ill|A Man Like E.V.A.|de|Ein Mann wie E.V.A.}}'', directed by [[Radu Gabrea]] … Walter/Armand * 1984 - ''Rambo Zambo'', directed by {{ill|Reinhard Donga|de}} (TV film) … Xaver * 1984 - ''[[The Old Fox]]'' (TV Series) - Episode 80: "Reihe 7 Grab 11" … Ludwig Huber * 1984 - ''[[Die Wiesingers]]'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Bernd Fischerauer|de}} (TV series, Episodes 1-10) … Ferdinand Wiesinger * 1984 - ''Le dernier civil'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Laurent Heynemann|fr}} (TV film) … Hungrich * 1985 - ''Die Unbekannten im eigenen Haus'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Bernd Fischerauer|de}} (TV film) … Luska * 1985 - ''[[Flight into Hell]]'', directed by [[Gordon Flemyng]] (TV miniseries) … Adolph Klausmann * 1985 - ''{{Interlanguage link multi|November Moon|de|Novembermond}}'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Alexandra von Grote|de}} … Hoffmann * 1986 - ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Schafkopfrennen|de}}'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Bernd Fischerauer|de}} (TV miniseries) … Kalle Grossmann * 1986 - ''{{ill|Now or Never (1986 film)|de|3=Auf immer und ewig (1986)|lt=Now or Never}}'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Christel Buschmann|de}} … Tom * 1987 - ''[[The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission]]'', directed by [[Lee H. Katzin]] (TV film) … SS Sergeant * 1987 - ''Aquaplaning'', directed by Eva Hiller (TV film) … Herrmann Ort * 1988 - ''Der Condor'', directed by [[Jobst Oetzmann]] (Short) * 1988 - ''[[Die Wiesingers]]'', directed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Bernd Fischerauer|de}} (TV series, Episodes 10-20) … Ferdinand Wiesinger * 1988 - ''[[Ein Fall für zwei]]'' (TV Series) Episode 59: "Die einzige Chance" … Thomas Stelzer * 1989 - ''[[SOKO 5113]]'' (TV series) "Der große Bruder" … Richard * 1989 - ''[[Herbstmilch (film)|Herbstmilch]]'', directed by [[Joseph Vilsmaier]] … Albert Wimschneider * 1990 - ''[[The Private War of Lucinda Smith]]'', directed by Ray Alchin (TV miniseries) … Hans * 1991 - ''Lex Minister'', directed by [[Peter Patzak]] * 1991 - ''{{ill|Rama dama (film)|de|Rama dama (Film)|lt=Rama dama}}'', directed by [[Joseph Vilsmaier]] … Hans Stadler * 1991 - ''Saint Peter's Snow'', directed by [[Peter Patzak]] … Dr. Amberg * 1992 - ''Far from Berlin'', directed by [[Keith McNally]] … Dieter Hausmann * 1992 - ''Shadows of Love'', directed by Christoph Vorster … Tom * 1992 - ''Samba Syndrom'', directed by Achim Lenz * 1992 - ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Terror Stalks the Class Reunion|fr|3=Pour le meilleur et pour le pire (téléfilm, 1992)|lt=Terror Stalks the Class Reunion}}'', directed by [[Clive Donner]] … Franz * 1993 - ''{{ill|Rosenemil|de}}'', with [[Dana Vávrová]], directed by [[Radu Gabrea]] … Emil Lehmann * 1993 - ''[[Highlander: The Series|Highlander]]'' (TV series) ::::The Hunters (1993) … Darius ::::Saving Grace (1993) … Darius ::::The Beast Below (1993) … Darius ::::For Tomorrow We Die (1993) … Darius ::::Band of Brothers (1993) … Darius ==See also== *[[List of brain tumor patients]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0830819}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Stocker, Werner}} [[Category:1955 births]] [[Category:1993 deaths]] [[Category:German male film actors]] [[Category:German male television actors]] [[Category:People from Rosenheim (district)]] [[Category:20th-century German male actors]] [[Category:Male actors from Bavaria]]'