- Member of the famous Berliner Ensemble from 1951 until the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. He was engaged by Bertolt Brecht personally.
- His character "Alfred Tetzlaff", a narrow-minded, politically incorrect square, on the hit show Ein Herz und eine Seele (1973) became the role of his life.
- As he was a talented photographer, some of his pictures were exhibited at the "documenta" in Kassel.
- Is buried in the Wenningstedt cemetery on the island of Sylt.
- Specialised in eccentric or misanthropic roles.
- His most popular role was that of Hadschi Halef Omar, comic sidekick to Karl Michael Vogler's Kara Ben Nemsi Effendi (1973), on German television.
- The son of a master tailor.
- Ensemble member of the Munich Kammerspiel, 1962-68. Ensemble member of the Hamburg Schauspielhaus, 1968-76.
- Conscripted to the Volkssturm ('people's militia') during World War II and became a British prisoner-of-war.
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