Rainer Werner Fassbinder - Associates and Acolytes
The performers, writers and creative forces who worked with Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1945-1982) throughout his short, but illustrious and legendary career.
List activity
383 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
27 people
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Widely known for his frequent collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, a creative partnership which lasted 10 years and produced over 20 films, Ulli Lommel is one of the most consistently creative filmmakers to come from the New German Cinema movement.
The son of German comic performer Ludwig Manfred Lommel, Ulli Lommel began his career in show business as a child. His second feature film as a director Tenderness of the Wolves (1973) brought Lommel to New York, where he began working with Andy Warhol at The Factory. The Warhol / Lommel years spawned several features, including Cocaine Cowboys (1979) and Blank Generation (1980), both of which were directed by Lommel and feature Warhol in an acting role.
In the summer of 2013 Lommel went for nine months to Brazil, where he wrote a book and also made a film about Campo Bahia, the official camp for the German National Soccer Team. His autobiography, entitled Tenderness of the Wolves, is due out in late 2015.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Lead icon of the influential New German Cinema of the 70's & 80's, Schygulla's natural blonde beauty and amazing versatility keep her among the world's top actresses. She won best actress at Cannes in 1983 for The Story of Piera (1983) (aka "The Story of Piera"), an Italian/German co-production. The Turkish/German co-production, The Edge of Heaven (2007) (aka "The Edge of Heaven"), won the 2007 Cannes award for best screenplay. The now silver-haired actress appears to have shunned plastic surgery.
One of many protégés of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who gave Schygulla especially tender treatment and nurturing, while he terrorized, manipulated, and slept with many of the other actors and filmmakers Fassbinder developed in his incestuous family-like theatrical and film troupes.
Over 12 years, Hanna Schygulla appeared in 23 Fassbinder movies (including his first feature film), the most-acclaimed being The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) (aka "The Marriage of Maria Braun") (for which she won the Silver Bear), Lili Marleen (1981) and Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980). After a disagreement with Fassbinder, she did not appear in his final 4 movies. Their mentor/muse relationship is often favorably compared with that of Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich. Schygulla met Fassbinder while she was studying romance languages and taking acting lessons in Munich, then became a member of his collective theatre troupe, "Munich Action Theatre", which eventually evolved into his film group.
After Fassbinder's 1982 death, she appeared in a few commercial films, and when she does act now, concentrates on complex roles in films with unique, international social messages. Her better known non-Fassbinder movies include Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again (1991), Casanova (1987) (with Faye Dunaway), Andrzej Wajda's A Love in Germany (1983) (aka "A Love in Germany") and Margarethe von Trotta's Sheer Madness (1983) (aka "Sheer Madness"). She's renowned for portraying strong, sensual women, and her language ability enables her to appear in films produced by many countries. Her singing was featured in Lili Marleen (1981) and Sheer Madness (1983) (aka "Sheer Madness"). Since 1997, she has turned away from movie acting, primarily to chanson singing, recording CDs, appearing in the movie, Hanna Schygulla Sings (1999) and, in 2007, a one-woman autobiographical musical (including songs of Janis Joplin, Édith Piaf, Billie Holiday, Brecht). She was the lead and sang in a live Vanessa Beecroft conceptual art piece in a German castle, with Fassbinder's long-time associate, Irm Hermann, plus 23 other women. Schygulla has worked on producing films about Berlin's Holocaust memorial, and about her work with Fassbinder.
Many of Fassbinder's film plots reflect his bizarre working relations with cast and crew, and he often reserved the most glamorous costumes and dramatic roles for Hanna Schygulla, intentionally pressuring his other talented actresses, such as his feisty ex-wife Ingrid Caven, and the abused Irm Hermann. The extremely tense relationships in the all-female The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) (aka "Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant") somewhat reflect real-life interactions of Hermann, Schygulla (both are in the movie), Fassbinder, and his mother.
Hann Schygulla's childhood family situation somewhat parallels her role, typifying Germany's moral dilemmas at the end of World War II, in The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) (aka "The Marriage of Maria Braun"). Schygulla was born on Christmas Day 1943, in Kattowice, Upper Silesia (then a section of Poland annexed by the Third Reich). Her German father was an infantryman in Italy, who was in a POW camp until she was 5. After the war, the German population was expelled from the Kattowice area.- Actress
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Additional Crew
Irm Hermann was born on 4 October 1942 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. She was an actress and assistant director, known for Five Last Days (1982), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) and The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972). She was married to Dietmar Roberg. She died on 26 May 2020 in Berlin, Germany.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Ursula Strätz was born on 28 September 1940 in Schweinfurt, Bavaria, Germany. She was an actress and director, known for Effi Briest (1974), Sonja und Kirilow haben sich entschlossen Schauspieler zu werden und die Welt zu verändern (1970) and Die erste Polka (1979). She was married to Horst Söhnlein and Bernd Thomä. She died on 15 September 2011 in Burglengenfeld, Bavaria, Germany.- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Peer Raben was born on 3 July 1940 in Viechtafell, Viechtach, Bavaria, Germany. He was a composer and actor, known for 2046 (2004), Querelle (1982) and Finding Forrester (2000). He died on 21 January 2007 in Mitterfels, Bavaria, Germany.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Producer. Studied germanistics and graduated. From 1961 worked as an editor for the German TV channel WDR, where he was headmaster of the department teleplay between 1965 and 1979. From 1979 to 1994 he was chief executive of the German production company Bavaria Atelier GmbH. Since 1992 Rohrbach has a professorship at the Hochschule fuer Fernsehen und Film in Munich, Germany.- Actor
- Production Designer
- Writer
Kurt Raab was born on 20 July 1941 in Bergreichenstein, Sudetenland [now Kasperské Hory, Czech Republic]. He was an actor and production designer, known for Tenderness of the Wolves (1973), Satan's Brew (1976) and Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? (1970). He died on 28 June 1988 in Hamburg, West Germany.- Actress
- Production Manager
- Additional Crew
Ingrid Caven was born on 3 August 1938 in Saarbrücken, Germany. She is an actress and production manager, known for Suspiria (2018), Ludwig - Requiem for a Virgin King (1972) and Looping (1981). She was previously married to Rainer Werner Fassbinder.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Harry Baer was born on 27 September 1947 in Biberach an der Riß, Germany. He is an actor and assistant director, known for Fox and His Friends (1975), Ludwig - Requiem for a Virgin King (1972) and Raid (2003).- Actor
- Cinematographer
- Composer
Iconic American-born singer and actor in international films since the 1950s. Born in L.A. to Russian immigrant parents, Constantine studied voice in Vienna. He returned to the US, where his singing career wavered and he found work as a film extra. Constantine first achieved fame in Paris, where he launched a successful career as a popular singer under the tutelage of Édith Piaf. On screen from 1953, his tough guy manner was put to good use in French imitations of Humphrey Bogart films, several of which featured Peter Cheyney's no-nonsense, hard-hitting private detective, Lemmy Caution. In 1965 Jean-Luc Godard appropriated both Constantine and the Caution character for Alphaville (1965), a futuristic, parodic homage to the detective genre. The tough guys that craggy-faced Constantine played were ideals derived from the already stylized and ritualized world of G-men and private eyes found in American movies. Filmmakers of the New German Cinema resurrected Constantine and his persona; notably, Rainer Werner Fassbinder cast him as the laconic star of the film-within-the-film in Beware of a Holy Whore (1971). Constantine also appeared in a number of German TV dramas in the 70s and 80s and, late in life, reprised his most famous role in Godard's Germany Year 90 Nine Zero (1991).- Actress
- Additional Crew
Margit Carstensen was born on 29 February 1940 in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. She was an actress, known for The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), Possession (1981) and Martha (1974). She died on 1 June 2023 in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Writer
Dietrich Lohmann was born on 9 March 1943 in Schnepfenthal, Thuringia, Germany. He was a cinematographer and writer, known for Deep Impact (1998), Color of Night (1994) and Ein großer graublauer Vogel (1970). He died on 14 November 1997 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Gottfried John was born on 29 August 1942 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999), GoldenEye (1995) and The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979). He was married to Brigitte. He died on 1 September 2014 in Utting am Ammersee, Bavaria, Germany.- Cinematographer
- Director
- Actor
Michael Ballhaus was a German cinematographer. He worked on many American films, including Baby It's You (1983), Old Enough (1984), After Hours (1985), The Color of Money (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Dracula (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), and The Departed (2006).
Ballhaus was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, for Broadcast News (1987), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), and Gangs of New York (2002), but never won.
His son Florian Ballhaus is also a cinematographer who worked on Flightplan (2005) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006).
Ballhaus died on 11 April 2017, at the age of 81.- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Ernst Küsters was born in 1930 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He was an actor, known for Effi Briest (1974), World on a Wire (1973) and Peng! Du bist tot! (1987). He died in 2006.- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Soundtrack
Günther Kaufmann was born on 16 June 1947 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor, known for Querelle (1982), Wickie und die starken Männer (2009) and Ludwig - Requiem for a Virgin King (1972). He was married to Patrizia, Alexandra von Herrendorf and Gabriele. He died on 10 May 2012 in Berlin, Germany.- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Peter Berling was born on 20 March 1934 in Obrawalde, Meseritz, Posen-West Prussia, Prussia, Germany [now Obrzyce, Miedzyrzecz, Lubuskie, Poland]. He was an actor and producer, known for Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and The Name of the Rose (1986). He died on 21 November 2017 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Theo Hinz was born on 13 August 1931 in Julienhof-Tretenwalde, Germany. He was a producer, known for The Venus Trap (1988), A Demon in My View (1991) and The Kiss of the Tiger (1988). He died on 4 March 2018 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Brigitte Mira was born on 20 April 1910 in Hamburg, Germany. She was an actress, known for Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975) and Chinese Roulette (1976). She was married to Frank Guerente, Paul Cornelius, Peter Schütte, Horst Fabian and Reinhold Tabatt. She died on 8 March 2005 in Berlin, Germany.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Mario Adorf, a tell-tale name indeed. Mario calls to mind the actor's Italian roots (his father was a Calabrian surgeon) whereas Adorf reveals his German origins (his mother was a radiologist from the German region Eifel). As for the full name Mario Adorf it echoes to perfection the international character of this living legend's long career. Born in 1930, Mario Adorf was still studying drama at the famous Otto Falkenberg School in Munich when he landed his first role in the first installment of the "O8/15" series in 1954. It was a small part but it didn't go unnoticed and got him new roles in German films, the most remarkable of which being that of Bruno Lüdke, the mentally retarded serial killer in Robert Siodmak's 1957 masterpiece "Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam". It earned him his first prize (the German Film Award of the outstanding young actor of 1958). After this Mario Adorf's career turned international. His Mediterranean looks, his rugged face, his dark oily frizzy hair and his volubility made him an ideal villain in European-made westerns, spy or mafia films. These flicks - made in the 1960s - were mostly just commercial and Adorf hammed his parts but he did it so brilliantly that he alone made them watchable. From the 1970s on, the quality of his films improved and Adorf could lend his remarkable acting talents to more ambitious works such as "Il Delitto Matteotti", in which he was a striking Mussolini, or "Die Blechtrommel", where he was terrifying as a boorish grocer contaminated by Nazism. The list of great directors he worked with is impressive: Robert Siodmak, Volker Schlöndorff, Wolgang Staudte, Michel Deville, Dino Risi, Mikhaïl Kalatozov, Luigi Comencini, Peter Fleischmann, Billy Wilder, John Frankenheimer, Claude Chabrol, Fassbinder... Likewise he served many a great author, either in the theatre (Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, Richard Nash) or the big or small screen (Grass, Böll, Schnitzler, Heny Miller, Joseph Conrad, Gorky, Patrick Süskind...). He also sang and wrote books (five novels and one memoir). Hyperactive for more than fifty-five years now, Mario Adorf, still in fine form at the age of seventy-eight, is still ... hyperactive!- Costume Designer
- Actress
- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Baum was born on 7 May 1944 in Magdeburg, Germany. She was a costume designer and actress, known for The House of the Spirits (1993), Der Kinoerzähler (1993) and Buddenbrooks (2008). She died on 15 April 2023 in Berlin, Germany.- Production Manager
- Producer
- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
Xaver Schwarzenberger was born on 21 April 1946 in Vienna, Austria. He is a cinematographer and director, known for Donauwalzer (1984), Holly - The Movie (1984) and Der Stille Ozean (1983).- Actress
- Production Manager
- Additional Crew
Ingrid Caven was born on 3 August 1938 in Saarbrücken, Germany. She is an actress and production manager, known for Suspiria (2018), Ludwig - Requiem for a Virgin King (1972) and Looping (1981). She was previously married to Rainer Werner Fassbinder.- Producer
- Actor