Freddy Quinn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Freddy Quinn (born September 27, 1931 in Niederfladnitz, Niederösterreich) is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity within the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. Similar to Hans Albers two generations before him, Quinn adopted the persona of the rootless wanderer who goes to sea but longs for a home, family and friends. Quinn's Irish-sounding name comes from his Irish born salesman father. His mother was an Austrian journalist. He is often associated with the Schlager scene.
Heimatlos sind viele auf der Welt,
heimatlos und einsam wie ich.
Überall verdiene ich mein Geld,
doch es wartet keiner auf mich.
Keine Freunde, keine Liebe,
keiner denkt an mich das ganze Jahr.
Keine Freunde, keine Liebe,
wie es früher, früher einmal war.
In this world many people have no home to come to,
they have no home and are just as lonesome as I am.
I earn my money all over the place,
but no one is waiting for me.
No friends, no love,
no one thinks of me all year round.
No friends, no love,
the way it used to be back then.
- from "Heimatlos" (1957)
Freddy Quinn was born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Niedl-Petz in Lower Austria and grew up in Vienna. As a child he lived in the U.S. with his father but moved back to live with his mother in Europe. However, having left the landlocked country of Austria for Germany, he was "discovered" in St. Pauli, Hamburg, and was offered his first record contract in 1954. He represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland with the atypical song, "So geht das jede Nacht", about an unfaithful girlfriend who dates lots of men. His other songs are mostly about the endless sea and the solitary life in faraway lands. His first hit record was "Heimweh" ("Homesickness", aka "Brennend heißer Wüstensand", "Dort wo die Blumen blüh'n" and "Schön war die Zeit", 1956), a German version of Dean Martin's "Memories Are Made of This". Other hits, often just as Freddy, followed: "Die Gitarre und das Meer" (1959), "Unter fremden Sternen" (1959), "Irgendwann gibt's ein Wiedersehn" (1960), "La Paloma" (1961), "Junge, komm bald wieder" (1963). His popularity petered out in the 1970s, but Quinn continued performing in front of audiences who were growing old with him.
Starting in the late 1950s, Quinn also acted in several movies, again frequently cast as the seafaring loner. Titles include Freddy, die Gitarre und das Meer (1959), Freddy unter fremden Sternen (1959), Freddy und das Lied der Südsee (1962), and Heimweh nach St. Pauli (1963). Subsequently, Quinn also performed on the stage in such diverse roles as Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, the king in The King and I, and Lord Fancourt Babberly in Charley's Aunt.
Freddy Quinn was also an accomplished circus performer who stunned television audiences as a tightrope walker performing live and without a safety net. On another occasion, which was also televised, he rode a lion inside a circus cage while the lion was balancing atop a moving surface.
In 2004 Quinn was charged with tax evasion. He had declared Switzerland as his main residence while he had in fact been living in Hamburg, Germany. He pleaded guilty, paid all his tax debts (more than € 900,000), and eventually was fined € 150,000.
Freddy Quinn still lives in Hamburg.
