| Gerd Michael Henneberg | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gerhard Otto Henneberg July 14, 1922 Magdeburg, German Reich |
| Died | January 1, 2011 (aged 88) Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany |
| Occupation | Actor, theater director, theater manager |
| Years active | 1937–1997 |
Gerd Michael Henneberg (14 July 1922 – 1 January 2011) was a German actor and theater director.
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Gerd Henneberg's father, Richard, was a theater director. After the young Heeneberg took private acting classes, he made his debut on stage at the age of sixteen, in the Leipzig Theater. Afterwards, he worked in the Aschaffenburg Theater and later became a member of the cast in the German National Theater in Weimar, where he remained until after the end of World War II.[1]
At 1948, Henneberg moved to East Berlin. He appeared on the stages of the Schiffbauerdamm Theater and the People's Theater, but finally settled in the Maxim Gorky Theater. Henneberg's most recognized performance was that of Scanlon of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a character he depicted more than four hundred times. At 5 October 1960, he was awarded the People's Artist Prize.[2] In the early 1960, he was given the role of the manager in the Neustrelitz Theater. At February 1962, he was given the same office in the Dresden Theater.[3]
Henneberg was forced to resign from the latter post at October 1965, after the Socialist Unity Party of Germany disapproved of several plays he allowed to be performed and from the lack of cooperation with communist writers. He was criticized for lacking "Socialist ardor", and had to announce that he left due to "failing to make a contribution to Socialist dramaturgy." Henneberg returned to Neustrelitz, where he remained as manager until 1968. He continued to direct plays and to perform in the Maxim Gorky Theater until the 1980s, and made his last appearance on stage in Dresden, during 1997.[4]
Beside his theatrical work, he also appeared in some sixty cinema and television productions, mostly East German ones. He is mostly remembered for portraying Wilhelm Keitel in all of Yuri Ozerov's World War II films and for making several guest appearances in the popular crime drama Polizeiruf 110.[5]
After suffering from a prolonged illness, Henneberg died on New Year's Eve 2011.[6]