Friedrich Schoenfelder(1916-2011)

Distinguished German actor of stage and screen noted for his rich, sonorous voice and gentlemanly bearing. An architect's son, Schoenfelder studied acting at the Prussian State Theatre in Berlin under the direction of Gustaf Gründgens, making his stage debut in 1936. His career was interrupted by wartime military service and he spent one year as a prisoner-of-war, being released in 1946. For the next decade and a half, he performed at numerous theatres throughout Germany, often in the role of the bon vivant. His warm voice, distinguished bearing and prematurely graying hair lent further credence to his typecasting as gentlemen about town in musicals and boulevard comedies.

Schoenfelder first acted on the screen from 1949, initially in leading roles. From the 1960s, he was seen more often in TV productions playing prominent secondary roles, usually as benevolent aristocrats, judges, professors or diplomatic envoys. He also became a perennial favourite as a voice-over artist for English or American stars from Alec Guinness and Henry Fonda to Vincent Price and Peter Cushing. He also did the German narration for such popular nature documentary series as "Wild Kingdom" (1963), dubbing for Marlin Perkins. On the stage, he acted for more than seven decades in anything from German-speaking productions of Shakespeare (usually in aristocratic roles) to comedy, such as 'Pension Schoeller' and 'Harvey'. From 1961, he made more than 1,200 appearances in 'My Fair Lady' at the Theater des Westens in Berlin, first as Colonel Pickering and later as Professor Higgins. An irrepressible performer who loved his craft, Schoenfelder was last seen on stage at the age of 91 in the play 'November' by David Mamet at the Renaissance Theater in Berlin.