Bernhard Wicki

Bernhard Wicki was born in 1919 in Austria and died in 2000 in Munich. He studied Acting and Photography in Berlin and Vienna, followed by theater work in Vienna, Munich, Salzburg and Zurich. His first film role was in Der fallende Stern (1950). Thereafter, he starred in numerous other films including Die letzte Bruecke (1954), Es geschah am 20. Juli (1955), Weil du arm bist, musst du frueher sterben (1956), Die Zuercher Verlobung, and the Italian production Die Nacht (La notte, 1961). He made his directorial debut with the documentary Warum sind sie gegen uns (1958), a film about youth problems in the Federal Republic of Germany. He went on to direct Miracle of Malachias (Das Wunder des Malachias, 1961), the Duerrenmatt-adaptation_ The Visit _(Der Besuch,1964), Die Zitadelle (1977), The Longest Day (Der laengste Tag, 1962), Morituri (1965), Karpfs Karriere (TV, 1972), Die Gruenstein-Variante (1984), Sansibar oder der letzte Grund (1987) and Spider’s Web (Das Spinnennetz, 1989), which won a German Film Award in 1990. The Bridge (Die Bruecke, 1959) was nominated in 1959 for the OSCAR for Best Foreign Language Film. —german films