Heinz Bennent, 1921 - 2011

He worked with Bergman, Truffaut, Schlöndorff and Żuławski.
David Hudson

The Renaissance Theater in Berlin has announced that actor Heinz Bennent, best known in Europe for his work on the stage, died this morning at the age of 90. His career spanned over 150 roles in more than 20 theaters and, beginning in the late 60s, on screen. He performed for Ingmar Bergman in The Serpent's Egg (1978) and From the Life of the Marionettes (1980), for François Truffaut in The Last Metro (1980; he was nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor), for Volker Schlöndorff in The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975) and The Tin Drum (1979; his son David played Oskar) and for Andrzej Żuławski in Possession (1981). He appeared in several European television productions as well, but as the German Press Agency emphasizes, he first love always remained the theater.

Update, 10/15: For the New Yorker's Richard Brody, "his final screen performance, in Benoît Jacquot's Princess Marie, from 2003, is an extraordinary one, and it should propel the actor into the forefront of discussion. (I reviewed the film in 2006.) There — acting once more in the company of Catherine Deneuve, as he did in Truffaut's film — he plays Sigmund Freud (the only clip I could find is transferred badly)."

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