Ellen Schwiers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ellen Schwiers
Ellen Schwiers in 2008
Born	(1930-06-11)11 June 1930 Stettin, Pomerania, Germany
Died	26 April 2019(2019-04-26) (aged 88) Starnberg, Germany
Occupation	Actress Stage director
Years active	1952–2015
Spouse(s)	Peter Jacob ​ ​ (m. 1956; died 1992)​
Children	Katerina Jacob Daniel Jacob
Parent(s)	Lutz Schwiers
Relatives	Holger Schwiers (brother) Josephine Jacob (granddaughter)
Awards	Medal of Baden-Württemberg German Order of Merit

Ellen Schwiers (11 June 1930 – 26 April 2019) was a German actress of stage, film, and television. She was featured in world premieres of plays by Dürrenmatt and Frisch at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, and appeared as Buhlschaft in Jedermann at the Salzburg Festival. In a career from 1949 to 2015, she also appeared in more than 200 films and television shows, including popular series such as Tatort. She also directed plays, founded a touring theatre company in 1982, and was Intendant of a festival from 1984.

Career

Schwiers was born in Stettin on 11 June 1930, the daughter of Lutz Schwiers [de], a travelling actor who trained her. Her earliest theatre engagement was at the Theater Koblenz from 1949, and she was then engaged by Heinz Hilpert at the Theater Göttingen in 1953. Her first major role was the title role in Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm. She played in the world premieres of Dürrenmatt's Der Meteor [de] and Frisch's Biografie: Ein Spiel [de] at the Schauspielhaus Zürich. She was internationally recognised for playing Buhlschaft in Jedermann at the Salzburg Festival in 1961 and 1962, a role that she also played in a 1961 film, alongside Walther Reyer in the title role.

Schwiers appeared in more than 200 television productions, including popular series such as Tatort, Der rote Schal and Doktor Martin.

Schwiers first directed a play at the Burgfestspiele Jagsthausen [de], Shakespeare's Was ihr wollt (Twelfth Night). In 1984, she became Intendant of the festival.

Schwiers married Peter Jacob in 1956. Their daughter Katerina Jacob also became an actress. Their son Daniel, also an actor, died of cancer in 1985 at the age of 21. She is also the grandmother of Josephine Jacob. Schwiers founded a touring theatre company with her husband and daughter, Das Ensemble, which she kept running after her husband's death in 1992, and then passed to her daughter. She last appeared on stage at the age of 84 in the comedy Altweiberfrühling, with her daughter and her brother Holger Schwiers [de].

Schwiers died at her home in Starnberg on 26 April 2019.

Selected filmography

The first film role for Schwiers was Hildegard in Heimliches Rendezvous [de] in 1949, directed by Kurt Hoffmann. She appeared in more than 60 films, including:

Awards

• 1989: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1995: Medal of Baden-Württemberg
• 2013: Deutscher Schauspielpreis [de] in the category "Starker Auftritt" for In den besten Jahren

See also

In Spanish: Ellen Schwiers para niños