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Bernhard Wicki is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter and Co-Producer Suisse born on 28 october 1919 at St. Pölten (Austria)

Bernhard Wicki

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Birth name Bernhard Wicki
Nationality Suisse
Birth 28 october 1919 at St. Pölten (Austria)
Death 3 january 2000 (at 80 years) at Munich (German)
Awards Bavarian Order of Merit, Grand Merit Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Bernhard Wicki (28 October 1919 in St. Pölten, Austria – 3 January 2000 in Munich) was an Austrian actor and film director.

Wicki studied in the city of Breslau such topics as Art History, History and German Literature. In 1938, he transferred to the drama school of the Staatliches Schauspielhaus in Berlin. In 1939, because of his membership in the Bündischen Jugend he was imprisoned for many months in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After his release he moved to Vienna, and then in 1944 to Switzerland.

After the end of World War II, he starred in many films, like Die letzte Brücke (1953) and Es geschah am 20. Juli (1955). He was also a photographer. His first attempt at directing came three years later with the documentary Warum sind sie gegen uns? (1958). He became internationally famous with his anti-war film of 1959 called Die Brücke, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1961, he won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival for his film The Miracle of Father Malachia. His break in Hollywood came shortly thereafter when he was chosen to direct Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner in the highly acclaimed World War II espionage thriller, Morituri in 1965.

After his death, a fund was started in 2001 and named after him in Munich, the Bernhard Wicki Memorial Fund. Since 2002, it has awarded a film prize, The Bridge, considered a peace prize. A further prize was endowed in 2006 with 15,000 euros, a prize given in the city of Emden since 2000. He was a patron of the International Film Festival in Emden-Norderney which first started in 1990.

He first married Agnes Fink, a fellow acting colleague, and later married Elisabeth Endriss, also a colleague. In the documentary Verstörung - und eine Art von Poesie (June, 2007), Elisabeth Wicki-Endriss portrayed the life and work for Wicki.

He is buried at the Nymphenburger cemetery in Munich (grave number 4-1-23).

Biography

D'origine suisse par son père et autrichienne par sa mère, il combat sous l'uniforme allemand en France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. La guerre le marque profondément et influencera plusieurs de ses films.

Très peu de ses films sont connus en France, comme c'est le cas de nombreux réalisateurs allemands. Il réalise plusieurs longs métrages en allemand durant les années 1950 et 1960. C’est le film Le Pont (Die Brücke), sorti en 1959, qui le fait connaître dans le monde entier et notamment aux États-Unis. Ce film anti-belliciste raconte la tragique histoire de jeunes garçons qui défendent un pont contre des soldats américains durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Après avoir vu ce film, le producteur et réalisateur américain Darryl F. Zanuck contacte Wicki pour assurer la co-réalisation de la superproduction Le Jour le plus long. Son expérience de la guerre lui permet de décrire fidèlement le camp allemand. Il évite la caricature du nazi représenté dans de trop nombreux films de guerre comme un barbare parlant anglais avec un accent allemand grotesque.

Par la suite, il réalise encore de nombreux films en allemand, qui ne remportent pas un grand succès en France.

Il a également joué dans plusieurs films, notamment dans La Notte de Michelangelo Antonioni, La Femme gauchère de Peter Handke, Paris, Texas de Wim Wenders, ainsi que dans la série allemande Derrick (épisodes Une nuit d'octobre en 1977 et Le Témoin en 1980).