He was known through the theater as well as through film and television – especially in his role as an inspector in the ARD crime series “Donna Leon”. Now Uwe Kockisch died at the age of 81.
The German actor Uwe Kockisch is dead. The 81-year-old died on Monday in a hospital in Madrid, according to his agent daily news confirmed.
He became known to a wide audience through his role as Inspector Brunetti in the ARD crime series “Donna Leon” from 2003 to 2019 and as Stasi officer Hans Kupfer in “Weissensee” (2010-2018). He also gained notoriety in 1995 with his main character, the Berlin Commissioner, in Die ARD-Serie “Zapp”.
He was last in August 2024 ARD feature film “Allmen and the Secret of the Koi” can be seen alongside Heino Ferch and Samuel Finzi, among others.
Failed escape from the GDR
Kockisch was born on January 31, 1944 in Cottbus. His father died early; he was killed as a fighter pilot in World War II. After school, Kockisch initially worked as an opencast mining operator. In 1961, at the age of 17, he tried to flee the GDR across the Baltic Sea after the Berlin Wall was built. His attempt to escape failed and he was imprisoned for almost a year.
Kockisch then made a living at the Cottbus City Theater as a ticket collector, night porter, stage hand and extra. He later graduated from the Ernst Busch State Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. He got his first engagement at the Cottbus City Theater.
Part of more than 100 film and Television productions
At the beginning of the 1980s, Kockisch went to East Berlin to the Maxim Gorki Theater there, where he was part of the ensemble for 20 years. He made his film debut in 1975 in the youth film “Too Skinny for Love”. In total, he appeared in more than 100 film and television productions.
Most recently, Kockisch lived with his wife in Madrid and Berlin. He was the father of two sons. In 2022 he was one of the first signatories of the “Manifesto for Peace” by Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer on the occasion of the war against Ukraine.