Margit Carstensen

Margit Carstensen 29 February 1940 1 June 2023 was a German theatre and film actress best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder Carstensen was born and raised in the northern German city of Kiel Upon graduation from the local high school in 1958 she studied acting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg This education led to her first stage appearances in Kleve Heilbronn Münster and Braunschweig In 1965 Carstensen began a fouryear engagement with the German Playhouse in Hamburg In 1969 she gained a local profile for her work in the Theater am Goetheplatz in Bremen where she first met director Rainer Werner Fassbinder She then worked under his direction in a comedy by the 18thcentury Venetian Carlo Goldoni The Coffee Shop which was recorded for television in 1970 bringing her national attention in West Germany She subsequently played the role of serial murderess Geesche Gottfried in the premiere of Fassbinders own play Bremen Freedom also televised in 1972 and then in the title role of his Henrik Ibsen adaptation Nora Helmer televised in 1974 derived from A Dolls House Outside of theatre Carstensen played leading roles in the Fassbinder films The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant 1972 her bestknown role for him Martha 1974 analysing a traditional marriage in a contemporary setting Fear of Fear 1975 Mother Küsters Trip to Heaven 1975 Satans Brew 1976 Chinese Roulette 1976 and Women in New York 1977 She also appeared in episodes of two Fassbinder television productions Eight Hours Dont Make a Day 1972 and Berlin Alexanderplatz 1980 From 1973 to 1976 Carstensen held a steady acting engagement in Darmstadt In 1977 she moved to West Berlin where she performed on the highly regarded Staatliche Schauspielbühnen In 1982 she moved to Stuttgart in order to work with director Hansgünther Heyme where she appeared in a series of plays directed by him During this time Carstensen also worked in international film productions such as Andrzej Żuławskis Possession 1981 and Agnieszka Hollands Angry Harvest 1985 the latter was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film By the late 1980s she had developed ongoing working relationships with German directors Werner Schroeter Christoph Schlingensief and Leander Haußmann For the 200304 season Carstensen appeared in the Vienna Burgtheater in the premiere of Elfriede Jelineks play Bambiland under the direction of Schlingensief During the 200708 season Carstensen assisted with the AustrianGerman TV documentary Mr Karl A Person for People directed by Kurt Mayer In 2016 she was still on television appearing in the longrunning series Tatort Carstensen received many awards in her career Among these were the 1973 German Film Awards Gold for her acting in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant and the 2002 Bavarian Film Award for her acting in Scherbentanz In 1972 she was chosen by the German Film Critics Guild as Best Actress of the Year In 2019 she was awarded the GötzGeorgePreis for her lifes work Description above from the Wikipedia article Margit Carstensen licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia