Werner Dissel

Werner Dissel

1912-08-26 – 2003-01-22 (age 90) Köln, Germany
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Biography

Werner Friedrich Dissel (26 August 1912 – 22 January 2003) was a German actor, director, and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime.

Dissel's began working as a newspaper photographer in the late 1920s. After the Nazis' rise to power, he became a member of an antifascist group headed by Harro Schulze-Boysen, and was involved in the resistance newspaper Wille zum Reich. Dissel was caught and imprisoned from 1937 to 1939. During his time in prison, the Gestapo arranged for Boysen to visit him, in the hope that something incriminating would be said while the two would be left alone in a tapped room; Boysen passed a cigarette pack to Dissel, on which he wrote that the police had no concrete evidence against him. After his release, Boysen convinced him to volunteer into the Wehrmacht, so he could "destroy Hitler's army from within". Dissel joined the armed forces shortly before the German Invasion of Poland, and served in a military meteorology unit. At 1942, he barely avoided an arrest during the Gestapo's crackdown on the Red Orchestra.

After the war, he openly joined the KPD and decided to pursue his old dream to become an actor. Dissel joined a cabaret in Wiesbaden, and in 1950 emigrated to East Germany. There he appeared in numerous plays, TV shows and movies. He worked with the Berliner Ensemble, DEFA and DFF. He continued his acting career after the reunification. In total, he appeared in more than a hundred film and television productions.

He received the Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic at a collective awarding in October 1986.

Source: Article "Werner Dissel" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

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Known For

Les Misérables
Les Misérables

1958

as Brevet (uncredited)

Anatomy
Anatomy

2000

as Paulas Großvater

Liberation - Part 1 : The Fire Bulge
Little Red Riding Hood
Sunday's Child Sometimes Runs Wild
Sunday's Child Sometimes Runs Wild

1978

as Älterer Herr mit Hund

Ernst Thälmann
Ernst Thälmann

1986

as Emil Kirdorf

Jede Woche Hochzeitstag
Jede Woche Hochzeitstag

1976

as Otto Haubold

Ein Mädchen von 16 ½
As Long as There’s Life in Me
As Long as There’s Life in Me

1965

as Bethmann-Hollweg

Coming Out
Coming Out

1989

as Älterer Homosexueller Walter

Stories of That Night
Stories of That Night

1967

as Kilian (segment "Materna")

Am Ende der Welt
Am Ende der Welt

1975

as Amtsdiener Göpel

Heroin
Heroin

1968

as Zollrat Donkenberg

Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler

1974

as Richter

Der Traum vom Elch
Der Traum vom Elch

1986

as Paulchen