A long life to be number two:

Prince Philip

(died April 9 at the age of 99) has mastered it with dignity and biting wit.

To his wife and the crown he was far more than “the world's greatest expert in unveiling memorial plaques”, as he once described himself.

Only number three was Michael Collins (April 28, 1990): while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin trudged around the moon sands, the third man of the Apollo 11 mission stayed on board on July 21, 1969, circling the moon.

And maybe, because it was an honor for him, he did not crash in later life either.

Jörg Thomann

Editor in the "Life" section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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When Hans Küng (April 6th, 93) and Uta Ranke-Heinemann (March 25th, 93) looked up to heaven and the earthly preachers, they saw many things differently from their theological guild;

the fact that the Catholic Church withdrew their teaching permits only made the critics even more prominent.

A great Jewish voice was Esther Bejarano (July 10, 96).

She survived Auschwitz, where she played the accordion in the girls' orchestra, later moved back from Israel to the Federal Republic of Germany, devoted her life to the fight against oblivion and, when she was over 90, still rapped against neo-Nazis with the band Microphone Mafia.

Football anthem continues in the stadiums

Historical and geographical accuracy was not an ambition of the Winnetou films; The film was shot in Croatia, and besides Winnetou Pierre Brice, there was also a French woman on set with his sister Nscho-Tschi, namely Marie Versini (November 22nd, 81). The fact that Mario Adorf shot the enchanting Nscho-Tschi was resented decades later. The French par excellence for the cinema world, however, was Jean-Paul Belmondo (September 6th, 88), who with a boxer face and casual charm wore Nouvelle Vague dramas as well as action blasts. Herbert Köfer (July 24th, 100) was especially great in the GDR, in 2017 he was the oldest active actor in the Guinness Book of Records.

Volker Lechtenbrink was only 14 (November 22nd, 77) when he played his most important role in the anti-war film "Die Brücke", but later in "Derrick" or as a pop singer, the man with the sonorous voice retained his dignity. This connected him with Thomas Fritsch (April 21, 77), who started out as a pretty young cinema star, was a great dubbing and radio play speaker in later years and played in several series in between. The Canadian character actor Christopher Plummer (February 5, 91) became the oldest Oscar winner for his role in “Beginners” at the age of 82 - and a few years later at 88 for “Alles Geld der Welt” he became the oldest actor with an Oscar -Nomination. Heide Keller holds another record (August 27, 81): Nobody on German television played a series role as long as she did,who was the master hostess Beatrice on the “dream ship” for 38 years.

To be the second most successful Liverpool band after the outshining Beatles was the fate of Gerry and the Pacemakers around lead singer Gerry Marsden (Jan 3rd, 78) in the 1960s. The Beatles couldn't manage one of their songs to be played in football stadiums like the Pacemakers version of “You'll Never Walk Alone”. The music producer Phil Spector (January 16, 81), whose “Wall of Sound” shaped world hits like “Be My Baby”, was admired and feared. Spector had repeatedly threatened people with weapons, in 2003 he shot the actress Lana Clarkson and remained in prison until his death. The rapper DMX (April 9, 50), who did not escape the demons of his tough childhood, but whom the fight against them inspired several number one albums, repeatedly came into conflict with the law.