Whether theater, film or television: Herbert Köfer was an actor with a full schedule in the GDR and also after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Even as a pensioner, he never had time - as in his prime role.
He was still on stage when he was almost 100 years old.
Herbert Köfer, one of the most famous actors in the GDR and also successful after the fall of the Berlin Wall, died on Saturday at the age of 100.
His widow Heike Köfer announced this to the German press agency on Sunday evening.
Born in Berlin, he was on stage for around 80 years.
He was a theater and film actor, presenter and voice actor.
Especially in his star role as Grandpa Paul Schmidt in the GDR television series “Pensioners never have time”, he played himself into the hearts of the audience.
From the very beginning, Köfer was a defining face of GDR television: in 1952 he read the first news there - in the “Current Camera”.
He was also there for the last broadcast on New Year's Eve 1991.
The mime played in DEFA films such as “Nackt unter Wölfen” (1963) and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in popular TV series such as “In allerfreund”, “SOKO Leipzig” or “Ein starkes Team”.
"I live with every performance, every reading and every day that I play," he himself had described his elixir of life, from which he drew strength and energy. Work keeps him young, he had repeatedly emphasized.