The actor Rainer Basedow died on Sunday at the age of 83.
This was announced by his family at the request of the "Bild" newspaper.
Basedow appeared in numerous television films and series, in the ZDF series "Küstenwache" he played the former Smutje and paramedic Kalle Schneidewind for eight seasons from 1997.
Basedow also made a name for himself as a voice actor.
He voiced roles for Disney (the warthog Pumbaa in The Lion King, the shark Jaws in Help! Ich bin ein Fisch!) and was the German voice of John Belushi, Ned Beatty, David Hemmings and Jerry Lewis, among others.
"Politically suspect" in the SED regime
Basedow was born on May 20, 1938 in Mühlhausen, Thuringia.
As a young man, he fled East Germany, whose family was considered “politically suspicious” by the SED regime.
He began studying to become a teacher in German and physical education, but then went to drama school in Munich and had his first appearances at the Theater am Siegestor.
From 1962 he played at the Volkstheater in Munich.
He was on the stage of the Kleine Komödie in Munich, the Ateliertheater Bern, the Kammerspiele in Düsseldorf, the Berliner Schaubühne, the Theater an der Leopoldstraße in Munich and the Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen.
From 1976 he was part of the ensemble of the "Münchner Lach- und Schiessgesellschaft" and played in twenty cabaret programs until the end of 1995.
He went on 19 tours with the cabaret and appeared on television (including in Dieter Hildebrandt's "Scheibenwischer").
Basedow's career in cinema and television took off in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
He acted in films by Franz Josef Spieker ("Wilder Reiter GmbH", 1967), Bernhard Sinkel ("Lina Braake", ARD, 1972) and Volker Schlöndorff ("Views of a Clown", 1976). The audience saw Basedow as a series actor Several guest appearances in "Der Alte" and "SOKO 5113" (ZDF), "Grüß Gott, Frau Pfarrerin", "Ein Schloss am Wörthersee", "Diejudicialreporterin" (ARD) and "Der Bulle von Tölz" (Sat.1) .
Basedow also made popular the role of sergeant Dimpfelmoser in the classic children's film "Räuber Hotzenplotz" with Gert Fröbe and Josef Meinrad.