- Born
- Died
- Erwin Geschonneck was born on 27 December 1906 in Bartenstein/East Prussia (now Poland). In the Twenties, he became a member of the Communistic Party of Germany. After rise of Nazism, he emigrated to Poland, later to Latvia and Czechoslovakia. In the Soviet Union he became a member of a German theatre company. In 1938 he was arrested in Prague and was deported to different concentration camps. Finally he was evacuated from the concentration camp of Neuengamme near Hamburg to Denmark. But the boat, the Cap Arcona, was accidentally bombed by the RAF. The ship sank in the bay of Lübeck, and Geschonneck was one of only a few survivors. In 1945 he played theatre in Hamburg and had his film debut in Helmut Käutner's post-war drama 'In Jenen Tagen'. It was the famous 'Bertholt Brecht' who offered him a contract for his Berlin Ensemble. Geschonneck moved to East Berlin and became a star of the newly founded DEFA, the only production company of the German Democratic Republic.
- IMDb mini biography by: Yancey
- SpousesHeike Geschonneck(1971 - March 12, 2008) (his death, 1 child)Doris Weikow (divorced, 1 child)Hannelore Wüst (divorced, 1 child)? (divorced)
- ChildrenFina Geschonneck
- His father was a poor shoemaker, who moved to Berlin with his family in 1909 to work as a nightwatchman. Thus, Erwin started working as a delivery boy and servant at the age of 14.
- Father of two sons, Matti Geschonneck and Alexander Geschonneck, and a daughter, Fina.
- Was voted "best East German actor ever" in a survey by "Film und Fernsehen" magazine (1992).
- Had two older siblings, Bruno and Käthe.
- Was awarded East Germany's prestigious National Prize four times (1954, 1960, 1961, 1968).
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