Lotte Ledl(1930-2025)

Viennese character actress Lotte Ledl has been noted for her adversarial roles, excelling as waspish, petulant or vengeful wives, servants, neighbours or chatelaines. A dancer from the age of five, Ledl attended the Max- Reinhardt-Seminar in 1949, graduating two years later. She made her theatrical debut as Helena in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Having gained some stage experience, she started acting on screen from 1954. Benefitting from the (then) prevailing trend for rustic Heimatfilms, operettas and lightweight romantic comedies, Ledl remained steadily employed throughout the decade in such fare as Kaiserjäger (1956), Dort oben, wo die Alpen glühen (1956) and Der Jungfrauenkrieg (1957). In 1963, she became an ensemble member of the prestigious Vienna Burgtheater, establishing her reputation as an intense actress in classic plays by Lessing, Brecht, Nestroy, Shakespeare and others. Henceforth, she appeared more and more on television, eventually starring in her own show, Elternschule (1972), and (as the cook Anna Kofler) in the family drama series Schloßhotel Orth (1996), which became her most popular role. Ledl has also frequently guest-starred in top-rating crime shows like Derrick (1974), The Old Fox (1977) and Kommissar Rex (1994).

In 1994, Ledl co-founded the Vienna Performing Academy, an educational facility training aspiring entertainers in both music and acting. Until 2014, Ledl chaired the drama department, as well as teaching at the Vienna Conservatory and at the historic Theater an der Wien. Her husband was the director and cinematographer Sepp Riff.