Horst Giese

Horst Fritz Otto Giese (31 January 1926 – 29 December 2008) was an East German actor.

Biography In 1945, Giese made his debut on stage in his native Neuruppin, then in the Soviet occupation zone. Later he appeared on television. His first role in a movie was at the 1954 production Alarm in the Circus (Alarm in Zirkus). He performed in around 50 films and television productions, and is known for his portrayals of Joseph Goebbels in several films, including in the five-part series Liberation, film Soldiers of Freedom, the two-part Bulgarian production Anvil or Hammer and in the Czechoslovak comedy Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea.

Giese had a long correspondence with actor Klaus Kinski, who once visited him in East Berlin during 1956.

Shortly before the building of the Berlin Wall, Giese bought a West-German television device, and was arrested by the Stasi. To avoid punishment, he became an informant of the service. He was later accused of aiding the Stasi to arrest a man who helped residents of Berlin to flee to the west; the man was subsequently imprisoned for 26 months.

In 1972, after an accident forced him to a long vacation, he started to write the radio drama The Extremely Peculiar Jazz Adventures of Mr. Lehmann (Die sehr merkwürdigen Jazzabenteuer des Herrn Lehmann), in which he voiced 28 different characters. He recorded and edited the entire series in his Babelsberg home, finally completing it in 1979. Due to technical difficulties, the Jazz Adventures was only broadcast in 1991, after the fall of the Wall. Giese received a prize from Germany's War Blind Union. He later produce three other radio dramas: The Extremely Peculiar Film Adventures of Mr. Lehmann, The Case of Leonardo and If Goebbels Would Have Gone to Japan.

Filmography

1954: Alarm in the Circus 1954: Stronger than the Night 1956: Thomas Müntzer - Bergknappe 1956: Those Days in Paris - Robert 1957: Duped Till Doomsday - Minor Role (uncredited) 1957: Rivals on the Steering Wheel 1959: Intrigue and Love - Rebell 1962: A Lively Christmas Eve - Giese 1963: Carbide and Sorrel 1964: Das Lied vom Trompeter - Arbeiter mit Binde 1968: The Banner of Krivoy Rog - Feldwebel 1970: The Case of Sergeant Grischa (TV Movie) - Schipper 1971: Rottenknechte (TV Mini-Series) - Müller 1971: KLK Calling PTZ - The Red Orchestra - Herr Schröder 1971: Liberation III: Direction of the Main Blow - Sapper Bruno Fermella / Joseph Goebbels 1972: Anvil or Hammer'''' - Reichsminister Joseph Goebbels 1977: Soldiers of Freedom (TV Mini-Series) - Joseph Goebbels (uncredited) 1977: Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea - Joseph Goebbels 1980: The Archive of Death (TV Series) - Unteroffizier Mantei 1980: Der Baulöwe1982: Front v tylu vraga - Joseph Goebbels 1983: The Turning Point - Deutscher Gefangener (uncredited)