Biography.guide
Home › People › Stage actor › Ruth Drexel
Portrait of Ruth Drexel

Ruth Drexel

1930 – 2009

German actress

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Ruth Drexel

Lived 1930 – 2009 (aged 78). Ruth Drexel was a German stage actor, film actor, television actor, actor, director and theatre manager.

Ruth Drexel (; 12 July 1930 – 26 February 2009) was a German actress, director, and theatre director/manager. Her best-known role was as "Resi Berghammer" in the German television series, Der Bulle von Tölz, in which she played the mother of the eponymous cop. As of January 2006, she played the role in 58 episodes.

Life and career Born in Vilshofen an der Donau, near Passau, Drexel trained as an actress in Munich, where she was also given her first engagement. She subsequently worked in Berlin (as a member of the Berliner Ensemble during 1955–56), Wuppertal, Darmstadt and Düsseldorf. She also appeared, to great critical acclaim, in new plays by Franz Xaver Kroetz and Felix Mitterer. In 1980, she co-founded the Tiroler Volksschauspiele in Telfs, Tyrol.

Drexel's early television work included Wedekind's Der Marquis von Keith (1962), a German adaptation of Shaw's Candida (1963), Frisch's Biedermann und die Brandstifter (1967), and Kroetz's (Jail Bait), directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1972). She also put in guest appearances on Der Kommissar and Tatort.

Drexel was a member of the cast of the cult television series (1974) and Zur Freiheit (1987). In 2005, she started a new television series, Agathe kann's nicht lassen, playing Agathe Heiland, an elderly sleuth modelled on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.

Family Ruth Drexel was married once, to Michael Adami. They had a daughter, Katharina Adami (b. 1956). Drexel had a second child, Cilli Drexel (b. 1975) by her long-time companion, actor Hans Brenner.

Death Drexel's long-time companion, actor Hans Brenner, died in 1998. Until her own death from cancer in 2009, aged 78, Ruth Drexel lived in Feldkirchen, near Munich.

Filmography

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Awards
Bavarian Order of Merit; Bayerische Verfassungsmedaille in Gold; Romy; Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art; Bayerischer Poetentaler; Bavarian TV Awards; Ludwig Thoma Medal

People in Ruth Drexel's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Ruth Drexel's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Ruth Drexel?

German actress (1930-2009)

When was Ruth Drexel born?

Ruth Drexel was born on 14 July 1930 in Vilshofen an der Donau.

When did Ruth Drexel die?

Ruth Drexel died on 26 February 2009 in Feldkirchen.

What was Ruth Drexel's occupation?

Ruth Drexel was a stage actor, film actor, television actor, actor, director and theatre manager.

What nationality was Ruth Drexel?

Ruth Drexel was German.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Ruth Drexel

· Wikidata: Q76451

· DBpedia: Ruth Drexel

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ruth Drexel. https://biography.guide/ruth-drexel/

MLA: "Ruth Drexel." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ruth-drexel/.

Chicago: "Ruth Drexel." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ruth-drexel/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-22 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons · author & licence

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:03 UTC