Brigitte Swoboda

Last updated

Brigitte Swoboda (1 February 1943 - 24 June 2019) was an Austrian actor.

Contents

Early life

Brigitte Swoboda was born in the Brigittenau district of Vienna in 1943. She grew up in the Innere Stadt, the first municipal District of Vienna. As a child, she knew she wanted to be either a pianist or an actress. Although she started an apprenticeship as a graphic designer, at 17 she began a career in the theater. She remained an amateur actor stayed for a long time with the "Neuen Wiener Bühne" (New Viennese Stage).

Career

Her break came in 1969, when she played the part of Birgit in Wolfgang Bauer's first play, Magic Afternoon at the Viennese Ateliertheatre. Brigitte Swoboda was awarded the Kainz-Medaille for her work in this role.

Swoboda was discovered by Gustav Manker in 1969 and became involved with the People's theater of Vienna. She debuted as Salome Pockerl, the partner of Helmut Qualtinger in Nestroy's The Talisman. In this role, Swoboda broke with tradition. In the words of one journalist, "Swoboda was not a cute Rousseauen creature" but rather "lost through sheer negligence, a most uncomfortably cut proletarian, a shadowy growth from the lowest depths, a discarded changeling from a stable full of city teenagers". The well known couplet, Ja, die Männer hab’n ’s gut! (Yes, men have it so good!), sounded "so dangerous, as if it was scratched with a rusty knife". (Süddeutsche Zeitung) [1]

After this performance, Swoboda played the role of nurse Riki in the premiere of Wolfgang Bauers Change (1969). Swoboda became a popular folk actress and played alongside Heinz Petters, Dolores Schmidinger and Hilde Sochor as part of the famous Nestroy ensemble at the People's Theater in several productions, including Heimliches Geld, heimliche Liebe (Secret Money, Secret Love, 1972), Gegen Torheit gibt es kein Mittel (There Are No Means against Folly, 1973), Umsonst! (For Nothing!, 1974) and Das Gewürzkrämerkleeblatt (literally: The Spice Seller, 1977).

Swoboda appeared in productions at the Altwiener Volkstheaters (Old Viennese People's Theater) of plays by Ferdinand Raimund, playing such parts as Rosa in Der Verschwender (The Squanderer), Linda in Der Barometermacher auf der Zauberinsel (The Barometer Maker on the Magic Island) and Ludwig Anzengruber (Pepi Schlanater in Das vierte Gebot (The Fourth Commandment), 1970). She brought out the main points in the premieres from Peter Turrini (Die Wirtin, (The Landlady) 1975), Walter Wippersberg (Was haben vom Lebe, (What a Life) 1976), Franz Xaver Kroetz (Nicht Fisch, nicht Fleisch (Not Fish, Not Meat) 1980), Heinz Rudolf Unger (Zwölfeläuten (The Twelfth Ring), 1984) and Felix Mitterer (Kein schöner Land (No Land more Beautiful), 1987).

Swoboda remained part of the People's Theater ensemble until her retirement in 2003. She was appointed an honorary member.

Swoboda was known through television appearances, including as Frau Wybiral in Der neue Untermieter (The New Sublet) and in her role as groundskeeper Koziber in the cult classic, Kaisermühlen Blues.

More recently she performed at her home theater, among others, in Nestroy's Das Mädl aus der Vorstadt (The Girl from the Suburb), Der böse Geist Lumpazivagabundus (The Evil Spirit Lumpazivagabundus) and in Broch's Die Erzählung der Magd Zerline (The Story of the Maid Zerline).

She starred in the 2017 production of Meine Innere Stadt produced by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (2017). [2]

Brigitte Swoboda died at the age of 76 in June 2019 at a hospital in Kittsee in Burgenland after a long illness. She is to be buried at her last place of residence, Apetlon, in the Neusiedl am See District.

Film and television

Theater

Radio Plays

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attila Hörbiger</span> Austrian actor (1896–1987)

Attila Hörbiger was an Austrian stage and movie actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christiane Hörbiger</span> Austrian television and film actress (1938–2022)

Christiane Hörbiger was an Austrian stage, film, and television actress. Her first major film role was Mary Vetsera in Kronprinz Rudolfs letzte Liebe in 1955. She appeared on the stage of the Burgtheater as Recha in Lessing's Nathan der Weise in 1959, became a member of Theater Heidelberg and later Schauspielhaus Zürich. From 1969 to 1972, she portrayed Die Buhlschaft in Hofmannsthal's Jedermann at the Salzburg Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fritz Muliar</span> Austrian actor

Fritz Muliar, born as Friedrich Ludwig Stand, was an Austrian actor who, due to his huge popularity, is often referred to by his countrymen as Volksschauspieler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulus Manker</span> Austrian film director and actor (born 1958)

Paulus Manker is an Austrian film director and actor, as well as an author and screenplay writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidi Kabel</span> German actress and musician

Heidi Bertha Auguste Kabel was a German actress and musician. Most of her stage roles were performed at the Ohnsorg-Theater in Hamburg, many of them in Low German. She became famous in Germany as many of the productions of the Ohnsorg Theater were transmitted on German television.

Andrea Clausen is a German stage actress and a member of the Burgtheater ensemble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erni Mangold</span> Austrian actress

Erni Mangold is an Austrian actress and stage director. Since 1948, she had appeared in more than 75 films and TV productions.

Michael Kehlmann was an Austrian television film director and theatre director, screenwriter and actor.

Albin August Heinrich Emil Swoboda was an Austrian operatic tenor, actor, and opera director of German birth. One of the most famous opera singers of the "Golden Age" of Viennese operetta, he was a leading tenor and dramatic stage actor at the Theater an der Wien from 1859–1878. He notably appeared in the world premieres of operettas by composers Jacques Offenbach, Johann Strauss II, and Franz von Suppé. He also appeared in musical comedies and plays in Vienna, and appeared in stage productions of all kinds as a guest artist in theatres in Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Russia. His son Albin Swoboda Jr. also had a successful career as an opera singer. In 1955 a street in the Hietzing district of Vienna was named after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hieronymus Payer</span>

Hieronymus Payer was an Austrian composer and pianist.

Else Rambausek was an Austrian actress and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Paryla</span> Austrian theater actor and director

Karl Paryla (1905–1996) was an Austrian theater actor and director, and later a film maker as well. A lifelong, dedicated communist, his career in the Austrian theater was first interrupted by the Second World War, and then strained by Cold War politics. In the 1950s he began working in East Germany, where he performed as an actor and directed plays and films. An actor trained in the school of Constantin Stanislavski, he is praised for the realism he brought to his performances especially in Johann Nestroy's plays and for his ability to organize large ensembles dynamically on the stage. He is remembered also for his work ethic and his fervent belief in the emancipatory power of the theater.

Nikolaus Paryla is an Austrian actor and stage director.

Gustav Manker was an Austrian theatre and TV film director and stage designer. From 1968 to 1979 he was the director of the Volkstheater in Vienna. His TV films include Das Konzert (1971), Gegen Torheit gibt es kein Mittel (1974) and Das Märchen (1976). His son Paulus is also a reputable film director and actor.

Götz Kauffmann was an Austrian stage, film and television actor, cabaret artist and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leon Epp</span>

Leon Epp was an Austrian music director, theatre director and actor.

The Nestroy Theatre Prize is an Austrian theatre award named after the poet Johann Nestroy. In 2000, the city of Vienna decided to combine two less noticed theatre awards: the Kainz Medal and the Nestroy Ring for Viennese Satire. The prize honours outstanding achievements at the Viennese and other Austrian theatres. The prize has been awarded annually in eight up to fourteen categories. Its ceremony is held in Vienna and broadcast live on national television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolf Bäuerle</span>

Adolf Bäuerle (real name Johann Andreas Bäuerle was an Austrian writer, publisher and main representative of the Alt-Wiener Volkstheater.

Raphael von Bargen is a German TV, film and stage actor.

Birgit Doll was an Austrian actress of stage, screen and television and theatre director. She made her professional theatre debut at the age of 20 and won the Kainz Medal in 1992 for her performance of Libussa and the Nestroy Theatre Prize in 2000 for portraying Martha in Edward Albee's Wer hat Angst vor Virginia Woolf. Doll earned the Best Actress Award at the 1979 Bavarian Film Awards and the Best Actress Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1980 for her role as Marianne of the film Tales from the Vienna Woods.

References

  1. ↑ Paulus Manker: Der Theatermann Gustav Manker. Spurensuche. Amalthea, Wien 2010 ISBN   978-3-85002-738-0
  2. ↑ "Otto Schenk, Paulus Manker, Brigitte Swoboda und Peter Rapp präsentieren am 16. Juli "Meine Innere Stadt"". APA-OTS . 2017-07-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.