Ilja Richter (born 24 November 1952 in East Berlin) is a German actor, voice actor, television presenter, singer, theatre director and author.
Ilja Richter was born to parents Georg and Eva Richter. Georg was a Communist, who named Ilja after the Russian journalist Ilya Ehrenburg, and Eva was a Jew who survived the Third Reich under a fake Aryan identity. Georg spent nine and a half years in concentration camps during the Third Reich.
After the family was in political difficulties in East Germany, they moved to West Berlin in 1953. There, the Richters leased a restaurant. In 1955, Ilja's sister Janina was born, and in 1959 they moved to Cologne. There, too, the Richters ran a restaurant, but moved back in 1960 to West Berlin, where they opened a guesthouse.
Eva, a former actress, brought Ilja to the Sender Freies Berlin (Radio Free Berlin) for an audition. Ilja's acting career began at the age of nine. As a teenager he starred in the series Till, the Boy Next Door as Albert. In the 1970s, Richter became famous in West-Germany as television presenter of Disco , a music show filmed before a young live audience in which he also performed in sketches.
As an actor, he played several roles in films and in theatre. He starred in several comedy movies alongside Rudi Carrell. As a voice actor, his most prominent role was lending his colourful, peppy voice to Timon from The Lion King. He also provided the German voices of Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc. , Spot/Scott in Teacher's Pet (TV series) , the title character of Count Duckula and Dave in The Penguins of Madagascar . One of his records is a German adaptation of Tiny Tim's Tiptoe Through the Tulips .
Richter wrote several books. He dated the singer Marianne Rosenberg from 1975 to 1978. From 1995 to 1997 he was married to singer Stephanie von Falkenhausen. He lives in Berlin with his longtime companion Barbara Ferun, and has one child, Kolja.
Judy Winter is a German actress. She resides in Berlin.
Robert Atzorn is a German television actor. He was born in Bad Polzin, Pomerania, Germany, now Połczyn-Zdrój, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland.
Tobias Hoesl is a German television actor.
Katja Woywood is a German actress and former child star in her native land. She started playing in movies and series as a 15 year old girl. Her hobbies are drawing and roller skating. Since episode 189 she plays the new chief of the highway police in the German action-series Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei.
Franz Peter Wirth was a German film director and screenwriter. His film Helden was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958.
Jörg Schüttauf is a German actor. He studied at the Theaterhochschule Leipzig. Since 2002 he has starred in the Hessischer Rundfunk version of the popular television crime series Tatort.
Rolf Kanies is a German actor who played many high-profile roles on the stage before switching to a career in film and television in 1997. Since then Rolf has specialized in German and international film and television. Movies he has played in have been nominated for a variety of international awards, including an Oscar.
Chiara Schoras is a German actress.
Carmen-Maja Antoni is a German actress.
Angela Roy is a German actress and director.
Nadeshda Brennicke is a German actress, singer and author.
Saskia Vester is a German actress and author.
Hans-Joachim Heist is a German actor and comedian.
Rolf von Sydow was a German film director and author.
Max Herbrechter is a German actor living in Hamburg.
Marie-Luise Millowitsch is a German actress.
Miguel Herz-Kestranek is an Austrian actor and author.
Anneke Kim Sarnau is a German theater and movie actress living in Berlin.