Wilfried Baasner

Wilfried Baasner born May 28 1940 in Mohrungen died March 28 2006 in Athens was a German actor Baasner grew up in Lauenburg and Hamburg At the age of 17 he left secondary school and began his acting training at the Hamburger Kammerspiele under Ida Ehre This was followed by theater engagements at various venues including the Stadttheater Bremerhaven the Wiener Volkstheater the Wiener Schauspielhaus the Hamburger Kammerspiele the Landesbühne Hannover and the RenaissanceTheater in Berlin In 1982 Baasner received the prestigious Kainz Medal for his portrayal of John Merrick in Bernard Pomerances The Elephant Man at the Schauspielhaus Wien He also garnered significant acclaim for his role in the television drama Hautnah 1985 which was awarded the Adolf Grimme Prize Baasner achieved nationwide fame through his role as the unscrupulous Achim Lauritzen in the ZDF television series Das Erbe der Guldenburgs His bald headoriginally shaved for a production of Bertolt Brechts The Threepenny Opera in which he played Mackie Messerlater became his trademark During the final years of his life Baasner lived primarily in Greece He died in 2006 in a hospital in Athens