Mathias Gnädinger died
The actor Mathias Gnädinger is dead. He died unexpectedly on Friday at the age of 74 in Zurich University Hospital, his family announced. Gnädinger had suffered complications following an accident on March 5.
Gnädinger still had a lot planned, said directors Paul Riniker and Markus Fischer in a special broadcast of the SRF magazine "Glanz & Gloria Weekend" on Sunday. Fischer wanted to shoot a seventh Kommissär Hunkeler episode with him entitled "Hunkelers Geheimnis". Paul Riniker, whose tragicomedy "Usfahrt Oerlike" with Gnädinger as Willi and Jörg Schneider as the world-weary Hans is still running successfully in cinemas, was also planning another project with Gnädinger: a sequel entitled "Willi, Willi".
Now, however, a prophecy from "Usfahrt Oerlike" has unexpectedly come true: "I'll die before you", says Willi to Hans, whose actor Schneider has cancer in real life. "Is that another one of your stupid jokes?" counters Hans.
Farewell letter
Mathias Gnädinger probably didn't see his death as a joke, despite his film plans: Before he left a few months ago to shoot his last film "Der grosse Sommer" - which will be released this year - he wrote a farewell letter to his wife, two grown-up children and four brothers. "Gnüsseds und hebets guet", it read, as Gnädinger's brother Angelo said at a media conference on Saturday. "He was an unruly, unpleasant actor," said actor Gilles Tschudi in Sonntagsblick. Gnädinger did not exclude himself. As a schoolboy, he was a "lazy bastard" and later a "sheep's sack" and "tubel", he repeatedly said in interviews. He took the judgment of a farmer, who called him "gnarled, strong, fat and uncouth", as a compliment.
Almost 200 rolls
Gnädinger was born on March 25, 1941 in Ramsen SH. After completing an apprenticeship as a typesetter, his uncle "Seppel", the farmer, painter, missionary and village theater actor Josef Gnädinger, enrolled him in drama school. This was followed by engagements at Zurich's Neumarkt Theater as well as in Kassel, Essen, Mannheim, Bremen and Berlin. In addition to his 130 stage roles, Gnädinger has also appeared in around 60 cinema and TV films since 1968, including "Das Boot ist voll" (1981), "Reise der Hoffnung" (1990), "Leo Sonnyboy" (1991), "Sternenberg" (2004), "Marmorera" (2007) and "Länger leben" (2010).
Prices are like hemorrhoids
However, he is better known to the general public from television: apart from Hunkeler, he mainly played farmer Ruedi in the soap "Lüthi und Blanc". Gnädinger received the Zurich Film Award in 1985. He received the major acting honors - the Hans Reinhart Ring and Prix Walo (1996) as well as the Swiss Film Award (2003 for "Big Deal") - relatively late. That's why he quoted Billy Wilder at the Reinhart Ring award ceremony: "Prizes are like hemorrhoids. After a certain age, every asshole gets them". (SDA)
