Known as “Mother Beimer”: Optimistic despite deep blows: Marie-Luise Marjan is 85

Sometimes she wonderes, says Marie-Luise Marjan. “I am still asked about the Helga Beimer so often – although that was a while ago.” This is actually not surprising: after all, as a “mother Beimer”, Marjan was the face of the ARD cult series “Lindenstraße” for 35 years, the last episode of which ran in 2020.

Since then, a lot has happened in the life of the actress, who will be 85 years old this Saturday (August 9). Despite a few deep blows, she has not lost her optimism. “I am still a bit limited, but overall fit and cheerful,” Marjan assures in a telephone conversation with the German Press Agency.

In the event of a fall in June 2024, Marjan suffered a broken femoral neck, with the consequences of which she still has to do. “I had to be operated five times and use a walker or stick,” she says. “Unfortunately, the whole thing lasts longer than I thought. My doctor said to me:” Lake that ‘quickly’. You’d better stroke. “I have to be patient.”

Apart from the injury, Marjan has now switched back a few corridors. “You just have to accept that from a certain age you can no longer maintain your usual rhythm,” she found. “You have to listen to your inner voice and adapt to the circumstances.” For example, she has now installed a nap into her daily routine. To stay movable, they go swimming regularly.

She enjoys contact with the audience

She is still a lot on the road to keep readings. “I enjoy it. I enjoy being on stage and having contact with the audience,” she says. “Most of the time I go there a day before, look around, go over the market and talk to people.”

After she had lived in Cologne and Hamburg for decades, Marjan moved to Bonn two years ago, to the rather tranquil former diplomatic district of Bad Godesberg. “It’s very quiet here, but I wanted that,” she says. “I always had so much hustle and bustle in life, now I want to have more time for myself.” In her new neighborhood she settled in well and also closed some acquaintances.

Even as a child, she wanted to be an actress

She still has a large part of her circle of friends in Hamburg. Marjan’s long -time partner lived there, who died in 2021. “I miss him very much, it was an intimate connection,” she says. Only a little later she lost her half-brother, which she had only met in 2007 through family research with the help of a TV show. Marjan, born in Essen, grew up at adoptive parents in Hattingen.

Even as a child, she wanted to be an actress. After visiting the Hamburg University of Music, she was initially on theater stages for a good 20 years. For television she played in a number of TV films – mainly mothers, for example in Wolfgang Petersen’s “Smog” (1973). The Helga Beimer, who had embodied her since 1985, was already her 25th mother role.

She played the “Mother Beimer” for 35 years

She often thinks back to the “Lindenstrasse”. “I spent 35 years of my life with this series – and with the people there. You can’t just check that.” She still has close contact with some actors and team members.

Does she have a dream role that she would have liked to play at some point? “No,” says Marjan after a short superiority. “The role you are playing is always your favorite role. I am artistically brought up so that you give everything for every role.”

“The world situation worries me”

As a TV viewer, she likes to see old American films. In recent productions, they often disturb what they believe bad synchronization and the “quick, hectic way of speaking”.

She watches news programs every day. “The world situation worries me. Who knows what else is happening,” she says. “But we still cannot sink together and not let ourselves push down.”

Marjan wants to celebrate her birthday in a large group: “I will also come 85 – 85 guests should also come.”