From “Das Boot” to “Troja”: Wolfgang Petersen has produced major films in his career. Now the star director is dead.
Mourning for Wolfgang Petersen (1941-2022): The German film director and screenwriter, who was also a celebrity in Hollywood, died on August 12 of pancreatic cancer. This is reported by several US media, including and , consistently citing a statement from his production company. He passed away peacefully in the arms of his wife Maria at his home in Brentwood, California.
Born in Emden in 1941, the filmmaker has been involved in the production of numerous successful films over the course of his long career, including “Das Boot” (1981), “In the Line of Fire – The Second Chance” (1993), “Outbreak – Lautlose Killer ” (1995), “Air Force One” (1997), “The Tempest” (2000), “Troy” (2004) and “Poseidon” (2006). His works brought it to a total of 15 Oscar nominations.
From Emden to Hollywood
Even as a child, Petersen had the desire to work as a director. After training at the Hamburg Young Theater and the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin, he worked for television. For example, he shot several “Tatort” episodes for NDR before his first major feature film “One of us two” followed in 1974.
The first negative headlines were not long in coming either: the drama “Die Konfolge” triggered a scandal in 1977, since the Bavarian radio had switched off the transmission for cultural and political reasons. In 1981, Petersen celebrated his big breakthrough with “Das Boot”. The submarine drama became a box-office hit, especially in the USA, and became the most successful foreign-language film there. “Das Boot” was nominated for an Oscar six times.
No wonder, then, that Petersen moved to Los Angeles, California in 1986. He then worked with big names from the film industry, such as Clint Eastwood (92), Rex Harrison (1908-1990), Dustin Hoffman (85), Brad Pitt (58) and Diane Kruger (46), George Clooney (61) and Kurt Russell (71).
Wolfgang Petersen leaves behind his second wife, the assistant director Maria Borgel-Petersen, to whom he has been married since 1978. Before that, he married the actress Ursula Sieg.
Source: Stern
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