As a toupee-wearing prankster named Sam Hawkens, Ralf Wolter rose to fame alongside “Winnetou” (Pierre Brice) and “Old Shatterhand” (Lex Barker) in the 1960s. His standing sentence “… if I’m not mistaken”, combined with a mischievous laugh, is part of the common knowledge of the Winnetou generation.
German film and television actor Ralf Wolter died yesterday at the age of 95. He was born on November 26, 1926 in Berlin. His father was a circus artist, his mother a musician, so his son was probably born with an interest in art. After attending drama school, Wolter began as a cabaret artist. Theater stations were stages in Berlin and Potsdam, later Munich.
- ZIB 1: A look back at his artistic work – In his long career he acted in over 230 film and television productions, including with stars such as Harald Juhnke, Heinz Erhardt and Lex Barker.
This was followed by first film engagements, around 1961 together with Horst Buchholz in Billy Wilder’s post-war comedy “One, Two, Three”. Karl May’s career began in 1962 with “Der Schatz im Silbersee”. Wolter became a star as Sam Hawkens, the faithful companion of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand.
In the adventure film Der Schut, which is also based on a novel by Karl May, Wolter portrayed the character of Haji Halef Omar for the first time in 1964. To rattle off his film name “Haji Halef Omar Ben Haji Abul Abbas Ibn Haji Dawuhd al Gossarahim” at top speed and without errors, was also a trademark of the actor, who for a long time was considered the ideal cast for lovable clumsies.
“I loved Hawkens”
Wolter’s appearances alongside Pierre Brice and Lex Barker are – despite many other roles in television productions such as “Tatort”, “Der Alte”, “Ein Schloss am Wörthersee” or “Küstenwache” – those that audiences are most drawn to to this day have remained memories.
“Each definition is tiresome, and everyone can imagine that reducing an actor’s life to a single role is not what an actor’s soul dreams of,” Wolter once said in an interview. “But I loved Sam Hawkens, otherwise he wouldn’t have turned out like this.” And the role also had another effect: “Strangely enough, this positive role fell back on me as Ralf Wolter. People said: He’s a good guy.”
He has not given interviews for a long time. He made his last appearance in a film in 2012 in Bis zum Horizont, dann links! with colleagues like Otto Sander and Anna Maria trouble.
After that he retired. He told the “Bild” newspaper in 2013: “At some point you reach a point where you say: It’s really enough, I don’t want any more.”
Source: Nachrichten
