Biography

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 Renaissance-Theater in Berlin. In 1982, Baasner received the prestigious Kainz Medal for his portrayal of John Merrick in Bernard Pomerance's *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 head—originally shaved for a production of Bertolt Brecht's *The Threepenny Opera*, in which he played Mackie Messer—later became his trademark. During the final years of his life, Baasner lived primarily in Greece. He died in 2006 in a hospital in Athens.