Ruth Stephan

Ruth Stephan
Born	(1925-10-27)October 27, 1925 Altona, Germany
Died	August 8, 1975(1975-08-08) (aged 49) Berlin, Germany
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1951–1974
Spouse	Balduin Baas

Ruth Stephan (October 27, 1925 – August 8, 1975) was a German film and stage actress. She appeared with Heinz Erhardt in the 'Willi' series of films.

Biography

Ruth Stephan was born to retail merchant Kurt Stephan and his wife Kriemhilde. After graduating from school she first worked as a certified bank teller before taking acting lessons.

During her early acting career she worked mostly on the stage in Germany, including theaters in Hamburg and Berlin. She appeared in her first movie in 1951, and subsequently became a popular figure in German comedy movies.

Most notably she appeared in numerous movies alongside Heinz Erhardt, often playing his wife or secretary. She also became popular for portraying an English and biology teacher in the late 1960s high school movie series Die Lümmel von der ersten Bank (English translation: The buggers from the first bench).

In the early 1970s Stephan went back to the stage. She died of lung cancer in August 1975. A street in the district of Berlin-Spandau is named after her.

Selected filmography

• I Lost My Heart in Heidelberg (1952)
• Homesick for You (1952)
• You Only Live Once (1952)
• Lady's Choice (1953)
• Not Afraid of Big Animals (1953)
• The Private Secretary (1953)
• The Uncle from America (1953)
• Hit Parade (1953)
• Clivia (1954)
• The Telephone Operator (1954)
• The Spanish Fly (1955)
• Three Days Confined to Barracks (1955)
• Charley's Aunt (1956)
• Two Bavarians in the Jungle (1957)
• The Legs of Dolores (1957)
• The Simple Girl (1957)
• The Star of Santa Clara (1958)
• A Song Goes Round the World (1958)
• Of Course, the Motorists (1959)
• La Paloma (1959)
• On Thin Ice (1961)
• Ramona (1961)
• Isola Bella (1961)
• Max the Pickpocket (1962)
• Wild Water (1962)
• The Bird Seller (1962)
• Breakfast in Bed (1963)
• Our Crazy Nieces (1963)
• Our Crazy Aunts in the South Seas (1964)
• Come to the Blue Adriatic (1966)
• The Sinful Village (1966)
• Rheinsberg (1967)
• Zur Hölle mit den Paukern (1968)
• Hurra, die Schule brennt! (1969)
• What Is the Matter with Willi? (1970)
• That Can't Shake Our Willi! (1970)
• We'll Take Care of the Teachers (1970)
• Hurray We Are Bachelors Again (1971)
• Our Willi Is the Best (1971)
• Kinderarzt Dr. Fröhlich (1972)

External links

• Ruth Stephan at IMDb