- Karl Merkatz
Karl Merkatz (b.
November 17 ,1930 inWiener Neustadt ) is a well-known Austrianactor . He participated in numerous Austrian film productions and plays.Merkatz is the son of a firefighter. He first wanted to become a
carpenter . However, later he started to enroll in acting lessons in Salzburg, Vienna and Zurich. Then he found employment in theatres, most notable in Munich, Salzburg, Hamburg and Vienna (Josefstadt theatre).During his later career he starred in several roles in television and motion pictures. In the role of Edmund Sackbauer (Mundl) in the 1970s he got famous as the typical Viennese ("
Ein echter Wiener geht nicht unter "). Another big success came with the films "Bockerer" starring as a naive Viennese during the Second World War in Vienna (the later films are set in the subsequent years to 1945).Since 1999 Merkatz has been chairman of the
human rights group "SOS Mitmensch".Major roles
*"
Ein echter Wiener geht nicht unter ": literally, "A Genuine Viennese Does Not Go Under": In this show, which is about the life of a Viennese working-class family, he played "Edmund "Mundl " Sackbauer", for which he is most known.*"Der Bockerer I-IV":, Merkatz plays the role of the Viennese
butcher "Karl Bockerer", who as asocial democrat is shown during the time of the "Anschluss " and in the struggle against national socialism, during the post-war occupation of Austria byallied forces, during theHungarian Uprising of 1956 and thePrague Spring of 1968.
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