Heinrich Beck (actor)
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Christian Beck (19 February 1760, Gotha
- 7 May 1803, Mannheim
) was a German actor
and playwright
.
Beck began his theatrical career with August Iffland and Johann David Beil at the Hoftheater (Court Theater) in Gotha and, like most of the ensemble, went to the Mannheim National Theater after the Hoftheater was disbanded in 1779. The National Theater was then blossoming artistically under the leadership of Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg
.
While there, Beck took part in the premieres of Schiller's
first plays Die Räuber
(as Kosinsky) and Fiesco
(as Bourgognino).
In 1799 Prince-Elector Maximilian IV. Joseph von Bayern called him to Munich as a director. He returned to Mannheim in 1801 as theater director, dying there in 1803.
Beck was known for his acting skill and his good voice and acted with the same finesse in tragedies and comedies as in musicals.
Among his own plays, the comedies Die Schachmaschine (Berlin 1798), Die Quälgeister (Frankfurt 1802) and Das Kamäleon (Frankfurt 1803) found the most acclaIm. His dramatic work appeared under the title "Theater" in three volumes in Frankfurt, beginning in 1802.
Beck's first wife Karoline, neé Ziegler (* January 3 1766 in Mannheim), also a talented, promising actress, debuted in Mannheim in 1781 but died on July 24, 1784. Friedrich Schiller, who had envisioned her to portray his Luise in Kabale und Liebe, displayed a particular fondness for her.
Gotha (town)
Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
- 7 May 1803, Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
) was a German actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
.
Beck began his theatrical career with August Iffland and Johann David Beil at the Hoftheater (Court Theater) in Gotha and, like most of the ensemble, went to the Mannheim National Theater after the Hoftheater was disbanded in 1779. The National Theater was then blossoming artistically under the leadership of Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg
Dalberg
Dalberg is the name of an ancient and distinguished German noble family, derived from the hamlet and castle of Dalberg or Dalburg near Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate...
.
While there, Beck took part in the premieres of Schiller's
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
first plays Die Räuber
Die Räuber
The Robbers was the first drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. The play was published in 1781 and premiered on January 13, 1782 in Mannheim, Germany. It was written towards the end of the German Sturm und Drang movement and has been considered by many critics, such as Peter Brooks, to...
(as Kosinsky) and Fiesco
Fiesco (play)
Fiesco is the second full length drama written by the German playwright Friedrich Schiller. It is a republican tragedy based on the historical conspiracy of Giovanni Luigi Fieschi against Andrea Doria in Genoa in 1547...
(as Bourgognino).
In 1799 Prince-Elector Maximilian IV. Joseph von Bayern called him to Munich as a director. He returned to Mannheim in 1801 as theater director, dying there in 1803.
Beck was known for his acting skill and his good voice and acted with the same finesse in tragedies and comedies as in musicals.
Among his own plays, the comedies Die Schachmaschine (Berlin 1798), Die Quälgeister (Frankfurt 1802) and Das Kamäleon (Frankfurt 1803) found the most acclaIm. His dramatic work appeared under the title "Theater" in three volumes in Frankfurt, beginning in 1802.
Beck's first wife Karoline, neé Ziegler (* January 3 1766 in Mannheim), also a talented, promising actress, debuted in Mannheim in 1781 but died on July 24, 1784. Friedrich Schiller, who had envisioned her to portray his Luise in Kabale und Liebe, displayed a particular fondness for her.
Literature
- Hans KnudsenHans KnudsenHans Knudsen is a Danish sprint canoer who competed in the mid to late 1960s. Competing in two Summer Olympics, he earned his best finish of ninth twice ....
: Heinrich Beck, ein Schauspieler aus der Blütezeit des Mannheimer Theaters im 18. Jahrhundert. Leipzig, Hamburg: Voss 1912
External links
- (ADB) Heinrich Beck on ADB