Heinrich Beck (actor)


Heinrich Christian Beck was a German actor and playwright.
Beck began his theatrical career with August Iffland and Johann David Beil at the Hoftheater 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 and Fiesco.
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, Die Quälgeister and Das Kamäleon 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, née Ziegler, also a talented, promising actress, debuted in Mannheim in 1781 but died on 24 July 1784. Friedrich Schiller, who had envisioned her to portray his Luise in Kabale und Liebe, displayed a particular fondness for her.

Literature