Walter Renneisen


Walter Renneisen is a German actor. After engagements at the Schauspielhaus Bochum, Theater Dortmund and Staatstheater Darmstadt, he has worked freelance. He founded a touring theatre company in 1977.

Career

Born in Mainz, Renneisen grew up on a farm in Raunheim, Hesse, Germany. He attended the in Rüsselsheim. He played as a percussionist in a band in Frankfurt clubs. After his Abitur, he studied theatre, German and philosophy at the universities of Cologne and Mainz from 1960 to 1964. He then studied at the Westfälische Schauspielschule Bochum. After graduation, he was engaged at the Schauspielhaus Bochum, Theater Dortmund and Staatstheater Darmstadt, among others. In Darmstadt, he was inspired by Rudolf Sellner.
He has worked freelance since 1977, for the Staatstheater Stuttgart, Theater Bonn and, among others, and also for several open-air theatres. He has frequently played in TV series such as Tatort, Der Alte, Derrick, Ein Fall für zwei and Siska. His roles have included Mephisto in Goethe's Urfaust, Cyrano in Pavel Kohout's Der arme Cyrano, the title role in Brecht's Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Herrn Arturo Ui, and Salieri in Shaffer's Amadeus. In 1995, he began to stage his own theatre productions on tour, presenting for example Patrick Süßkind's Der Kontrabaß, Die Sternstunde des Josef Bieder and Deutschland, Deine Hessen. He appeared in Süskind's "Solo", about a musician who is solo but never gets a solo, at the Wormser Theater in 2017. Renneisen has performed the play for more than 30 years. He has spoken in more than 800 radio plays.
In 2016, he received the Rheingau Musikpreis for his life's work on stage and TV. In 2018, he appeared at the Rheingau Musik Festival in a show titled Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, borrowing the title of the novella by Eichendorff and presenting Renneisen's life including 50 years on stage, in literature and in music.
Renneisen is married, has two daughters and two sons, and lives in Bensheim. He is the maternal uncle of English actress Alex Kingston.

Awards

Renneisen has received several awards, including: