# Martin Hellberg

Martin Hellberg (also known as Martin Heinrich, 31 January 1905 – 31 October 1999) was a German actor, director and writer.

## Life

Martin Hellberg was born in 1905 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, as a son of a pastor. From 1922 to 1924, Martin Hellberg studied at the Dresdner Konservatorium. He was a pupil of the director Georg Kiesau. In 1931 he joined the Communist Party (KPD). From 1924 until 1933, he worked at the Staatlichen Schauspielhaus Dresden (theater). However, he was fired by the Nazis in 1933. He first worked as a freelance director and then became a senior director in Freiburg im Breisgau. Afterwards, the Nazis forbade him to appear on stage again. In 1935, Hellberg made his first appearance as a film actor in Die blonde Carmen. In 1952, following his debut as a director in The Condemned Village, he received the International Peace Prize for this film. In 1958, he was the director and writer of the movie Emilia Galotti. In 1959, he directed and wrote Kabale und Liebe, in which he also appeared as an actor. In 1962, he was the director and an actor in the film Minna von Barnhelm oder Das Soldatenglück. In 1964, he wrote and directed the movie Viel Lärm um nichts. In 1981, he appeared as Professor Reinhardt in the movie Mephisto, which was awarded with the 1981 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Martin Hellberg was married to Berta Gurewitsch from 1926 to 1935. Then Gurewitsch emigrated to then-British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel) together with their son Yigal Tumarkin. Tumarkin's youngest son and Hellberg's grandson Yon Tumarkin is a well known Israeli actor.
After his marriage with Gurwitsch, Hellberg got to know his second wife Ruth Baldor. Baldor was an actress and appeared in several of Hellberg's films. The couple separated at the end of the sixties. During his last years as a writer, director and actor, Hellberg worked and lived in Bad Berka near Weimar.

## Selected filmography

| Director 1952: The Condemned Village 1953: Geheimakten Solvay 1953: Das kleine und das große Glück 1955: Der Ochse von Kulm 1956: The Mayor of Zalamea 1956: Die Millionen der Yvette 1956: Thomas Muentzer 1957: Wo Du hin gehst… 1958: Emilia Galotti 1958: Kapitäne bleiben an Bord 1959: Kabale und Liebe 1959: Senta auf Abwegen 1962: Die schwarze Galeere 1962: Minna von Barnhelm oder Das Soldatenglück 1964: Viel Lärm um nichts | Actor 1935: The Blonde Carmen 1952: Story of a Young Couple - Möbius 1957: Das Stacheltier - Freie Wahl (Short) 1959: Intrigue and Love - Miller, Stadtmusikant 1961: Der Landarzt 1967: Pinocchio - Arturo 1968: Treffpunkt Genf (TV Movie) - Prof. Gerlach 1968: Ein Rüpel sondergleichen - Regisseur 1971: Sleeping Beauty - Spielmann 1975: Lotte in Weimar - Johann Wolfgang Goethe 1977: Ein irrer Duft von frischem Heu - Pastor Himmelknecht 1978: Marx und Engels - Stationen ihres Lebens (TV Series) - Direktor Wyttenbach 1981: Mephisto - Professor 1981: Aus der Franzosenzeit (TV Movie) - Amtshauptmann Weber 1983: Märkische Chronik (TV Series) - Pfarrer Weihmann 1985: Johann Sebastian Bach (TV Series) - Heinrich Ernesti 1989: Die gestundete Zeit (TV Movie) - Dunkelberg (final film role) | Writer 1956: The Mayor of Zalamea 1956: Thomas Muentzer 1956: Die Millionen der Yvette 1957: Wo Du hin gehst... 1958: Emilia Galotti 1959: Senta auf Abwegen 1959: Kabale und Liebe 1962: Die schwarze Galeere 1962: Minna von Barnhelm oder Das Soldatenglück 1964: Viel Lärm um nichts |