Marianne Koch

Marianne Koch (born 19 August 1931) is a German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in Spaghetti Westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician.
Career
Between 1950 and 1971, Koch appeared in more than 65 films. She had numerous leading roles in the German cinema of the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1954 American thriller Night People, she appeared in a supporting role alongside Gregory Peck. Koch also had major roles in the Hollywood films Four Girls in Town and Interlude, both released in 1957. She remains perhaps best known internationally for Sergio Leone's 1964 production A Fistful of Dollars, which showcased her with Clint Eastwood as a civilian tormented by ruthless local gangsters, torn between her husband and child and the villains.
In Germany, she was probably best known for her many years of participation as one of the regular panelists in the highly popular TV game show Was bin ich?, the German adaption of the American TV show What's My Line?, which ran from the 1950s until 1988 and achieved ratings of up to 75% at its peak.
In 1971, she resumed the medical studies she had broken off in the early 1950s to become an actress. In 1974, she earned her degree and practiced medicine until 1997 as a specialist for internal medicine in Munich. Also in 1974, she was one of the initial hosts of Germany's pioneering talk show 3 nach 9 (Three After Nine), for which she was awarded the Grimme-Preis, one of the most prestigious awards of the German television industry. She also hosted other television shows, and in 2014, still had a medical advice program on radio.
Personal life
Koch is the daughter of Marie Aumüller and Rudolf Schindler.
In 1953, Koch married the physician Gerhard Freund (1922–2008), with whom she has two sons. The marriage ended in 1973 after Freund began an affair with Miss World 1956, Petra Schürmann, whom he later wed. Koch later began a relationship with the writer Peter Hamm, which lasted from the mid-1970s until his death in 2019.
Films
The Man Who Wanted to Live Twice (1950) – Katja Hesse
(1951) – Reporterin
Dr. Holl (1951) – Anna
The Secret of a Marriage (1951) – Musi Camphausen
My Friend the Thief (1951) – Resl
The Chaste Libertine (1952) – Gerty Seibold
Dark Clouds Over the Dachstein (1953) – Christl, die junge Magd
Scandal at the Girls' School (1953) – Marina von Leithen
The Monastery's Hunter (1953) – Gittli
The Poacher (1953) – Ursula
Love and Trumpets (1954) – Bettina von Brixen
Night People (1954) – Kathy Gerhardt
Hubertus Castle (1954) – Geislein
(1954) – Rosl
Ludwig II (1955) – Prinzessin Sophie
Des Teufels General (1955) – Dorothea 'Diddo' Geiss
The Blacksmith of St. Bartholomae (1955) – Marianne
The Royal Waltz (1955) – Therese
As Long as You Live (1955) – Teresa
(1955) – Christiane Neubert
The Marriage of Doctor Danwitz (1956) – Edith Danwitz – Mannequin
If We All Were Angels (1956) – Elisabeth Kempenich
Four Girls in Town (1957) – Ina Schiller
Salzburg Stories (1957) – Konstanze
Der Stern von Afrika (1957) – Brigitte
Vater sein dagegen sehr (1957) – Margot Ventura geb. Sonnemann
Interlude (1957) – Reni Fischer
The Fox of Paris (1957) – Yvonne
The Italians They Are Crazy (1958) – Cristina
(1958) – Mingo Fabian
(1958) – Dr. Petra Jensen
(1959) – Carola Hauff
The Woman by the Dark Window (1960) – Luise Konradin
(1960) – Minna von Barnhelm
(1960) – Hilde von Hessenlohe
Spotlight on a Murderer (1961) – Edwige
Blind Justice (1961) – Ingrid Hansen
Napoleon II, the Eagle (1961) – Kaiserin Marie Louise
Die Fledermaus (1962) – Rosalinde
The Hot Port of Hong Kong (1962) – Joan Kent
(1962) – Jeannine Messmer
The Devil's Agent (1962) – Nora Gulden
(1963, TV miniseries) – Helen Baker
The Black Panther of Ratana (1963) – Dr. Marina Keller
Death Drums Along the River (1963) – Dr. Inge Jung
The Last Ride to Santa Cruz (1964) – Elizabeth Kelly
The Monster of London City (1964) – Ann Morlay
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) – Marisol
Frozen Alive (1964) – Dr. Helen Wieland
Trunk to Cairo (1965) – Helga Schlieben
Coast of Skeletons (1965) – Helga
The Hell of Manitoba (1965) – Jade Grande
Jessy Does Not Forgive... He Kills! (1965) – Anna-Lisa
Sandy the Seal (1965) – Karen Van Heerden (released in 1969)
(1966) – Bea Bordet
Clint the Stranger (1967) – Julie Harrison
(1967, TV miniseries) – Mary Hotkins
The Unnaturals (1969) – Mrs. Vivian Taylor
(1970–1971, TV series, 13 episodes) – Renate Albrecht
Reserl am Hofe (1984) – Narrator
References
External links and sources
Photos of the shooting of the film 'Solange du lebst'
1931 births
20th-century German actresses
20th-century German physicians
20th-century women physicians
Actresses from Munich
German film actresses
German television actresses
German women physicians
Living people
Physicians from Munich
Radio Bremen people
Spaghetti Western actresses
Western (genre) film actresses