Joachim Kretzer

**Joachim Kretzer** (born 1968 in Bern, Switzerland) is a German actor and voice actor for radio.

## Life and Career

### Family and education

Kretzer was born into a family of artists as the younger of two brothers. His father Alfred August Kretzer comes from Wiesbaden, his mother Ulrike Kretzer (née Schmahl) comes from Hamburg. His parents were both engaged at the Stadttheater Bern; the father as an actor, the mother as a makeup artist. When Kretzer was three years old, the family moved to Bonn, where Kretzer's father was employed at the Bonn Theater. After graduating from high school, which Kretzer graduated from the Clara-Schumann-Gymnasium in Bonn in 1987, Kretzer moved with the whole family to Munich. He then did his military service in Schwabing.

From 1989 to 1992 he attended the Zinner-Studio drama school in Munich and graduated in 1992 with a diploma. During his time in the Zinner studio, Kretzer already began to play roles in television and theater.

### Theater

He had his first stage engagement at the Schwäbisch Hall open-air theater in 1992. There he played u. a. directed by Lis Verhoeven, who had been his teacher at the drama school, in Max Frisch's play Andorra, together with Timothy Peach and Dirk Galuba. At the end of 1993 he was hired by Friedrich Schütter, then director of the Ernst Deutsch Theater in Hamburg, as a permanent member of the ensemble. Kretzer kicked u. a. as Temple Lord in Nathan the Wise (1993, directed by Y. Jansen), as Jason in Medea by Hans Henny Jahnn (season 1994/95; with Eva-Maria Hagen as partner), as Eilif in mother Courage and her children (season 1995 / 96; again with Eva-Maria Hagen as a partner) and as Chief of Staff Soljony in Three Sisters (1996; director: V. Grishko). In the comedy The Spanish Fly, Kretzer was on stage with Friedrich Schütter. Kretzer left the Ernst-Deutsch-Theater in 1996. Since then he has been working as a freelancer.

After a long pause in the theater, Kretzer resumed his work as a theater actor in 2005 and participated in several open-air performances. In 2005 and 2006 he played the Old Shatterhand on the side of Gojko Mitić in Winnetou and the secret of Felsenburg and Winnetou 3 at the Karl May Games in Bad Segeberg. In 2009 and 2010 Kretzer played the villain Guy de Rigault at the Störtebeker Festival on the island of Rügen.

### Television

In 1993 he received his first major TV offer for the German adaptation of the French hit series Helen et les garcons, which was broadcast in Germany under the title All Dear Julia. From 1996 to 1997, Joachim Kretzer embodied the role of Paul Schöner in the ARD daily soap Forbidden Love. Kretzer became known as Achim Kreutzer in the series In All Friendship, which he played from 1998 to episode 39, and through the role of helicopter pilot Robert Becker in the Sat.1 series HeliCops - Mission over Berlin in 2000. In 1999, he played alongside Maria Furtwängler in the Barbara Wood filming Heart Shimmer and next to Christine Neubauer in Twiggy - Love on a Diet. Several Rosamunde Pilcher films followed, e.g. B. Wind over the river and decision of the heart as well as episode roles in the series Der Alte, Siska, Unser Charly, For all cases Stefanie, Der Bulle von Tölz and Die Rosenheim-Cops.

In the ARD television series Rote Rosen he has played the role of lawyer Torben Lichtenhagen since 2010 (episode 946) until today, from 2015 even temporarily in a double role. In addition to Torben Lichtenhagen, Kretzer also played his half-brother Toni for several months.

### Cinema

He has several cinema engagements: Oskar Roehler casts him in 2005 for his film adaptation of Michel Houellebecq's elementary particles. Partner in Jan Henrik Stahlberg's Muxmhörstill den Björn. In 2010, Kretzer became Michael Richter in the role of Michael Richter, the corrupt administration of a waste incineration plant, which is run by a mafia killer train.

### Synchronized work and private

Kretzer also works as a voice actor. During his time in Hamburg, he took over the first synchronized work. He also recorded numerous radio plays and audio books. Kretzer is married and lives near Hamburg.

## Involvement in *Duluth*

In the German dub of *Duluth*, he voices John G. Munson (second season only).