Walter Otto Hugo Karl Amtrup (15 March 1904 – 7 August 1974) was a German actor, film dubber, opera singer (bass), and acting teacher.
Early life and education
Walter Amtrup was born in Altona, Hamburg as the son of a state court judge. He was student of the gymnasium in Lüneburg and, after achieving his Abitur, visited the Berlin University of the Arts from 1925 until 1931, where he was educated as an opera singer and a stage actor.
Opera and acting career
Amtrup made his professional opera debut in 1932 at the Landestheater Altenburg. This was followed by many appearances in Meißen, Neisse, Wilhelmshaven, Hanau, Bunzlau, at the Staatstheater Schwerin (state theater of Mecklenburg) and until the end of the Second World War at the municipal Städtische Bühnen in Chemnitz.
German Democratic Republic
Ten years after the End of World War II the Amtrup family moved to Central Germany in 1955, where Amtrup was employed as a character actor by the Städtische Bühnen Erfurt. In 1966 he was booked by the Meiningen Court Theatre, where his artistic career ended 1969.
Family
Walter Amtrup was married to former opera singer Johanna Amtrup, née Kieling. The couple had three children: Karin (born 1936), Turid (born 1943), and Niels-Torsten (born 1951). The German marine biologist and dolphin research scientist Karsten Brensing is Walter Amtrup’s grandson.
Artistic career
Education and engagements
1925–1931: Education at the Berlin University of the Arts, specializing in drama/opera 1932–1933: Landestheater Altenburg 1933: Stadttheater Meißen 1934: Stadttheater Neiße 1935: Neues Schauspielhaus der Jadestädte, Wilhelmshaven 1936: Stadttheater Hanau 1937–1941: Staatstheater Schwerin 1941–1945: Städtische Bühnen Chemnitz 1947–1951: Städtische Bühnen Flensburg 1955–1966: Städtische Bühnen Erfurt 1966–1969: Meininger Theater
Roles
Theater
Theater Altenburg
1931: UB 16 (Wireless Operator) 1931: Die Wundertannen am Wurzel (Wassermann) 1932: Manon Lescaut (innkeeper)
Theater Meißen
1933: Jagd ihn – ein Mensch (Bless-Karle)
Theater Neiße
1933: Schlageter (Schlageter) 1933: Doktor und Apotheker (pharmacist Stößel) 1933: UB 16 (Helmsman) 1933: Der Mann mit den grauen Schläfen (Baron Jaro Milanovici) 1934: Die große Chance 1934: Don Cesar (Specialised Minister of Intrigue)
Theater Wilhelmshaven
1934: Alle gegen Einen – Einer gegen Alle (Wasa) 1934: Christa, ich erwarte Dich (Hans Tettenborn) 1934: Minna von Barnhelm (Major von Tellheim) 1934: Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen (Naukleros) 1935: Das Frühstück zu Rudolstadt (Duke of Alba) 1935: Anna Kronthaler (Gaenswürger) 1935: Das Wunderwasser (Adam Schrott) 1935: Don Carlos (Marquis Posa)
Theater Hanau
1935: Peer Gynt (Peer Gynt) 1935: Am Himmel Europas 1936: Die Insel (Commercial Attaché Raaz)
Theater Bunzlau
1936: Vertrag am Karakat (Risa Khan)
Schweriner Theater
?: Der Thron zwischen Erdteilen (Borkdorf/Sollikow; dual role) 1937: Prinz Friedrich von Homburg (Count of Hohenzollern) 1938: De adlige Rosenblome (Earl Hinrich von der Bröderborg) 1939: Der andere Feldherr
Theater Chemnitz
1941: Liebeskomödie
1941: Maria Stuart (Melvil) 1942: Der Leutnant Vary (auditeur) 1942: Ein Windstoß (Chief Appellate Judge) 1942: Die große Kurve (Dr. Timm) 1942: Die Braut von Messina (Drege) 1942: Donna Diana (Diana’s father Don Diego) 1943: Not Gottes (Monk Severin) 1943: Ihr Talisman (Tsing) 1943: Die Medaille (farmer Merkl) 1944: Die Piccolomini (Count of Terzky) 1944: Onkel Bonaparte (Lawyer Montklupo)