Happy 80th Birthday to Rolf Hoppe

Rolf Hoppe was born on December 6, 1930 in Ellrich, Germany. The son of a baker he became a baker’s apprentice and then a coachman from 1945-1948. Rolf then studied acting at the State Conservatory in Erfurt and then voice at the Institute of Phonetics in Halle, before joining a theater group in Leipzig. He’s also appeared at the State Theater of Dresden between 1970 and 1975. The Deutches Theater in Berlin and the Salzburg Festival in the 1980s. Hoppe's also appeared on stage in Italy, China and Switzerland. Rolf became known internationally for his portrayal of Hermann Goring in the 1981 film "Mephisto". He’s also been the voice in children’s radio plays. Rolf is the principal at the Dresden Court Theatre which he founded in 1995. During his stage career he also found time to appear in over a 175 films from 1963 until the present. Among them were seven East German westerns such as "The Falcon’s Trail" (1968), "White Wolves" (1969), "Apaches" (1973) and "Ulzana" (1974). Hoppe usually played the villain in these Gojko Mitic Indian films. Rolf is married and has two daughters, one of which is actress Christine Hoppe [1968- ]. Today we celebrate Rolf Hoppe’s 80^th birthday.