Josef Beppo Brem was born
in Munich, Bavaria, Germany on March 11, 1906. The son of a brewer he grew up
in Munich's Schwabing. He had a penchant
for theater, and discovered it as a stage carpenter at the Munich Kammerspiele. His first roles began in 1925 while taking
acting classes and he appeared in his first engagement at the provincial
theater of Bad Reichenhall in 1927. As a
guest in Regensburg, Ulm , Berlin and Munich, he appeared in pieces like Don Carlos and Carl Zuckmayer’s
Schinderhannes.
In 1932 he married the
former soubrette Marga Wening, with whom he was married until his death. The marriage produced a daughter.
At 24, he received offers
in the emerging sound film industry. He
was quickly pushed into the role of uncouth peasant louts. Often the films in which he participated were
of comedic nature and questionable claim. The best known films in which he
appeared up until 1944, are “Das sündige Dorf” (1940), “Quax, der Bruchpilot”
(1941), “Kohlhiesels Töchter” (1943) and “Die falsche Braut” (1944). He even
worked in Nazi propaganda films (“z. B. Unternehmen Michael” (1937), “Stoßtrupp
1917” (1934) and “Stukas” (1941)).
In the 1950s, Brem’s film
work continued. He played with stars
like Heinz Rühmann , Hans Moser , Johannes Heesters , Hans Albers , Heinz
Erhardt , Peter Alexander and Theo Lingen and was seen in home movies, comedies
of mistaken identity and music and military clothes. Often he appeared the films of his friend Joe
Stöckel. Both the genre and the type
that he embodied, hardly changed. He
rarely played a serious character, exceptions were “Fanfaren der Liebe” (1951)
and “Des Teufels General” (1955) by Helmut Käutner with Curd Jürgens. Together
with Liesl Karlstadt he played in the first television commercial in 1956 ,
which the ARD broadcast.
In the 1960s he filmed
several episodes of Ludwig Thomas’ Lausbubengeschichten that showed him as a comedian. On television, from 1965 to 1970 and from
1978 to 1982 he had great success appearing in 112 episodes of television
series ‘Der verkaufte Großvater’, alongside Maxl Graf and Fritz Straßner . Here he played the wily detective inspector,
who solved his cases unconventionally. As the importance of home and music video
subsided, the actor was involved in a number of German sex films in the 1970s,
which did not diminish his reputation. Beppo Brem was also seen repeatedly in Munich
theaters, among others in the little comedy “Kleinen Komödie am Max II”, at the
Bavarian State Theatre and the Theater in Briennerstraße. He also played more serious
roles in popular plays. At times, he was also a member of the ensemble of
Chiemgauer Volkstheater .
A highlight in the late
works of the actor was the embodiment of the caretaker in the comedy “Hexenschuß”
1987 with Helmut Fischer. He made his
last appearance in the play “Der verkaufte Großvater”, in the television series
Heidi und Erni as a disused tram driver in the melancholy drama “Auf dem
Abstellgleis” (1989) with Erni Singerl and Toni Berger, a gift from the
Bavarian Radio to one of his most important mimes. Shortly after the end of
filming Beppo Brem died in a Munich hospital of lung cancer and was buried in
the north cemetery in Munich.
BREM, Beppo (aka Beppo Brehm) (Josef Beppo Brem) [3/11/1906, Munich, Bavaria, Germany – 9/5/1990, Munich, Bavaria,
Germany (lung cancer)] – comedian, stage, TV actor, married to actress, singer
Marga Wening [1902-2002] (1932-1990), father of a daughter, awarded Bavarian
Order of Merit [1970], Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
[1983].
Water for Canitoga – 1939
(saboteur)
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