Helmut Zacharias

Helmut Zacharias

Born: January 27, 1920
Died: February 28, 2002
in Berlin, Germany
Helmut Zacharias (27 January 1920 – 28 February 2002) was a German violinist and composer who created over 400 works and sold 14 million records. He also appeared in a number of films, usually playing musicians.

Helmut Zacharias was born in Berlin. His father Karl was a violinist and conductor, and his mother was a singer. He started having lessons from his father at the age of 2 and a half and at 6 he played at the Faun club, a cabaret venue on the Friedrichstraße in Berlin.

At the age of 8, Zacharias became the youngest student in Gustav Havemann's masterclass at the Berlin Academy of Music. Aged 11, he played on radio for the first time with a performance of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major and began touring in 1934 at the age of 14. At this time, in the 1930s, the records of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli's all-string jazz band were available in Germany and they heavily influenced Zacharias's musical style.

In 1940, Zacharias was discovered by Lindström-Electrola (then-name of the German branch of EMI) and in 1941 had his first mainstream success with Schönes Wetter Heute. By the 1950s, he was considered to be one of the best jazz violinists of Europe and was dubbed "The Magic Violinist" and "Germany's Mr. Violin". In 1956 he achieved his greatest success in the United States with the release of "When the White Lilacs Bloom Again" which, on 22 September, reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. On 21 November 1964 he reached number 9 in the UK Singles Chart with Tokyo Melody following its use as theme music for the BBC's coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics. Zacharias moved to Switzerland in the late 1950s and continued playing with many other famous artists, including Yehudi Menuhin. From 1968 to 1973 he appeared in his own television show. In 1985, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Zacharias had been detected as suffering from Alzheimer's disease in 1995 and retired from public life in 1997 before the fact was publicly acknowledged on World Alzheimer's Day in 2000. He died in 2002 in Brissago, Switzerland and is buried in Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg.

Zacharias was married to Hella (née Konradat) from 1943 until his death. Together they had two sons, Stephan and Thomas, and a daughter, Sylvia. Stephan, born in 1956, is a composer whose credits include the soundtrack to Academy Award-nominated film Downfall while Thomas was an international athlete.

Source: Article "Helmut Zacharias" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movies for Helmut Zacharias...

Title: Musik liegt in der Luft
Character: Self
Released: February 2, 1991
Type: TV
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Bombenstimmung - Unterhaltung unterm Hakenkreuz
Title: Bombenstimmung - Unterhaltung unterm Hakenkreuz
Character: self
Released: April 2, 1987
Type: Movie
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Title: Melodien für Millionen
Character: Self
Released: February 2, 1985
Type: TV
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Title: Kronen Könner Kavaliere
Character: Self
Released: January 22, 1984
Type: TV
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Title: Menschen
Character: Self
Released: January 9, 1982
Type: TV
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So schön wie heut', so müßt' es bleiben
Title: So schön wie heut', so müßt' es bleiben
Character: Self
Released: November 12, 1981
Type: Movie
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Title: Tag des deutschen Schlagers
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1981
Type: TV
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Title: Heut' abend
Character: Self
Released: February 3, 1980
Type: TV
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Title: Verstehen Sie Spaß?
Character: Self
Released: January 31, 1980
Type: TV
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Title: Peter Alexander: Wir gratulieren
Character: Self
Released: November 29, 1979
Type: TV
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Title: Bio’s Bahnhof
Character: Self
Released: February 9, 1978
Type: TV
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Title: Musik ist Trumpf
Character: Self
Released: January 2, 1975
Type: TV
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Title: Der große Preis
Character: Self
Released: September 5, 1974
Type: TV
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Title: Anneliese Rothenberger gibt sich die Ehre
Character: Self
Released: December 25, 1971
Type: TV
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Title: Dalli Dalli
Character: Self
Released: May 13, 1971
Type: TV
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Title: Drei mal neun
Character: Self
Released: September 10, 1970
Type: TV
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Title: ZDF Werkstatt
Character: Self
Released: April 9, 1970
Type: TV
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Title: Unsere kleine Show
Character: Self
Released: April 14, 1969
Type: TV
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Title: Gut gefragt ist halb gewonnen
Character: Self
Released: September 26, 1964
Type: TV
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Title: Die Drehscheibe
Character: Self
Released: April 1, 1964
Type: TV
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Title: Einer wird gewinnen
Character: Self
Released: January 25, 1964
Type: TV
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Title: Zwischenmahlzeit
Character: Self
Released: November 27, 1963
Type: TV
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Toto at Night
Title: Toto at Night
Character: Self
Released: October 25, 1962
Type: Movie
Nini and Mimi are strolling musicians-bassist. For days they are playing on the streets of Rome. One day Nini announced that he has one million and one thousand pounds, having inherited from her grandmother died. Now world belongs only to them, and they can do everything! Ahead of them are Paris, Madrid, England, Scotland, Hong Kong, the United States ....
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Title: Kleine Stadt - ganz groß
Character: Self
Released: January 14, 1961
Type: TV
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Title: Stars in der Manege
Character: Self
Released: April 11, 1959
Type: TV
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Title: Discorama
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 1959
Type: TV
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Title: Aktuelle Schaubude
Character: Self - Musician
Released: December 7, 1957
Type: TV
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Title: Zum blauen Bock
Character: Self
Released: August 3, 1957
Type: TV
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Unter Palmen am blauen Meer
Title: Unter Palmen am blauen Meer
Character: Self
Released: July 15, 1957
Type: Movie
During the summer holidays, a teenage girl in love with pop star Tedy Reno visits her aunt, an aging countess, at her mansion in Italy, where both music and men are strictly forbidden.
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Title: Melodie der Welt
Character: Self
Released: January 11, 1956
Type: TV
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Title: Was bin ich?
Character: self
Released: January 2, 1955
Type: TV
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Ten on Every Finger
Title: Ten on Every Finger
Character: Helmut
Released: October 27, 1954
Type: Movie
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Title: Wer gegen wen - ferngesehen
Character: Self
Released: September 3, 1953
Type: TV
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Das singende Hotel
Title: Das singende Hotel
Character: Karli Alten
Released: July 29, 1953
Type: Movie
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Title: Bambi Awards
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1948
Type: TV
The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and other fields "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year", both domestic and foreign. First held in 1948, it is the oldest media award in Germany. The trophy is named after Felix Salten's book Bambi, A Life in the Woods and its statuettes are in the shape of the novel's titular fawn character. They were originally made of porcelain until 1958, when the organizers switched to using gold, with the casting done by the art casting workshop of Ernst Strassacker in Süßen.