"Traumschiff" and "Bergdoktor" actor Siegfried Rauch is dead
SPIEGEL
3/12/2018
The actor Siegfried Rauch has died. He died at 85 years of age as a result of a tragic accident. He became famous for his roles as captain of the "Traumschiff" and in the series "Der Bergdoktor".
The actor Siegfried Rauch died in a fall in his hometown Untersöchering south of Munich. This was confirmed by the police in Penzberg. Previously, the ZDF and the "Bild" newspaper, citing Radio Oberland had reported that his death was the result of smoke.
According to media reports, Rauch had fallen down a flight of stairs during a celebration of the volunteer fire brigade in his place of residence and succumbed to his injuries at the place of the accident.
Rauch had become known in the role of the "Traumschiff" captain Jakob Paulsen. The theatrical breakthrough, however, he had already succeeded in the early 1970s - with the classic "Le Mans". He played a race car driver, as did his friend and colleague Steve McQueen. The leap to Hollywood would have been possible, but the Bavarian homeland was more important than the big money in America.
In the rural idyll with a view of the Alps, he felt at ease, since 1973 he lived in a farmhouse near Murnau. "When I work, I have to be happy, and I can only do that in my farmhouse in Bavaria and with my family," he once said in an interview. Rauch had been married to his wife Karin since 1964 and had two sons with her.
From 1999, Rauch was the face of the "Traumschiff" for 14 years. Until his old age, he still played the role of a doctor. Roman Melchinger in the ZDF series "Der Bergdoktor ".
Only in 2015 Rauch fulfilled "a lifelong dream" and released the CD "Moonlight & Lovesongs". "In the old days, men used to play on the guitar in front of their bedroom window in the evenings, and today only Italians are true romantics," he said in an interview. He had released a record more than 30 years earlier.
The Smoke from the Ammersee remained true to the water even after his departure from the "dream ship": Sailing became his favorite pastime, as he told in an interview. "I am now captain on my own sailboat." He also benefited from his seaworthiness during the filming. "The more it wobbles and rocks on the water, the better I feel," he said in 2015.
RAUCH, Siegfried
Born: 4/2/1923, Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany
Died: 3/11/2018, Untersöchering, Bavaria, Germany
Siegfried Rauch’s westerns – actor:
Geronimo und die Räuber (TV) – 1966 (Geronimo)
My Friend Winnetou (TV) – 1980 (Old Shatterhand)
The Sons of Trinity – 1996 (Parker)