Pop artist and actor: Fred Bertelmann is deadArrivederci, laughing Tramp: Fred Bertlemann was in the fifties and sixties, one of the most successful German pop performers - the singer and actor sold 40 million records. Now he has died at the age of 88 years.
Hamburg/Berg - His super hit landed Fred Bertlemann in 1957: Until today combine pop fans and contemporaries, his name titled "The Laughing Rover".
"The song has made me rich and famous," Bertelmann once said in an interview. The disc sold five million copies. The song was an integral part of his stage performances and made him films, records and other musical performances in the United States possible. Other successful titles were "In Hamburg sind die Nächte lang", "Arrivederci Roma" und "Wenn es Nacht wird in Montana".
Bertelmann was one of the most successful German pop artist in the fifties and sixties. Born in Duisburg, the singer last lived in Berg am Starnberger See. He was married to the former television presenter and actress Ruth Kappelsberger since 1966. In the course of his career Bertelsmann sold more than 40 million records. Many of his tunes have become standards.
On the Internet, his fans have so far rather little perception of his website. At 20.30 o’clock on Thursday evening Bertelsmann had 12 Facebook Likes, according to his official website. His last appearance was as a singer, at a Mother 's Day Gala in Vienna's Stadthalle on May 12 2013.
The singer with the sonorous baritone had already learned as a child to play several musical instruments. He attended the Nuremberg Conservatory and the UFA drama school. At age nine, the son of a chemist, appeared for the first time during on stage during a tour of the Nuremberg with the church choir of St. Lawrence.
Decisive his formative experiences in the American prisoner of war. There Bertel man learned the swing and the music of Glenn Miller. "The Americans have given us music and musical instruments. Imprisonment was forever the foundation of everything," Bertelmann once said.
After the return from captivity Bertelmann started a band and then performed as a singer with a Swedish orchestra. In order to finance his vocal studies, he played Dixie and Swing music in Nuremberg bars.
On Wednesday Bertelmann died at the age of 88 years, said his former manager and friend of the family, Michael Hilken, the news agency dpa. He fell asleep and died peacefully at his residence.
BERTELMANN, Fred
Born: 10/7/1925, Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Died: 1/22/2014, Berg, Bavaria, Germany
Fred Bertelmann's wesern - actor, singer:
A Fistful of Songs - 1966