Ralf Wolter: Sam Hawkens made him world famous
It belonged to the Karl May films such as the Silver
Rifle to Winnetou. With his wig scalp, Ralf Wolter has written film history as
Sam Hawkens. That was more than 50 years ago. The last years before his death
in October 2022, he lived in seclusion.
NDR
By Jochen Lambernd
October 14, 2022
"I'm never wrong. If I'm not mistaken, hihihi!" - Ralf Wolter as Sam Hawkens
Over the years, this quote has become a popular word that is inextricably linked to Ralf Wolter alias Sam Hawkens*. In 1962, the figure of the sympathetic-confused trapper appeared for the first time in “The Treasure in the Silver Lake”. Wolter starred alongside Pierre Brice as Winnetou and Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand. “I was happy with the role, it was one of my best times,” Wolter once said. He loved the character Sam Hawkens. Otherwise she wouldn’t have turned out that way, he was sure. Sam Hawkens also had another effect for him: “Strangely enough, this positive role fell back on me as Ralf Wolter. People said, ‘He’s a fragrant guy.’”
Wolter appeared in various Karl May film adaptations of the 1960s. In addition to Sam Hawkens, he also shone as Hají Halef Omar, whose mouth is often faster than his mind. No less bizarre was the role of the cuckoo clock representative Andreas Hasenpfeffer in “The Treasure of the Aztecs” and “The Pyramid of the Sun God”. For this he is said to have learned extra Swabian. In 1980, Wolter starred in the television series “My Friend Winnetou” again Sam Hawkens.
Born and educated in Berlin
Ralf Wolter was born on 26 November 1926 in Berlin, the son of a musician and a circus artist. Already at the age of six he had his first theater appearance at a performance of "Peer Gynt". He attended the acting school "Der Kreis" in Berlin and started his career in various theaters in and around his native city. Until old age he stood on the stage boards of German theaters. His passion for writing and composing led him to cabaret at an early age. He performed in Berlin, but also in Hamburg. His first film was in 1951 the film "Die Frauen des Herrn S." - a cabaret feature film in which Sonja Ziemann, Paul Hörbiger and Walter Giller took part, among others. More than 200 productions followed, mostly comedies.
Series hero, soft sex film actor and voice actor
In the 13-part ZDF series “Ein Fall für Titus Bunge” (A Case for Titus Bunge) in 1967, Wolter played the title character, a private detective. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the actor also shot various soft sex film comedies with telling titles such as “All kittens like to snack” or “Help, a virgin loves me”. This was followed by cute flicks with the then child star Heintje as well as the “Lümmel and Timpani films”, which were repeated many times on television and sometimes very clammy, including with Theo Lingen, Uschi Glas and Hansi Kraus. Also known are the feature film “What’s going on with Willi?” (1970) with Heinz Erhardt, the hit film “Tante Trude aus Buxtehude” (1971) with Rudi Carrell, Ilja Richter and Chris Roberts as well as “Piratensender Powerplay”, a comedy from 1982, with which Mike Krüger and Thomas Gottschalk start the so-called “Supernasen” series.
Wolter became one of the best-known German comedians. He worked as a television presenter, voice actor (including Miraculix in “Asterix in America” from 1994), cabaret artist, composer and singer. He was also in front of the camera for TV series such as “Mit Leib und Seele” and “Ein Schloss am Wörthersee”. He also appeared in “Der Alte”, “Tatort”, “Liebling Kreuzberg” and “Der Fahnder”. And he caused tears of laughter in feature films such as “Otto – Der Liebesfilm” (1992) with Otto Waalkes and “The Condom of Horror” (1996).
Ralf Wolter: “I do everything with love”
“What counts for me is that I do everything with love,” Wolter said. “How to recognize a good restaurant by the lovingly made salad”, you can recognize good actors by their love for the role. He also dealt with demanding pieces. At the Bad Hersfeld Festival in 1997 he took on several roles: Wolter was a lawyer in Georg Büchner’s “Danton’s Death” and Petrosilius Zwackelmann in Otfried Preußler’s “Der Räuber Hotzenplotz”. He described the Festival as “another building block of my joy of versatility”.
Also performed with Pierre Brice in Bad Segeberg
His most successful role did not let him go: The scalped old Wild West bleached face Sam Hawkens was also given by the actor at the Karl May Games in Bad Segeberg. In 1991 he appeared there together with Pierre Brice, who completed a total of four seasons as Winnetou am Kalkberg. Unlike Brice ("I miss respect"), Wolter took a liking to the "Shoe of Manitu" - even if he did not play in the lovingly implemented Winnetou persiflage by Michael "Bully" Herbig. He found the film "outstanding - incredibly funny and funny," he told the "Focus" in 2001.
Wolter: "Male friendship in 'Winnetou' meets nerve"
The news magazine also asked Wolter if he had an explanation for the veritable Winnetou cult that arose at the time, so that illustrated books were published and old film scores were reissued. The actor saw in the character Winnetou a secret that triggered fascination. Karl May had “struck a nerve with her in terms of male friendship, which is longed for by all men and never takes place in this form. That is perhaps also a specifically German point.”
Accident caused – sentenced to suspended sentence
Wolter made headlines far from the stage when he co-caused an accident on 22 May 2002 by a risky turning manoeuvre in a traffic jam on the A24. A truck crushed a car. Three people died. Wolter moved away from the scene of the accident. The then 75-year-old asserted that he had not noticed anything about the accident. The otherwise funny screen hero tearfully asked the relatives of the victims for forgiveness. "I would like to say that I regret everything that has happened infinitely," the "Hamburger Morgenpost" quoted him as saying. He expressed his "deep and sincere condolences" to the families of the victims. For negligent homicide and endangering road traffic, he receives a ten-month suspended prison sentence and a fine. Wolter told Bild about the accident: "That remains my greatest sin."
No offers accepted for years
In 2012 he was last seen in a feature film. In the comedy "Bis zum Horizont, dann links!" he played a senior citizen - among other things at the side of Otto Sander, Angelica Domröse, Herbert Feuerstein, Tilo Prückner and Robert Stadlober. In 2013, he announced in an interview with the "Bild" newspaper that he had said goodbye to acting. "At some point you reach a point where you say: It's really enough, I don't want more." He has since declined offers. "At some point, you'd rather stand behind the curtain on stage than in front of it."
Married for more than 60 years
Together with his wife Edith, with whom he had been married since the end of the 1950s, the father of two children lived in Munich for many years - most recently very withdrawn. According to his own statements, he still rode a lot of bikes to stay fit. Otherwise, he enjoys the peace. He has "said goodbye to all the sounds," he tells the "Bild" 2020. He described himself as "rickety". It pinches a bit here and there. His eyes didn't see so well anymore, he didn't drive a car anymore. Wolter didn't want to live to be 100 years old. He jokingly said, "If I'm not mistaken, it won't happen." He should be right: The actor died on October 14, 2022 in Munich at the age of 95.
*Karl May used the spelling "Hawkens". But the name "Hawkins" is also used more often, interestingly in the TV series "My Friend Winnetou".
WOLTER, Ralf
Born: 11/26/1926, Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Died: 10/14/2022, Munich Bavaria Germany
Ralf
Wolter’s westerns – actor, voice actor
The Treasure of
Apache Gold –
1963 (Sam Hawkens)
Apaches Last
Massacre at
Marble City – 1964 (Tim Fletcher)
The Desperado
Trail – 1965 (Sam Hawkens)
Freispruch für Old Shatterhand (TV) – 1965 (Hadschi Halef Omar) [archive
footage]
Who Killed
Johnny R.? – 1965 (Billy Monroe)
The Halfbreed –
1966 (Sam Hawkens)
The Man With the
Long Gun – 1968 (Sam Hawkens)
Pistolen-Jenny (TV) – 1969 (Miller)
My Friend Winnetou (TV) – 1979 (Sam Hawkens)
Asterix Conquers
America – 1994 [German voice of Getafix]
In the Footsteps of Winnetou (TV) – 2004 [himself]
Karl May Adventures: The Blind Brothers – 2011 [film was
never made]
Legenden: Pierre
Brice - Die beliebte ARD-Reihe über den unvergesslichen Winnetou-
Darsteller - 2012 [himself]
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