RIP Klaus Schichan

 

Karl May Festival: Mourning for actor and stuntman Klaus Schichan

Lübecker Nachrichten

By Norbert Rochna

1/17/2025

 

His profession included daring stunts in movies, TV series and at the Karl May Festival in Bad Segeberg. Klaus Schichan has died at the age of 84. The stuntman lived right behind the open-air stage on Kalkberg and was part of the ensemble for decades.

Bad Segeberg. As a stuntman, Klaus Schichan has probably died thousands of deaths in films, on TV and on stage. Now his life has really come to an end. According to information from our editorial team, Schichan died in November at the age of 84 in Bad Segeberg, where he had lived for more than 40 years.

For years he had a short commute from his house in Oberbergstrasse on Kalkberg. He was part of the Karl May Plays ensemble 17 times between 1968 and 1996.

Schichan was the originator of the spectacular villain's death

There, in 1968, the Berlin native was responsible for the villain's first - at the time spectacular - stage death. In the play "In the Gorges of the Balkans" he fell from a suspension bridge during a fight with Kara Ben Nemsi.

Director Wulf Leisner had initially planned to have the villain's death be hidden. But not Klaus Schichan: "If there's a bridge there, I can jump off it too!" he later said in an interview. That was typical of Schichan. When he did something, he did it properly and with full commitment.

During the successful era of director Klaus-Hagen Latwesen in the 1980s, Schichan was part of the regular crew. Schichan played a key role in making the plays during this time and afterwards significantly more action-packed and entertaining.

Schichan was known for his clear words - even off the stage, which reflected his Berlin origins. His direct manner did not always make him friends. He took a break during the four Pierre Brice years at Kalkberg and did not rejoin the team until 1992.

The stuntman taught himself the craft

Klaus Schichan never saw himself as an actor, "performer" is the word he used for himself. He had not learned his stunt craft either but taught himself the finer points of the profession.

What can be done today with computers and lots of technology had to happen "in real life" back then. A car accident was authentic, hospital stays and injuries were occupational hazards. The 1960s TV classics "Stahlnetz", "Cliff Dexter" and "Die Gentleman bitten zur Kasse" are part of his filmography, as are episodes of "Tatort". The stuntman also worked for Hark Bohm and the US director Richard Brooks.

SCHICHAN, Klaus 

Born: 6/27/1940, Berlin, Berlin Germany

Died: 11/?/12024, Segeberger, Schleswig-Holstein Germany

Klaus Schichan's westerns - actor, stuntman:

Der Ölprinz (TV) – 1970 (Baumgarten)

Old Surehand (TV) -1975 (White Feather)

Winnetou I (TV) – 1976 (Bao)

Winnetou II (TV) – 1976 (Bao)

Der schwarze Mustang (TV) – 1977 (Ade, White Feather)

Old Firehand (TV) - 1979 (White Feather)

The Treasure of Silver Lake (TV) – 1981 (Captain Howens/Donner)