Biography:

Heidemarie Wenzel was born in Berlin on July 7, 1945. From 1963 until 1966, she studied at the Ernst Busch Academy for Performing Arts in Berlin. Her first engagements were with theaters in Rostock and Greifswald, where she could fulfill her special interest in classical plays.

Wenzel’s film debut was in the supporting role in Ralf Kirsten’s film Der verlorene Engel, which was about the German sculptor Ernst Barlach and was banned in 1966. Her role in Egon Günther’s Abschied, for which she received critical praise, marks the beginning of a successful film career. In the following years, she was often cast as emancipated, sensitive and self-confident women – such as in Zeit der Störche (dir. Siegfried Kühn) or in Heiner Carow’s cult film, Die Legende von Paul und Paula. 

Her film and television career came to an abrupt end when her husband did not return from a trip to West Germany in 1986. She decided to follow him and applied to leave the GDR, but was not allowed to move to the West until early 1988. As she was banned from her profession in the intervening period, she worked as a secretary for the Lutheran church.

In addition to films, Heidemarie Wenzel has acted in several television series.