Biography:

Walter Richter-Reinick was born Walter Richter in Berlin on April 14, 1911. He became one of the few East German actors to be given the honorary title of “Actor of the People” for his work in the theater.

Richter-Reinick grew up in the Berlin suburb of Reinickendorf in a working class family with an interest in the arts. He first trained for a career in banking. He then took private acting lessons and performed in theaters in Schleswig, Senftenberg, Cottbus, and Dresden, where he also directed plays. In 1953, he went to East Berlin, where he played at the Maxim Gorki Theater, Deutsches Theater and Metropol Theater.

Richter-Reinick was a highly versatile actor, adept at playing everything from the shadowy character of Watchman Runge, in Das zweite Gleis, to comic roles in farces and light contemporary pieces, for which he became quite popular. In 1962 he joined the acting ensemble of East German television. One of his best-known performances was as the proletarian painter Heinrich Zille, in the television production Interview with Paintbrush-Heinrich. He also sometimes worked alongside his son, the actor Dietmar Richter-Reinick.

Richter-Reinick had to give up his career for health reasons in 1977. He died in Berlin on December 14, 1984.