Biography:

Francesco Stefani was born on January 23, 1923 in Offenburg, Germany. He lived in West Germany and worked in the 1950s in East Germany.

He became internationally known for his film Das singende, klingende Bäumchen based on a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. While the East German officials criticized the idealistic character of the film, the BBC acquired the rights for the film and first broadcasted it as a three-part series in 1964. The princess and the world's weirdest fish ended up terrifying and obsessing a generation of British children. This film gained cult status in UK.

Francesco Stefani is believed to have later lived and worked in Bavaria until his death on November 11, 1989 in Munich.