One can hardly write about the life of Elmar Wepper without mentioning his brother Fritz. When Elmar made his first major appearance in front of the German TV audience in 1974 in the ZDF crime thriller “The Commissioner,” he was detective chief Erwin Klein. Erwin Klein was the brother of Harry Klein alias Fritz Wepper. Their resemblance was striking. And somehow, in the eyes of many viewers, Elmar Wepper remained the little brother for many years.
Both often appeared together in public. But more and more Elmar swam free and made a career. While Fritz (82) loves comedy, Elmar was increasingly seen in serious roles, for example in the highly praised drama “Cherry Blossoms – Hanami” by Doris Dörrie. He received the German Film Prize for the leading role. Now he has died. As “Bild” quotes from those closest to him, it was sudden heart failure. Wepper was 79 years old.
The search for the father
The two brothers grew up in post-war Munich. “My mother gave us an incredible amount of freedom and love. I had a fantastic childhood,” Elmar Wepper once told “Bild am Sonntag”. “We were allowed to play, play, play. In the summer we went out after breakfast and ate some bread in the afternoon, ravenous. It was only in the evening, shortly before it got dark, that my mother warned: “Now come on up.””
The father was a soldier in the Second World War and was missing. “As children, we went to the Aki cinema at the train station to look for him in the newsreels,” Wepper recalled in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. The hope: The father could be one of the prisoners of war reported there. “We never found him.”
Assistant to “Commissioner” Erik Ode
At the age of 14, Elmar Wepper performed in theater for the first time in Munich. And he became a voice actor in the American youth series “Fury”, and later in films, for example as the German voice of Mel Gibson. However, he didn’t initially see acting as a calling. He preferred to study theater studies and German.
But in 1974, his brother Fritz switched to the later cult series “Derrick” with Horst Tappert, and his previous role in the crime series “The Inspector” with Erik Ode became available. Elmar Wepper seized the opportunity and became Ode’s new assistant. Since then he has been seen regularly, in films as well as in series, such as “Der Alte” or “Zwei Münchner in Hamburg” with Uschi Glas. Every now and then the brothers also filmed together – like in the comedy “Three in One Cover”.
Successes with Doris Dörrie in the serious field
In 2008, Doris Dörrie’s film “Cherry Blossoms – Hanami”: Wepper plays Rudi, who wants to fulfill his late wife’s dreams with a trip to Japan. Instead of a light TV comedy, a moving drama – a change in genre that recommended him for other demanding film characters. “Of course I’m pleased that the range of roles on offer has become more interesting in my later years. Maybe after ‘Hanami’ people have more confidence in me,” Wepper, who was married and had a son, speculated at the time.
Elmar Wepper later appeared in front of the camera again for Doris Dörrie in “Cherry Blossoms
Wepper also showed his heart during the Corona crisis. He and his colleague Michaela May brought joy to senior citizens during the peak period – as part of a volunteer campaign. Once a week they called lonely, old people as “telephone angels” to have a little chat. Now his big heart has stopped beating.
