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Lissy Tempelhof was born March 1929, in Berlin, to a family of workers. After the war, she worked as a punch, as a secretary, and as a streetcar conductor. She then made her first acting experience in an amateur drama group and participated in a revue at the Society for German-Soviet Friendship. In 1947, Tempelhof became a cast member of Landestheater Anklam but also attended the drama school Staatliche Schauspielschule Berlin (today: Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch") from 1950 to 1953. Afterwards, Tempelhof performed at theatres in Senftenberg, Dresden, and Berlin. In 1963, she became a cast member at Deutsches Theater Berlin and stayed there for more than 35 years.
Lissy Tempelhof made her movie debut in 1954 in "Der Ochse von Kulm", directed by Martin Hellberg. After a number of supporting roles, she played her first leading role in a movie in 1961 when Konrad Wolf cast her for "Professor Mamlock" as physician Inge Ruoff who supported the Jewish physician Mamlock during the Nazi regime. After the TV production "Sommer in Heidkau" (1964), that was written by Helmut Sakowski with Tempelhof in mind, she played the leading role in Günther Rücker's film "Die besten Jahre" ("The Best Years", 1965), which became Tempelhof's best-known film. In "Die besten Jahre", Tempelhof plays the young teacher Hilde who takes in the veteran Ernst (Horst Drinda), who has just returned from the war, and supports him to become a teacher, too. But when Ernst becomes a successful teacher himself, he turns away from her. After "Die besten Jahre", Tempelhof appeared in a series of prominent roles on TV and on the big screen, for instance in "Fräulein Schmetterling" (1966), in "Nebelnacht" (1968), in "Die Hosen des Ritters von Bredow" (1973), as well as in the title role of the two-part TV movie "Bettina von Arnim" (1972). Tempelhof mainly portrayed self-confident and passionate characters, sometimes with a tragic tendency.
Tempelhof won the audience award and the jury award as Best actress at the film festival Karl-Marx-Stadt for her portrayal of the incorruptible, yet generous leader of a worker's unit in Iris Gusner's film "Alle meine Mädchen" (1979). She made a memorable performance as the widow of a party official in Helmut Dziuba's film "Erscheinen Pflicht" (1984). Besides her numerous roles in TV movies, Tempelhol also appeared regularly in TV series, including "Polizeiruf 110", and "Rächer, Retter und Rapiere".
After the German reunification, she was seen in TV series such as "Für alle Fälle Stefanie", "Ärzte" and "Letzte Spur Berlin" as well as several TV movies. Furthermore, Lissy Tempelhof performed as a chanson singer and speaker and taught singing at a specialist music school in Berlin.
Liss Tempelhof's last feature film was Veit Helmer's "Quatsch und die Nasenbärbande" ("Fiddlesticks", 2014). She died October 10, 2017 in Berlin, age 88.
The contents of this entry were funded with the support of the DEFA-Stiftung.