Hans-Peter Minetti was born April 21, 1926, as Hans-Peter Theodor Minetti in Berlin. After the war, the son of the actors couple Bernhard Minetti and Anne Gebhardt started to study art history and philosophy in Kiel, Hamburg, and Berlin, and made his first experiences as a reporter for "Hamburger Volkszeitung" and "Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst". In addition, he also did some acting during his studies and performed, for instance in a Hamburger Studentenbühne production of Georg Kaiser's "Das Floß der Medusa". Confident about his acting talent, Minetti attended actor's training at Weimar"s Theaterinstitut from 1949 on, and soon became a member of Professor Maxim Vallentin's "Junges Ensemble". In 1952, he performed for one season at Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater in Schwerin, and then went to Maxim Gorki-Theater in Berlin. Minetti also performed at Deutsches Theater where he was a cast member for three years. Minetti equally convinved theatre goers and critics with his performances as Baron Tusenbach in Heinz Hilpert's production of Chekhov's "Drei Schwestern" ("Three Sisters", 1958), and as Pawel Rjumin in Maxim Gorky's "Sommergäste" ("Summerfolk", 1959), directed by Wolfgang Heinz.

In 1953, Minetti made his movie debut in the role of Fiete Jansen in Kurt Maetzig's two-part movie "Ernst Thälmann" (1954 and 1955). His portrayal of a Hamburg shipyard worker established Minetti's position at DEFA and in the following years he played authentic revolutionaries and conscientious heroes in several other films. In Joachim Kunert's spy thriller "Im Sonderauftrag" (1959), Minetti starred as lieutenant commander Fischer, the head of a minesweper commando at Kap Arkona who discloses a traitor while doing his work. In "Hart am Wind" ("Close to the Wind", 1970), a feature film advertising military service in the Navy, he also played a captain who as a veteran seafarer is able to solve the private problems of his recruits.

From 1974 to 1989. Minetti acted as the director of Staatliche Schauspielschule "Ernst Busch" in Berlin-Schöneweide. Besides his work in film, the actor, a convicted Communist and member of the SED since 1950, also took over socio-political tasks and was a member of the FDJ Zentralrat for several years. Furthermore, Minetti was named the president of Verband der Theaterschaffenden in 1984. After the German reunification, Minetti was heavily criticised for his influential role in the GDR. During the 1990s, Minetti got less and less role offers and instead took on reading tours through Germany, Switzerland, and Austria and worked for "Theater des Ostens" in Berlin where he was seen in several productions, including the 1991 production of Strindberg's "Totentanz" ("The Dance of Death") and the 1992 production of Ionesco's "Die Stühle" ("The Chairs"). In 1997, Minetti published his autobiography "Erinnerungen".

On November 10, 2006, Hans-Peter Minetti died at the age of 80 while taking a cure in the Czech Republic.

The contents of this entry were funded with the support of the DEFA-Stiftung.