Erika Pelikowsky was born January 18, 1916, in Vienna. After finishing school, she applied for the well-known drama school Max Reinhardt Seminar to study acting although her middle-class parents opposed her plans. When her first application was declined, she took private acting lessons, applied for a second time – and was finally accepted.

Pelikowsky made her first stage experience as a bit player for Salzburger Festspiele while she was still studying at Max Reinhardt Seminar. After her graduation the qualified actress became a cast member at Theater Linz. On her return to Vienna at the end of the 1930s, she was called to perform at the renowned Burgtheater. As a cast member, Pelikowsky appeared in numerous productions of classic plays, for instance as Hermia in Shakespeare"s "Midsummernight’s Dream", or as Luise in Schiller"s "Kabale und Liebe" ("Intrigue and Love"). In the 1943/44 season she performed at Berlin"s Schillertheater under its director Heinrich George but returned to Vienna after only one season. Back in Vienna, Pelikowsky performed at Burgtheater, at Volkstheater, and, from 1948 on, at Scala. When Scala was closed in 1956 due to political reasons, Pelikowsky with several of her colleagues went to Berlin where she stayed until 1971 as an enormously successful cast member of Deutsches Theater. In 1971, Helene Weigel brought her to Berliner Ensemble, where Pelikowsky stayed until 1986.

Erika Pelikowsky made her movie debut at a rather late stage in her career. In 1955, she appeared for the first time on the big screen, in "Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti" ("Herr Puntila and his Servant Mattiv), also starring Curt Bois. From the 1960s on, she regularly worked for DEFA. Although she did not play leading roles on the big screen, she often stuck out in key supporting roles, for instance as quirky boarding-house keeper in "Pension Boulanka" (1964), or as the wife of the sculptor Ernst Bärlach in Ralf Kirsten"s drama "Der verlorene Engel" ("The Lost Angel", 1966). In 1977, she made her last memorable DEFA appearance: Pelikowsky turned her role as professor Mittenzwei in Roland Gräf"s film "Die Flucht" ("The Flight") into an easily remembered "exit".

Besides her movie career, Pelikowsky was also seen in numerous GDR TV movies. Predestined by her age, she mainly played mothers, grandmothers, and society ladies from the 1970s on. In this respect, her most memorable films include the three-part movie "Abschied vom Frieden" (1977), and the six-part mini-series "Einzug ins Paradies" (1987), where Pelikowsky made a strong impression as an affectionate and warm-hearted grandmother.

After the death of her second husband Wolfgang Heint in 1984, Pelikowsky more and more withdrew from the spotlight. On March 1, 1990, Erika Pelikowsky died in her native city of Vienna.

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