Image of Helmut Zacharias

Helmut Zacharias

Helmut Zacharias (27 January 1920 – 28 February 2002) was a German violinist and composer who created over 400 works and sold 14 million records. He also appeared in a number of films, usually playing musicians. Helmut Zacharias was born in Berlin. His father Karl was a violinist and conductor, and his mother was a singer. He started having lessons from his father at the age of 2 and a half and at 6 he played at the Faun club, a cabaret venue on the Friedrichstraße in Berlin. At the age of 8, Zacharias became the youngest student in Gustav Havemann's masterclass at the Berlin Academy of Music. Aged 11, he played on radio for the first time with a performance of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major and began touring in 1934 at the age of 14. At this time, in the 1930s, the records of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli's all-string jazz band were available in Germany and they heavily influenced Zacharias's musical style. In 1940, Zacharias was discovered by Lindström-Electrola (then-name of the German branch of EMI) and in 1941 had his first mainstream success with Schönes Wetter Heute. By the 1950s, he was considered to be one of the best jazz violinists of Europe and was dubbed "The Magic Violinist" and "Germany's Mr. Violin". In 1956 he achieved his greatest success in the United States with the release of "When the White Lilacs Bloom Again" which, on 22 September, reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. On 21 November 1964 he reached number 9 in the UK Singles Chart with Tokyo Melody following its use as theme music for the BBC's coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics. Zacharias moved to Switzerland in the late 1950s and continued playing with many other famous artists, including Yehudi Menuhin. From 1968 to 1973 he appeared in his own television show. In 1985, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Zacharias had been detected as suffering from Alzheimer's disease in 1995 and retired from public life in 1997 before the fact was publicly acknowledged on World Alzheimer's Day in 2000. He died in 2002 in Brissago, Switzerland and is buried in Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg. Zacharias was married to Hella (née Konradat) from 1943 until his death. Together they had two sons, Stephan and Thomas, and a daughter, Sylvia. Stephan, born in 1956, is a composer whose credits include the soundtrack to Academy Award-nominated film Downfall while Thomas was an international athlete. Source: Article "Helmut Zacharias" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.


Read bio at tmdb | Read bio at Wikipedia
Born:
Jan 27, 1920 In Berlin, Germany
Movie/TV Credits:
35
First Appeared:
In the series Bambi Awards 1948-01-01
Latest Project:
Series Musik liegt in der Luft 1991-02-02
Known For
Poster of Kronen Könner Kavaliere
Poster of Kleine Stadt - ganz groß
Poster of Melodie der Welt
Poster of Wer gegen wen - ferngesehen
Filmography
Series Musik liegt in der Luft Self - Violin player 1991-02-02
Movie Bombenstimmung - Unterhaltung unterm Hakenkreuz self 1987-04-02
Series Melodien für Millionen Self 1985-02-02
Series Kronen Könner Kavaliere Self 1984-01-22
Series Menschen Self 1982-01-09
Series Tag des deutschen Schlagers Self 1981-01-01
Movie So schön wie heut', so müßt' es bleiben Self 1981-11-12
Series Verstehen Sie Spaß? Self 1980-01-31
Series Heut' abend Self 1980-02-03
Series Peter Alexander: Wir gratulieren Self 1979-11-29
Series Bio’s Bahnhof Self 1978-02-09
Series Musik ist Trumpf Self 1975-01-02
Series Der große Preis Self 1974-09-05
Series Anneliese Rothenberger gibt sich die Ehre Self 1971-12-25
Series Dalli Dalli Self 1971-05-13
Series ZDF Werkstatt Self 1970-04-09
Series Drei mal neun Self 1970-09-10
Series Unsere kleine Show Self 1969-04-14
Series Einer wird gewinnen Self 1964-01-25
Series Die Drehscheibe Self 1964-04-01
Series Gut gefragt ist halb gewonnen Self 1964-09-26
Series Zwischenmahlzeit Self 1963-11-27
Movie Toto at Night Self 1962-10-25
Series Kleine Stadt - ganz groß Self 1961-01-14
Series Discorama Self 1959-02-04
Series Stars in der Manege Self 1959-04-11
Movie Unter Palmen am blauen Meer Self 1957-07-15
Series Aktuelle Schaubude Self - Musician 1957-12-07
Series Zum blauen Bock Self 1957-08-03
Series Melodie der Welt Self 1956-01-11
Series Was bin ich? self 1955-01-02
Movie Ten on Every Finger Helmut 1954-10-27
Series Wer gegen wen - ferngesehen Self 1953-09-03
Movie Das singende Hotel Karli Alten 1953-07-29
Series Bambi Awards Self 1948-01-01