Susanne Lothar, one of German best-known film actresses with roles in such international hits as The Reader and The White Ribbon, has died aged 51.
A lawyer for Susanne Lothar’s family announced the actress had passed away on Wednesday, without specifying the cause of death.
Many associate her with the dark films of Austrian director Michael Haneke, such as Funny Games and The Piano Teacher, as well as The White Ribbon.
Susanne Lothar’s late husband, Ulrich Muehe, starred in The Lives of Others.
In a press statement, lawyer Christian Schetz said the family would give no details of the actress’s death “for understandable reasons”.
Susanne Lothar, one of German best-known film actresses with roles in such international hits as The Reader and The White Ribbon, has died aged 51
The Hamburg-born actress was one of the most celebrated German character actors of her generation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
At the German Film Awards, the country’s equivalent of the Oscars, Susanne Lothar received four best actress nominations, and won once, in 1983, for her debut performance in Tankred Dorst’s film Eisenhans.
The White Ribbon (2009) garnered the Palme d’Or and Stephen Daldry’s The Reader (2008) won an Oscar.
On stage, Susanne Lothar acted at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg for many years.
A tribute in Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine by journalist Matthias Matussek, who knew her, describes her as “an actress who sought extremes both on stage and in front of the camera”.
“The theatre and cinema will be at a loss to know to whom they can now confide internal conflict, bravura, infinite vulnerability…” Matthias Matussek added.
Susanne Lothar and her husband Ulrich Muehe, who died in 2007 just a year after the release of the Oscar-winning Lives of Others, had two children.
Roland Emmerich, the director of Independence Day movie, has won six awards at the 62nd Lola-German Film Awards for his Shakespeare mystery Anonymous.
The film questions whether William Shakespeare was the true author of some of his most famous works.
Cannes winner Stopped On Track, directed by Andreas Dresen won the top prize – the Golden Lola – as well as prizes for best director, best actor and best supporting actor.
The annual awards are voted for by the German Film Academy’s 1,300 members.
They are among the most lucrative film awards in the world, with a total of €3 million ($4 million) given as cash prizes.
Director Andreas Dresen and producer Peter Rommel collected the Golden Lola at a ceremony in Berlin.
“This is not the European Cup, this is the Champions League!” said Peter Rommel, on receiving the award, which includes a cash prize of €500,000 ($650,000) to invest in a new project.
Stopped on Track (Halt Auf Freier Strecke), the portrait of a man dying from a brain tumor, was joint winner in Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
Roland Emmerich has won six awards at the 62nd Lola-German Film Awards for his Shakespeare mystery Anonymous
Anonymous won six out of a possible seven nominations, including awards for cinematography and costume design.
The film, which played at the London Film Festival last autumn, marked the first time Roland Emmerich had filmed in his home country for more than 20 years.
The Hollywood-based director is best known for effects-laden blockbusters such as Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, and, more recently, 2012.
Anonymous starred a host of British actors including Rafe Spall, as William Shakespeare, and Rhys Ifans, as the Earl of Oxford – purported in the film to be the real author of Shakespeare’s works.
It was the subject of some criticism – particularly in Britain – from Shakespeare scholars who claimed the theory was nonsense, but despite a lacklustre performance at the box office, the film was well received in Germany.
The Lolas are intended to reward cultural achievement rather than box office success, with the prize money underwritten by the German government.
