Götz Kauffmann (15 January 1949 – 26 January 2010) was an
Austrian stage, film and television actor, cabaret artist and writer.[1]
Life
Gottfried Maria Kauffman was born in the
fifteenth district of
Vienna. His father was the noted
Viennaorgan builder,
Johann M. Kauffmann (1910-1965).[2] The Kauffmanns had indeed been active in Vienna as organ builders since 1877: between 1964 and 1968 Götz Kauffmann also studied as an apprentice to master the craft.[1] He then decided to pursue a career not as an organ builder but as an actor and cabaret artist. Kauffmann undertook his drama training at Vienna's
Max Reinhardt Seminar where he completed the four-year course in 1972.[3] Early theatre engagements took him to the
Salzburger Landestheater and then, in 1977, to the
Raimund Theater and the
Theater in der Josefstadt in
Vienna.[4]
Alongside his film career Kauffman continued to sustain his career as a theatre performer, and also pursued his interest in cabaret. In 1980 he founded the "Arge Kabarett" and in 1983 he presented his first solo programme, "Götz-Zitate". During his final years he worked as a freelance performer in Vienna, also reprising various lead roles in the
Gloria-Theater.
Götz Kauffmann was honoured with the
Goldener Rathausmann award by the city of Vienna. He was also a notable
freemason.
His strikingly confessional autobiography, "Meine Abrechnung. Zwischen Kaisermühlen-Blues und Suff", appeared in 1999. It disclosed a sometimes difficult life, featuring three broken marriages, depression and alcohol issues.[6] For many years he was also badly affected by
diabetes.[5] A few days before he died Kauffmann was able to celebrate his sixty-first birthday, surrounded by colleagues, his three children and his brother. His body is buried in the family grave at the
Baumgartner Cemetery (Group K1, Nr. 75) in
Vienna.[7]
Theatre roles (selection)
1970–1972: Die Zwillinge von Venedig, Bauernhof-Theater in
Meggenhofen(OÖ)
1970–1972: Das Kaffeehaus von Carlo Goldoni, Bauernhof-Theater in Meggenhofen
(OÖ)
1970–1972: Urfaust, Bauernhof-Theater in Meggenhofen
(OÖ)
Meine Abrechnung. Zwischen Kaisermühlen-Blues und Suff. Ueberreuter, Wien 1999.
ISBN3800037351
Küss die Hand? Mein Wiener Wörterbuch. Verlag 66, Amstetten 2003.
ISBN3902211067
References
^
ab"Schauspieler Götz Kauffmann 61-jährig gestorben". Der Schauspieler Götz Kauffmann ist im Alter von 61 Jahren in Wien gestorben. Kauffmann wird dem österreichischen TV-Publikum als SP-Bezirksrat Gneisser aus dem "Kaisermühlen Blues" und als Mundls bester Freund Kurti in der Original-Serie "Ein echter Wiener geht nicht unter" unvergessen bleiben. Krone Multimedia GmbH & Co KG, Wien. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
^"Nachruf: Götz Kauffmann 1949-2010". Der Wiener Schauspieler erlag den Folgen schwerer Erkrankungen. "Die Presse" Verlags-Gesellschaft m.b.H., Wien. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
^"Er war ein "echter Wiener": Götz Kauffmann ist tot". Er spielte zwar nicht den “Mundl”, aber auch Götz Kauffmann punktete mit echtem Wiener Schmäh: Als SP-Bezirksrat Gneisser lieferte sich der Schauspieler in der TV-Serie “Kaisermühlen Blues” hitzige Gefechte mit seinem VP-Kollegen. Russmedia Digital GmbH (Vienna online), Wien. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
^
ab"Götz Kauffmann 61-jährig gestorben". Der Wiener Schauspieler wurde durch TV-Serien wie "Ein echter Wiener geht nicht unter" und "Kaisermühlen-Blues" bekannt. STANDARD Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H., Wien. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
^Götz Kauffmann (January 1999). Meine Abrechnung: Zwischen Kaisermühlen-Blues und Suff. Wirtschaftsverlag Ueberreuter.
ISBN978-3-800-03735-3.