Hannelore Elsner

Her memoirs, entitled "Im Überschwang - Aus meinem Leben", appeared in 2011.

Longtime companion is Professor Günter Blamberger (2008).

Elsner's powerful tour-de-force acting showcase Die Unberührbare (2000) won her the first of two German film awards as Best Actress, as well as a Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Her subsequent life partner (from 1999) was Günter Blamberger, a professor of German philology.

A patrician beauty well into middle age, she captured a large fan base on the small screen as star of Die Kommissarin (1994), a role which developed from two previous guest spots as a Chief Inspector in the long-running police series Tatort (1970). She was married and divorced twice.

Her son Dominik from a relationship with director Dieter Wedel was born in 1981.

Among many other notable big screen credits were the romantic drama Der grüne Vogel (1980) (directed by István Szabó) and the delightful Otto Sander farce Wer spinnt denn da, Herr Doktor? (1982).

Lived together with Alf Brustellin from 1973 until his death in 1981.

Under the direction of such prominent film makers as Wolfgang Staudte, Edgar Reitz and Alf Brustellin, she proved her diverse range, headlining, respectively, in the satirical caper comedy Gentlemen In White Vests (1970), the period biopic Der Schneider von Ulm (1978) and the hard-luck drama Der Sturz (1979).

From the late 60's, Elsner alternated 'sexy roles' (such as her native American maiden in Christoph Kolumbus oder Die Entdeckung Amerikas (1969) ) with more demanding fare.

Graduated from a drama school in her hometown Burghausen (1962).

One of the pre-eminent divas of post-war German cinema, Hannelore Elsner (born 'Elstner') was the consummate actress: a gifted and versatile performer with a penchant for intense roles, often as emancipated, strong-willed women. A Bavarian engineer's daughter (her father died of tuberculosis when she was eight), 'Hanni' first took acting classes in Munich where she also debuted on stage at the Kammerspiele and the Kleine Komödie. She appeared on screen from 1959, initially in teenage melodramas and 'Paukerfilms', later featuring as a regular guest star on TV in procedural crime dramas like Isar 12 (1961) and Stahlnetz (1958).