With Karl Dall (1941-2020), one of the great German comedians of the young post-war generation, who shaped an era with their humor, dies.
"You get old when people start saying you look young." The death of comedian Karl Dall (1941-20020) also marks the end of an era of humor. With flippy, often provocative, self-deprecating and sometimes socially critical sayings, Dall was one of the formative minds of German anarcho-comedy.
In 1941, the later cult comedian was born as Karl Bernhard Dall in East Friesland – like his fellow slapstick Otto Waalkes seven years later. Dall was the second son of a school principal and a teacher, but dropped out of school early at the age of 16. His eye disease made him a "class clown," said Dall later about his drooping eyelid, which later became his trademark, but which led to teasing as a boy and teenager.
As a child, Dall was often teased for his eye defect
In the "Stern" interview, Dall reflected on the formative time: "My presence alone provoked people. Classmates joked about my appearance, and the teachers were always best at remembering my face, especially when it came to punishing. There I had to develop a sense of humor early on. " After school, Dall, who had originally wanted to become a photographer, tried his hand at an ambitious apprenticeship as a typesetter and got by with odd jobs.
As a young adult, Dall found his calling in the burgeoning anarcho-cultural scene of the 1960s, which from West Berlin, from the staid post-war Germany, breathed fresh wind into the face with its hippie look, long hair, beards and provocative songs. As part of the cult combo "Insterburg & Co", Dall toured Germany with great success from 1967 to 1979. The three of them sang their most famous song: "I loved a girl" – about unsuccessful attempts at relationships in all parts of Germany and fooling around together on stage in front of and with the audience.
Dall starred in soft porn
Dall's radio and television career began in the late 1970s. He started with his own radio shows and stupid interviews on "Radio Luxemburg" and "SW3". He established himself as a sketch performer in entertainment shows such as Rudi Carrell's "Amlauf Band" and "Do you understand fun?" and starred in theatrical films, including soft porn. In 1985, Dall switched to the private broadcaster RTL: For six years, Dall ran his own talk show, "Dall-As", in which he tried to upset his guests with tough slogans.
Dall called the Wildecker Herzbuben "Wildecker Speckbuben". When he said to Roland Kaiser in front of the camera: "Well, sing now so that we can get it over with", he left the studio furiously. In his autobiography, Dall wrote that he still had all the guests he wanted, that it was "just chic" to be "ripped off by him". Indeed, with his direct nature, Dall set new TV standards. Later he softened and confessed: "My reputation is worse than I am."
His last documentary took him on the Camino de Santiago
Until recently, Karl Dall was active as a comedian. He toured Germany again in 2016 with his show "Der alten Mann wants noch mehr" and hiked the Way of St. James together with the four former showmasters Jörg Draeger, Frederic Meisner, Björn-Hergen Schimpf and for the documentary soap "Old Guys on Tour" on Tele5 Harry Wijnvoord. In 1999 he received the German Comedy Award for his life's work.
Karl Dall suffered his stroke, from which he died a little later, as befits an artist: while filming. Shortly before his death, he had posted a video for his current appearance. Dall: "I've always been waiting for a call from Hollywood … Lüneburg called!" "Red roses" should be his last rotation. That would have been entirely his sense of humor. He leaves behind his wife Barbara, with whom he was married for around 45 years, and his daughter Janina, who lives with family in Canada and works as a stunt woman.