Erna Baumbauer
Erma Baumbauer (8 January 1919 – 30 January 2010) was a German casting agent. She has been called the "grand dame of German casting agents" by The Hollywood Reporter for her long career in the German film industry, which spanned decades.[1] She was nicknamed "the Queen of Bavaria" by one of her clients, actor Ulrich Mühe.[1]
Bambauer was born in Munich in 1919, and stood 5'1" tall during her life.[1] She began her career by working as a bookdealer and journalist.[1] She founded her eponymous Munich-based talent agency, Erna Baunbauer Management, following the end of World War II, where she worked until her death in 2010.[1] The Hollywood Reporter described her as knowing everyone with the German film industry.[1] In one instance, film director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck sent Baumbauer a script for his 2006 film, The Lives of Others, for her to cast directly.[1] Baumbauer directly chose three actors from her agency to become the male leads for the film - Ulrich Muehe, Sebastian Koch und Ulrich Tukur.[1]
Bambauer's client included Sebastian Koch, Maximilian Schell, Katja Riemann, Susanne Lothar and Bruno Ganz.[1]
The German Film Academy awarded Baumbauer the lifetime achievement award in 2006.[1] This marked the first time in the academy's history that a woman who was not a film director or actress by profession had received the honor.[1]
Death
Erna Baumbauer died on 31 January 2010, aged 91. She was survived by her daughter, Patricia, a talent agent, her granddaughters, Antonia and Franziska, and son, Frank Baumbauer, a theater director.[1]