Biography

Charming, dainty Heidelinde Weis shot to instant stardom after her dual role in the three-part miniseries Die Frau in Weiß (1971), based on the 19th century novel by mystery writer Wilkie Collins. In Germany, this production ended up being classified as a 'Straßenfeger' (which translates to 'street sweeper'), since it was viewed by so many people that the streets were literally empty when the show went to air. Weis, as the titular mystery 'woman in white' and the gentle, soulful Laura Fairlie, excelled in a cast which included Christoph Bantzer, Pinkas Braun, Eric Pohlmann and Helmut Käutner.

Austrian-born Weis attended a trade school and then studied acting at the prestigious Max-Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna from 1957 to 1958. The following year, she became an ensemble member of the Theater in der Josefstadt. Since then, she has performed in classical plays on many stages throughout Germany and Austria. The screen saw her first in Wolfgang Liebeneiner's romantic comedy Ich heirate Herrn Direktor (1960), already cast as the female lead opposite Gerhard Riedmann and Hans Söhnker. She played the titular heroine in several popular motion pictures, including Dead Woman from Beverly Hills (1964) and the historical biopic Liselotte von der Pfalz (1966) (this won her a German Film Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role). Likewise, on the small screen, she headlined as Mary Rose (1961) and Eurydike (1964), and co-starred with Claus Biederstaedt in the 20-part series Meine Frau Susanne (1963).

Through the succeeding decades, Weis made guest appearances in a number of popular crime series (Der Kommissar (1969), Derrick (1974), etc.), enjoyed a recurring role in the dynastic TV drama Das Erbe der Guldenburgs (1987) and had starring turns in tele-movies like Quadrille (1986), Die selige Edwina Black (1987) and the revenge drama Gabriellas Rache (1995). She co-starred with Christiane Hörbiger in the comedy series Neue Freunde, neues Glück (2005) and Das Glück ist ein Kaktus (2011); and with Peter Weck in Glück auf vier Rädern (2006) and Ein Ferienhaus auf Ibiza (2008). In the turbulent 'odd couple' comedy Liebe für Fortgeschrittene (2008), she played a tough businesswoman involved with an eccentric gardener (Günther Maria Halmer).

In addition to her acting career, Heidelinde Weis also enjoyed success as a singer and writer of chansons, releasing a trio of albums between 1975 and 1979.

The actress had her fair share of personal setbacks, including the loss of her husband of 38 years, Hellmuth Duna, in 1998. She survived both breast cancer (2010) and bladder cancer (2016). In 2022, she published a delightfully optimistic autobiography, entitled 'Das Beste kommt noch' (The Best is yet to come). Sadly, she passed away on November 24 2023 in her hometown of Villach, Kärnten, at the age of 83.