Actor Ralph Wolter passes away: Condolences to the trappers of “Vinetu” films

Anyone who’s seen “Vineto” knows it: Ralph Wolter. He played the likeable-delusional trapper Sam Hawkens. He was also seen in “Tatort” and many other films. The actor passed away at the age of 95.

Film and television actor Ralph Wolter is dead. The star of several Carl May films has died at the age of 95, as confirmed by his wife to the DPA news agency. He did not give any further information.

Along with “Winetau” actor Pierre Brice, Walter celebrated his greatest successes in the 1960s playing Sam Hawkens. In 1962, the sympathetically confused trapper character appeared for the first time in “Der Schatz im Silbersee”. Many viewers also associate Walter with the role of another character in Karl May: Haji Halef Umar ben Haji Abul Abbas ibn Haji Dawood al-Gossara.

From Billy Wilder to “Schloss am Worthersee”

The actor was also seen in several other films and TV productions. For example, in Billy Wilder’s comedy “One, Two, Three”, he played a Soviet agent. He was later seen mainly in TV series, for example in “Tatort”, “Der Alte” or “Ein Schloss am Wörthersee”. He played his last role in a movie in 2012 in the comedy “Unto the Horizon, Then Left”.

The actor, who lived in Munich for several decades, was born in Berlin. His father was a circus artist, his mother a musician. After attending drama school, Walter started out as a cabaret artist. Theater stations were stages in Berlin and Potsdam, the latter in Munich.