Loriot

Loriot was born in Brandenburg an der Havel as Bernhard-Victor von Bülow. He gained his first stage experience in 1938 as an extra at the Stuttgart State Opera before taking up his studies in 1947 at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg. Two years later, he signed one of his drawings with the future pseudonym Loriot for the first time. A commission for a number of caricature drawings marked the start of his many years of collaboration with the magazine »Stern«. During this time, caricatures became the main focus of Loriot's work. He moved to Munich in 1957.

Thanks to a meeting with Bernhard Wicki, he appeared in his first feature film »Die Brücke« in 1959. In the television series »Cartoon«, viewers were then able to admire him for the first time on the now famous »red sofa«. The series ran for four years and, after a short break, started again in 1976, this time with a »green sofa« and with Evelyn Hamann as his partner. In 1988, the two of them enjoyed considerable success with the feature film »Ödipussi«. In the same year, Loriot produced the opera »Der Freischütz« at the Ludwigsburg Castle Festival. He originally produced Flotow's »Martha« for the Stuttgart State Opera, from where the production was taken to the Meiningen Theatre and later to the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz.

Loriot was also associated with the Gärtnerplatztheater as the creator and speaker of the connecting texts in the concert performance of Bernstein's musical »Candide«, which was broadcast on television to mark his 80th birthday.

Loriot died in Ammerland on Lake Starnberg on 22 August 2011.