Annemarie Wendl (26 December 1914, Trostberg, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria – 3 September 2006, Munich, Bavaria, Germany) was a German actress.Wendl was born into an upper-class family in Bavaria and began her training as an actress in Berlin at Lucie Höflich's seminar. Afterwards, she played classical roles on stage in Berlin, Bonn, Augsburg, Innsbruck, Munich, Bamberg and Ingolstadt. In her youth, she played "all sentimental characters", such as Faust's Gretchen and Emilia Galotti. Later she played character roles, such as Adelheid in Götz von Berlichingen, Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, Maria Stuart in the play by Schiller and the title role in Brecht's Mother Courage. Her last theatrical works were The Widow in the Green Tree (1997) and Sanssouci in 2001.Wendl began working in film in 1961 and made more than 35 films and TV productions. During her long career on the big screen, Wendl was seen in both soft-porn movies (Graf Porno), as well as some movies of Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1976's Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt/I Only Want You to Love Me). Her television work includes series like Die Fünfte Kolonne, Meister Eder und sein Pumuckl and Der Komissar, where she made guest appearances in a few episodes.Wendl was best known for her role as "Else Kling" in the German weekly soap Lindenstraße, which started in December 1985. She appeared in the first episode Herzlich Willkommen and remained in the series' cast until May 2006. Her character, Else Kling, lost her husband, Egon Kling, in a car accident in Paris, France in 1998. In the episode "Abschied und Ankunft" (#1069), Else Kling died. She played Else Kling for such a long time that she became one of Germany's most popular TV actresses. She was called "the nation's caretaker" or also "the nation's worst blabbermouth" (due to her character's habit of unceasingly spreading gossip). She also appeared in some commercials depicting Else Kling and sang rap songs. She published two CDs, Du Depp in 1993 and Else Goes Dance in 1995. Else Kling was often compared to J.R. Ewing.Privately, Wendl worked with young people and liked to wear fashionable clothes. On the Lindenstraße homepage her birthday was initially given as December 26, 1922 or 1921 until she turned 90 in 2004. An official rectification was published, revealing that Wendl was eight years older than her character (Else Kling was born on May 14, 1922, and died on May 25, 2006 at the age of 84).In 2005, Wendl suffered a stroke and had three bouts of pneumonia, which caused her to cease work on Lindenstraße. After her character's death, Wendl received coverage in the yellow press quite regularly, most notably about her health. In an interview in June 2006, Wendl said that she did not yet want to die.Wendl, who was married to Siegmar Kleinschmidt from 1942 until his death in 1944, lived in Munich and is survived by her son.
The role of the narrow-minded and curious caretaker "Else Kling" on Lindenstraße (1985) made her Germany`s favorite "crosspatch". In 2006, she left the show for health reasons after nearly 21 years.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Lindenstraße
1985-2006
TV Series
Else Kling / Else King
Bewegte Männer
2003
TV Series
Die Fallers - Eine Schwarzwaldfamilie
1997
TV Series
Else Kling
Entführung aus der Lindenstraße
1995
TV Movie
Gertrud Pleitgen
Das Erbe
1995
Short
Klara
Povratak Katarine Kozul
1989
Der Glockenkrieg
1983
TV Movie
Polizeiinspektion 1
1983
TV Series
Frau Brechtl
Meister Eder und sein Pumuckl
1982
TV Series
Frau Altenweger
Die fünfte Jahreszeit
1982
TV Mini-Series
Der Gerichtsvollzieher
1981
TV Series
Putzfrau
Die Rumplhanni
1981
TV Mini-Series
Aufseherin
Ein Guru kommt
1980
TV Movie
Vermieterin Frau Galameyer
SOKO München
1980
TV Series
Ein Kapitel für sich
1980
TV Mini-Series
So 'ne und so 'ne
1979
TV Series
Schwarz und weiß wie Tage und Nächte
1978
TV Movie
Ärztin
Drei sind einer zuviel
1977
TV Series
Keramikladeninhaberin
Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre
1976
TV Series
Ordensschwester
Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt
1976
TV Movie
Erikas Mutter Lis
Schulmädchen-Report 10. Teil - Irgendwann fängt jede an
1976
Mutter von Iris (uncredited)
Ein Mädchen aus zweiter Hand
1976
as Annemarie Wendel
Dein gutes Recht
1975
TV Series
Frau Merlau
Der Kommissar
1971-1975
TV Series
Sekretärin / Frau Strauss / Frau Zobel
Der Wittiber
1975
TV Movie
Zollbrechtin
Mordkommission
1974
TV Series
Frau Guilleaume
Unterm Dirndl wird gejodelt
1973
Heidis Mutter
Okay S.I.R.
1973
TV Series
Emily Lafort
Der Bastian
1973
TV Series
Empfangsschwester
Einfach sterben...
1971
TV Movie
Love Under 17
1971
Woman at the advertising office
Mathias Kneissl
1971
Voglbäuerin (as Annemarie Wendel)
Gestatten... Vögelein im Dienst
1971
Olga
Paul Esbeck
1971
TV Movie
Frau
Fegefeuer
1971
Sex in the Office
1971
Packerin
Wie ich ein Neger wurde
1971
Mutter von Zaebitsch (as Annemarie Wendel)
Sabena
1971
Kathi (uncredited)
Königlich Bayerisches Amtsgericht
1971
TV Series
Maria Ingerl
Die Weibchen
1970
Frau im Zug (uncredited)
Graf Porno bläst zum Zapfenstreich
1970
Baronin
Schmetterlinge weinen nicht
1970
Mrs. Klein
Dr. Fummel und seine Gespielinnen
1970
Rosa Blümlein (uncredited)
Ein Mädchen
1970
TV Movie
Mutter Berger
Graf Porno und die liebesdurstigen Töchter
1969
Luise (as Annemarie Wendel)
Pudelnackt in Oberbayern
1969
Kriszenzia
Komm nur, mein liebstes Vögelein
1968
Woman in bathtub
Zieh dich aus, Puppe
1968
Garderobiere
Der nächste Herr, dieselbe Dame
1968
Gefängnisbeamte
Yerma
1965
TV Movie
Die fünfte Kolonne
1964-1965
TV Series
Empfangsschwester / Nachbarin
Der Nachtkurier meldet...
1965
TV Series
Alarm in den Bergen
1965
TV Series
Die Karte mit dem Luchskopf
1964
TV Series
Nachbarin
Der Seitensprung
1964
Kommissar Freytag
1964
TV Series
Witwe Wendelin
Die sanfte Tour
1963
TV Series
Dame
Waldfrieden
1962
TV Short
Köchin Wally
Funkstreife Isar 12
1961
TV Series
Frau Neubauer
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Annemarie Wendl - Ein Leben mit der Lindenstraße
2006
TV Movie documentary
Herself
Beckmann
2005
TV Series
Herself
Showgeschichten
2003
TV Series
Herself
U3000
2000
TV Series
Herself
Die goldene Kamera 1998
1998
TV Movie
Himself
Die Harald Schmidt Show
1997
TV Series
Herself
Verstehen Sie Spaß?
1994-1997
TV Series
Herself
Wetten, dass..?
1993
TV Series
Herself
III nach neun
1991
TV Series
Herself
Schmidteinander
1991
TV Series
Herself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Lindenstraße
2012-2015
TV Series
Else Kling
Von der Liebe und den Zwängen: Mutmaßungen über Fassbinders 'Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt'