Acting
Volker Prechtel
EN, DE cinema · 40 credits
Born
9 August 1941
Died
7 August 1997 (aged 55)
Birthplace
Hopfen am See, Bavaria, Germany
Volker Prechtel (born August 9, 1941, in Hopfen am See; died August 7, 1997, in Gröbenzell) was a German theater, film, and television actor. Prechtel initially studied pedagogy and worked as a schoolteacher for several years before finding his way to professional acting through amateur theater stages. With his striking face and distinctive nose, he became a sought-after character actor in film and television, appearing in more than one hundred productions. Prechtel was also a regular presence on the theater stage. He performed at venues including the Münchner Kammerspiele, the Münchner Volkstheater, the Freie Volksbühne Berlin, and the Münchner Theater für Kinder. He achieved international recognition in 1986 for his role as the monk Malachias in *The Name of the Rose*, based on the novel by Umberto Eco. In that film, he acted alongside Sean Connery and Helmut Qualtinger. Additionally, he appeared as a public bus driver in the crime series *Der König*. Volker Prechtel died in 1997—two days before his 56th birthday—from complications related to cancer.
Known for
Filmography
An Oral History of: The Name of the Rose
as Self (archive footage)
Alles nur Tarnung
as Pfarrer
Pumuckl und der Blaue Klabauter
as Stammtischbruder
Das Geheimnis
1994
Das Geheimnis
as Staudammwärter
Tödliche Lüge
as Georg
Four Junior Detectives
as Pingling / Ritter von Zährenstein
Moritz
1992
Moritz
as Wagner
Scream of Stone
as Himalaja-Bezwinger
Das größte Fest des Jahres
as Toni Lederer
Sisi/Last Minute
as Hias von Konnersreuth
Starke Zeiten
as Hospital Employee
The Name of the Rose
as Malachia
Tanner
as Fuhrhalter Suter
Big Mäc
as Zollbeamter
Piratensender Powerplay
as Bailiff
Oh Dear Harry!
as Etagenkellner
Woyzeck
as Handwerksbursche
Die Farbe des Himmels
1979
Die Farbe des Himmels
as Milchfahrer Elfengruber
The Frozen Heart
as Sargmacher
Natascha - Todesgrüsse aus Moskau
as CIA-Agent
Heart of Glass
as Wudy
Crime and Passion
as Innkeeper
The Marquise of O
as Der Pfarrer
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
as Hiltel, the prison guard
Der Jäger von Fall
as Leitner
The Odessa File
as Günther Kolb (uncredited)