Dahlke, Paul

(1904-1984)

   Actor. Dahlke studied theater history at Humboldt University in Berlin before taking acting lessons at Max Reinhardt's school, beginning in 1927. He then began performing in boulevard comedies in Berlin, becoming an audience favorite as the young man frequently falling in and out of love. Heinz Hilpert began casting him in serious parts at the Volksbühne and later at the Deutsches Theater, and throughout the Third Reich, he remained with Hilpert, becoming one of the director's favorite young character actors. After the war, Dahlke worked for three years with Erich Engel in Munich at the Kammerspiele, and in the early 1950s he became one of Germany's most familiar German generals, playing the title role in numerous productions of Carl Zuckmayer's Des Teufels General (The Devil's General). In the late 1970s, Dahlke began receiving numerous awards for his work, culminating in the Federal Service Cross in 1979.