Karin Baal died – 20 minutes

The film “The Half-Strongs” made her a legend at a young age: The actress Karin Baal is dead. She died on Tuesday at the age of 84 in Berlin, her children told the German Press Agency. “She shaped a generation and will never be forgotten. “It’s tearing a huge hole – not just in our family, but in Berlin and all of Germany,” said Therese Lohner and Thomas Baal, the actress’s children, on Saturday.

Baal became known in the 1950s with “The Youngsters”. The black and white film tells of several young people in post-war Berlin, their living conditions and criminal activities.

When Baal was hired for the film, she was still a teenager herself. She was born in Berlin in 1940 and later began training as a fashion illustrator. From among hundreds of applicants, she was finally hired for “Die Halbstarken”, in which Horst Buchholz also starred. Baal took on the female lead role of Sissy.

The film became a classic of German post-war cinema – and Baal was later celebrated as the German answer to Brigitte Bardot. Afterwards she was seen in a number of films and series. These include “The Girl Rosemarie”, “We Cellar Children” and “The Young Sinner”.

In pictures from recent years, Baal was seen in a wheelchair. But even though in her old age she repeatedly thought about moving to Vienna to be with her daughter, the actress lived in Berlin until the end, as her daughter Therese Lohner said. “She loved Berlin too much and really wanted to stay in her beloved Charlottenburg.”

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