Günter Naumann, born November 17, 1925, in Chemnitz, completed an apprenticeship as a concrete worker before he started to study architecture. But he could not finish his studies as he was drafted for military service in Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Naumann became a prisoner of war. After his release, he briefly turned to painting and finally studied acting in Leipzig from 1950 to 1953. In the same year, Naumann made his stage debut at Städtische Bühnen in Chemnitz where he worked until 1957. He then became a cast member of Berliner Ensemble and quickly developed into a popular and renowned character actor because of his highly-praised performances in numerous productions of classic plays.

In 1960, Naumann made his debut on the big screen in a supporting role in Frank Beyer's (anti-) war film "Fünf Patronenhülsen" ("Five Cartridges"): Alongside Armin Mueller-Stahl and Ernst Busch, Naumann portrayed a Bulgarian resistance fighter. Until the mid-1960s, Naumann appeared in a series of key supporting roles in DEFA productions and worked with well-known directors such as Konrad Wolf and Ralf Kirsten.

From the end of the 1960s on, Naumann mainly worked for TV productions besides his theatre performances. In 1970, he took leave from the theatre stage and switched to the cast of the GDR's Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF). On TV, the part of the "Chief" in the TV series "Zur See" (1977) became one of his most popular roles. Besides, Naumann appeared in numerous roles in TV movies and series. Before the fall of the Berlin wall, he was seen in the much-praised multi-part film "Scharnhorst" (1978) or as captain Beck in the TV crime series "Polizeiruf 110" – a role, he successfully continued as detective Beck after the German reunification until his exit from the series in 1997. In 2008 Naumann is seen on the big screen in Hagen Keller's highly-praised youth drama "Meer is nich".

Günter Naumann dies on November 6, 2009 at the age of 83 in Berlin-Köpenick due to a heart illness.

The contents of this entry were funded with the support of the DEFA-Stiftung.