| Theo Lingen | |
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| Born | Franz Theodor Schmitz June 10, 1903 Hanover, Germany |
| Died | November 10, 1978 (aged 75) Vienna, Austria |
| Occupation | actor, film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1929–1978 |
| Spouse(s) | Marianne Zoff (1928–1978) |
Theo Lingen (10 June 1903 – 10 November 1978), born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German film actor, director and screenwriter. He appeared in over 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960.
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Lingen was born in Hanover, Germany, and grew up there. He attended the Royal Goethe Gymnasium – the predecessor of the Goethe School – in Hanover, but left before taking the Abitur (final exams). His theatrical talent was discovered during rehearsals for a school performance at the Boulevard Theatre in Schauenberg.
Beginning his professional stage career, the young actor adopted as a stage name his middle name together with that of the birthplace of his father, Lingen in the Emsland region of Germany. As "Theo Lingen" he performed in theatres all over Germany, and very quickly developed a reputation as a superb character comedian, a reputation which followed him when he began appearing in films in 1929, often with Hans Moser, since together they made a contrasting pair.
In February 1928, Lingen's daughter, Ursula, was born to Bertold Brecht's then wife Marianne Zoff (1893–1984). Brecht and Zoff divorced in September; Lingen and Zoff married later the same year. Because Zoff was Jewish, which under the Nazi regime usually resulted in a professional ban, Lingen thought about going into exile, but because of his great popularity with the general public he was given a special permit to continue to perform. In 1944 he moved to Vienna, Austria, and in 1945, after the war, he officiated as the temporary mayor of Strobl. During this time he worked as a character actor at the Vienna Burgtheater and appeared frequently onstage in Germany.
Theo Lingen died of cancer in 1978 at the age of 75 in Vienna. The city of Vienna dedicated a grave to him in Vienna's Zentralfriedhof. In Lingen in 2007, a new underpass was named in his honor.[1]
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