Eddie Constantine Hoppla Eddie

Eddie Constantine

Born October 29, 1917 in Los Angeles. Played in club combos, sang in the MGM film choir, belonged to the vocal ensemble The Five Musketeers in New York. In 1947 he accompanied his then wife, the Czech dancer Helinka Musilova, to Europe and remained in France (citizenship since the 1960s). First film offers from 1952 - 53, among others for the now cult Lemmy Caution thrillers. At the same time recordings in Paris with the Belgian producer Jack Kluger.

Constantine became very popular in Germany through his films, which also boosted his career as a singer: 19 singles in German from 1953 to 1963 (Electrola, Ariola, Philips) alone made him an incorporated hit star. 1979 Marries his third wife, TV editor Maja Faber-Janssen. Place of residence: Wiesbaden, where Constantine died on February 25, 1993. Biggest hits: I wish you a sleepless evening (12 - 56, place 6), Everyone takes a break (1 - 57, place 9), Der Vagabund und das Kind (12 - 56, place 10). From the Bear Family book - 1000 pinpricks by Bernd Matheja - BFB10025 -

It takes a huge amount of irony when a man is freed from American military service as unfit to then appear on the screen in Europe after the war as a hard-core agent and super-rambo. Eddie Constantine, born Edward Constantinowsky in Los Angeles on October 29, 1917, had actually thought more of a career as a singer. The descendant of a Moscow opera singer was sent to the Vienna Conservatory by his father as early as 1933. After two years he moved to New York, where he dedicated himself to popular music. As a choir singer he accompanied the tours of stars such as Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra and was engaged in 1941 for the choir of the New York'Radio Music City Hall'. It's hard to imagine that the guy with the big-face facial expression on his pockmarked face was rejected by the military because of'weakness'.

But he did everything in his French Lemmy Caution films to polish up his image. He came to Europe through the engagement of his wife Helene Mussle, a Czech dancer who performed with the'Ballet Russe' in London. After the London performances Helene danced as prima ballerina with the French choreographer Roland Petit, and the Constantines stayed in Paris. I

n German Schlager he is one of the newcomers, like Kenneth Spencer or Bill Ramsey. He made his first German recordings in 1953 in Cologne, where he also sang Schenk deinem Frau (but occasionally red roses) in the Electrola-Studio in 1955. The producer was Nils Nobach, who had already discovered the Swedish export of Bibi Johns and was in charge of Electrola at the time. Eddie Constantine didn't play the tough guy with the Red Rose hit once, but pretended to be a womanizer. He succeeded particularly well, because he read the text with a slight French accent.

For many in Germany at that time he was therefore also regarded as a French chansonnier. The tenor of his little song only supported this: "For every woman knows very well that flowers are only given to her by those who like to think of her! It doesn't always have to be roses, but anemones, carnations and mimosas are just as good. And Eddie knows: "With the flowers you bring happiness into your house." With German titles like I wish you a sleepless evening, Der Vagabund und das Kind und Jeder macht mal eine Pause he came repeatedly into the Schlagerparade in the next years. His success was supported by German films like'Hoppla, jetzt kommt Eddie' (1958) and'Bomben auf Monte Carlo' (1959). In the latter he gave a second infusion by the hamburger Hans Albers, whose songs like Das ist die Liebe der Matrosen he also sang in the film. Der Spiegel' wrote about him: "His face was always years ahead of his age, already at 35 he looked like one who had his whole life behind him".

From 1969 on he could refresh his film career again when Peter Lilienthal ('Malatesta') and Rainer Werner Fassbinder ('Warning of a holy whore') offered him roles. Afterwards he appeared again and again in the theater and television, and in the meantime he had also settled down with his third wife in Wiesbaden. There he died on 25 February 1993.