Margit Carstensen
Born
February 29, 1940
Died
June 1, 2023 (83 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Kiel, Germany
Margit Carstensen (29 February 1940 – 1 June 2023) was a German theatre and film actress, best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Carstensen was born and raised in the northern German city of Kiel. Upon graduation from the local high school in 1958, she studied acting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. This education led to her first stage appearances in Kleve, Heilbronn, Münster, and Braunschweig. In 1965, Carstensen began a four-year engagement with the German Playhouse in Hamburg.
In 1969, she gained a local profile for her work in the Theater am Goetheplatz in Bremen, where she first met director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She then worked under his direction in a comedy by the 18th-century Venetian Carlo Goldoni, The Coffee Shop (which was recorded for television in 1970), bringing her national attention in West Germany. She subsequently played the role of serial murderess Geesche Gottfried in the premiere of Fassbinder's own play Bremen Freedom (also televised, in 1972), and then in the title role of his Henrik Ibsen adaptation Nora Helmer (televised in 1974) derived from A Doll's House. Outside of theatre, Carstensen played leading roles in the Fassbinder films The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972), her best-known role for him; Martha (1974), analysing a traditional marriage in a contemporary setting; Fear of Fear (1975); Mother Küsters' Trip to Heaven (1975); Satan's Brew (1976); Chinese Roulette (1976) and Women in New York (1977). She also appeared in episodes of two Fassbinder television productions: Eight Hours Don't Make a Day (1972), and Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980).
From 1973 to 1976, Carstensen held a steady acting engagement in Darmstadt. In 1977, she moved to West Berlin where she performed on the highly regarded Staatliche Schauspielbühnen. In 1982, she moved to Stuttgart in order to work with director Hansgünther Heyme, where she appeared in a series of plays directed by him.
During this time, Carstensen also worked in international film productions, such as Andrzej Żuławski's Possession (1981) and Agnieszka Holland's Angry Harvest (1985); the latter was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. By the late 1980s, she had developed ongoing working relationships with German directors Werner Schroeter, Christoph Schlingensief, and Leander Haußmann.
For the 2003–04 season, Carstensen appeared in the Vienna Burgtheater, in the premiere of Elfriede Jelinek's play Bambiland under the direction of Schlingensief. During the 2007–08 season Carstensen assisted with the Austrian-German TV documentary Mr. Karl – A Person for People, directed by Kurt Mayer.
In 2016, she was still on television, appearing in the long-running series Tatort.
Carstensen received many awards in her career. Among these were the 1973 German Film Awards (Gold), for her acting in The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, and the 2002 Bavarian Film Award, for her acting in Scherbentanz. In 1972 she was chosen by the German Film Critics Guild as Best Actress of the Year. In 2019, she was awarded the Götz-George-Preis for her life's work.
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Known For

Schlingensief – A Voice That Shook the Silence
Self (archive footage)
2020

Fassbinder
Self
2015

Fassbinder: Love Without Demands
Self (archive footage)
2015

Finsterworld
Frau Sandberg
2013

Mea Culpa – A ReadyMadeOpera
2009

Eine Kirche der Angst vor dem Fremden in mir
2009
Mister Karl
Self
2008
It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine.
Linda Barnes
2007

Hands off Mississippi
Frau Strietzel
2007

Agnes and His Brothers
Roxy
2004

Shattered Glass
Käthe
2002
Der Narr und seine Frau heute Abend in Pancomedia
Die Leserin
2002

Manila
Regine Gorler
2000
John Gabriel Borkman
Gunhild
2000

Sonnenallee
Director
1999

Rider of the Flames
Sinclair's mother
1998
Gesche's Poison
Mutter Timm
1998

The 120 Days of Bottrop
Self
1997

Terror 2000
Margret
1993

100 Years of Adolf Hitler – The Last Hour in the Führerbunker
Martha Goebbels
1989
Anwalt Abel
Frau Nussbauer · (1 episode)
1988

La moitié de l'amour
Ivy
1985

Angry Harvest
Eugenia
1985

Die wilden Fünfziger
Sekretärin
1983

Liebeskonzil
Staatsanwältin
1982

Possession
Margit Gluckmeister
1981

Berlin Alexanderplatz
Angel #1 · (14 episodes)
1980
Bayerischer Filmpreis
Self · (1 episode)
1979

The Third Generation
Petra Vielhaber
1979
Spiel der Verlierer
Frl. Rosner
1978

Women in New York
Sylvia Fowler
1977

Adolf and Marlene
Marlene
1977

Chinese Roulette
Ariane Christ
1977

Satan’s Brew
Andree
1976

Fear of Fear
Margot
1975

Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven
Frau Thälmann
1975

Derrick
Frau Hauser · (1 episode)
1974

Martha
Martha
1974

Nora Helmer
Nora Helmer
1974

World on a Wire
Maya Schmidt-Genter · (2 episodes)
1973

Tenderness of the Wolves
Frau Lindner
1973

Bremen Freedom
Geesche Gottfried
1972

Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day
Erste Hausfrau · (5 episodes)
1972

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
Petra von Kant
1972

The Ancestress
Berta
1971

Scene of the Crime
Margarethe · (1 episode)
1970

The Niklashausen Journey
Margarete
1970

The Coffee House
Vittoria
1970
Vorsicht Falle!
(1 episode)
1964
Deutscher Filmpreis
Self · (1 episode)
1951