She was the epitome of the blonde that was appreciated in German film and television in the late 1960s and 1970s. Ingrid Steeger, born Ingrid Stengert in Berlin in 1947, appeared bravely in “The Gorilla of Soho”, in “The Lovestruck Baronesses”, “I – a Groupie”, “Blutjunge Seductresses” and “The Golden Banana from Bad Porno” and the notorious “schoolgirl” and “husband report”. At the same time, she was a pretty accomplished cabaret artist on stage. In 1974 she captivated Helmut Dietl in “Munich Stories”.
But she became famous in 1973 with Michael Pfleghar’s “Klimbim”. The incredible nonsense of this slapstick was incredibly popular at the time – Elisabeth Volkmann, Peer Augustinski and Horst Jüssen did not leave out any insults or lewdness in their sketches. But they had no chance against Ingrid Steeger as “the number girl”, who was a lewd herself. She PLAYED a blonde right down to the point of speech, she opened her eyes, she made all the gestures you would expect from a seductress. And she never let the butter be taken from her bread. Ingrid Steeger belonged to the German household. It was imitated, it became proverbial.
“Klimbim” was shown until 1979. No one was more determined than Ingrid Steeger, but she made the most of it on television and on stage. In “Wild West Included” (1988) and “The Great Bellheim” (1993) she charmingly parodied her image as a femme fatale with a big heart. Later she had health and financial problems and didn’t always make good decisions. She appeared in tabloid plays and finally at the Bad Hersfeld Festival, where she also lived.
On December 22nd, Ingrid Steeger, the symbol of television entertainment in the 1970s, died at the age of 76.