Ralf Wolter (as Sam Hawkens) in the ARD series “Mein Freund Winnetou” from French television “Antenna 2”, episode 1 “Blut und Sand”,
Photo: Getty Images, Peter Bischoff. All rights reserved.
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The actor Ralf Wolter, best known from the “Winnetou” films about the subject of Karl May, has died at the age of 95. This was confirmed by his wife of the dpa agency. Wolter starred as Sam Hawkens in The Treasure of Silver Lake (1962).
After “Schatz im Silbersee”, Wolter took on the role of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand’s companion Hawkens in five other films, including “Winnetou and the Half-Blood Apanatschi” (1966). He also acted in the series “My Friend Winnetou” (1980), which was created as a German-French co-production and was independent of the films.
Wolter was born in Berlin in 1926 and attended the drama academy there. He began his career in the theater and came to film in the 1950s with titles such as the comedy The Women of Mr. S. and The Legs of Dolores. Sam Hawkens was not his only role from the world of Karl May: In film adaptations of May’s adventure novels set in the Ottoman Empire, he played the role of Haji Halef Omar, for example in “Der Schut” (1964) or “Durchs Wilde Kurdistan” ( 1965). He was later seen in crime series such as “Tatort” or “Der Alte”.
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