Wolfgang Liebeneiner was a German-Austrian film director, stage and film actor. He was born as Wolfgang Georg Louis Liebeneiner in Liebau, Lower Silesia, Germany , Berlin and Munich. He became a professor of the Economy Spielschar. From 1930 till 1934 he played at the 'Deutsches Theater', Berlin. In 1935 he married actress Ruth Hellberg but the marriage went on the rocks. From 1936 till 1944 he was a member of the 'Staatstheater', Berlin. From 1938 to 1943 he was an art director at the Film Academy in Babelsberg, near Berlin. In 1942 to 1945 he was leader of the UFA Studio. He usually played young lovers in about 20 films. He also had bit parts in films that he directed. Afterwards he also worked for TV films and series. In 1944 he married Yugoslavian actress Hilde Krahl, whom he met during the filming of "Yvette". He had two daughters with her, of which Johanna also became an actress. Wolfgang Liebeneiner died in Mödling near Vienna, Lower Austria, Austria.
Father of Johanna Liebeneiner.
From the 60s he worked nearly exclusively for television and he also directed first serials - normally for the ZDF.
He made his film debut in 1931 with "Die andere Seite" and became a popular actor, an activity he practiced regularly till 1936.
In 1941, he directed the film Ich klage an (I accuse) in cooperation with the National Socialist Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. The film was about voluntary euthanasia of a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis, but was intended to support the T4 euthanasia program.
From 1936 he worked as a director, as an actor he only appeared sporadically.
In the post-war period he was still successful as a director, with the actresses Hilde Krahl or Ruth Leuwerik in the leading roles.
Wolfgang Liebeneiner made a great career till the end of war, both in film business and at the theater, and was convincing as a director of many feature movies.
In 1928, he was taught by Otto Falckenberg, the director of the Munich Kammerspiele, in acting and directing.
Some of his movies of those time give rise to discussion relating to the propaganda machinery at that time. Besides the movies "Bismarck" and "Die Entlassung/Schicksalswende" it is especially "Ich klage an" , which is connected as a negative association to his career. This movie uses the homicide on request to justify the euthanasia.
His daughter Johanna Liebeneiner from the marriage with actress Hilde Krahl became an actress too.
In 1936, Liebeneiner became a member of the Prussian State Theater (Preuisches Staatstheater) in Berlin and in 1938, he became artistic director of the German Film Academy Babelsberg (Deutsche Filmakademie Babelsberg).
The actor and director Wolfgang Liebeneiner managed his acting breakthrough with the engagement at the Munich Kammerspiele in 1928. In the following years he became established at the theater and he also directed some plays from 1931.
In 1956 he was successful with the film The Trapp Family based on the memoirs The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria von Trapp. A West German film that would go on to inspire The Sound of Music .
He received a doctorate in the years from 1942 to 1945 while working for Universum Film AG, the largest German film studio at that time.
