Mourning for TV star

Actor Jacques Breuer died unexpectedly

Jacques Breuer in 2022 at the premiere of the play "Alle unter eine Tanne" at the Komödie im Bayerischen Hof(Bild: Barbara Insinger / Action Press / picturedesk.com)

According to German media reports, actor Jacques Breuer died in Munich on September 5, 2024 at the age of 67. Breuer had suffered from diabetes for many years.

With his death, the German-speaking theater and film scene loses a charismatic actor who impressed for decades with his versatile roles and his distinctive voice, with which he dubbed Aragorn from "Lord of the Rings", among others.

Austrian acting family
Jacques Breuer was born in Munich and came from an Austrian acting family. His grandfather was the renowned actor Siegfried Breuer, his father Siegfried Breuer Jr. and his brother Pascal also found his calling in acting. The young Breuer attended the Camerloher-Gymnasium in Freising before beginning his acting training at the renowned Otto Falckenberg School in Munich.

He made his stage debut in 1975 in Bertolt Brecht's "Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar" at the Münchner Kammerspiele. Two years later, he joined the ensemble of the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel. From 1979, Breuer worked as a freelance actor and established himself as a permanent fixture on German-language television.

Jacques Breuer with his wife Viola Wedekind(Bild: Barbara Insinger / Action Press )

"Tatort", "Derrick", "Bulle von Tölz"
He owed his popularity in part to his role as Peter Bathory in the adventure four-parter "Mathias Sandorf" (1979), which made him known to a wide audience. In the following years, he appeared in numerous TV series such as "Derrick", "Der Alte", "Ein Fall für zwei", "Tatort", "Der Bulle von Tölz" and "Café Meineid". In 1983/84, he took on the leading role of chief veterinarian Gottschalk in Egon Günther's television three-parter "Morenga".

Jacques Breuer was not only convincing as an actor, but also as a dubbing actor. His voice became famous as that of Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and as Adolf Hitler (Robert Carlyle) in "Hitler - Rise of Evil". He also lent his voice to William Baldwin in "Dirty Sexy Money" and Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon in "Game of Thrones". Breuer has also enjoyed success on stage, for example in the leading role of the musical "Freudiana" at Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1991.

Breuer was married to the Austrian actress Sissy Höfferer from 1994 to 2005. In 2008, he married the actress Viola Wedekind, from whom he separated in 2017.