Heidenreich, Elke 1943-

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HEIDENREICH, Elke 1943-

PERSONAL:

Born February 15, 1943, in Korbach, Hesse, Germany; married Gert Heidenreich, 1965 (divorced, 1972); married Bernd Schroeder, c. 1972 (separated).

CAREER:

Talk-show moderator for Kölner Treff and Lesen!; radio personality on Live aus der alten Oper. Appeared as herself and as an actor in films, including Raumpatrouille Orion—Rücksturz ins Kino, 2003.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Bambi Award, 2003, for television hosting; Adolfe Grimm Honorary Award, 2006.

WRITINGS:

"Darf's ein bisschen mehr sein–geschnitten oder am Stück?": Else Stratmann wiegt ab, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1985.

Kein schöner Land, Elster (Bühl-Moos, Germany), 1985.

"Mit oder ohne Knochen?," Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1986.

Dreifacher Rittberger: eine Familienserie, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1987.

Also …: Kolumnen aus "Brigitte", Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1988.

Datt kann donnich gesund sein: Else Stratmann über Sport, Olympia, und Dingens, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1988.

Kolonien der Liebe: Erzählungen, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1992.

Also …: Kolumnen aus "Brigitte" 2, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1992.

Nero Corleone: Eine Katzengeschichte (for children), Carl Hanser Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1995, translated by Doris Orgel as Nero Corleone: A Cat's Story, Viking (New York, New York), 1997.

Der Struwwelpeter (for children), Rütten & Loening (Berlin, Germany), 1995.

"Geschnitten oder am Stück": Neues von Else Stratmann, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1995.

Also …: Kolumnen aus "Brigitte" 3, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1996.

Am Südpol, denkt man, ist es heiss (for children), Carl Hanser Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1998, translated by Aubrey M. Woolman as Some Folk Think the South Pole's Hot: The Three Tenors Play the Antarctic, Godine, 2001.

Also—die besten Kolumnen aus "Brigitte", Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1998.

Also …: Kolumnen aus "Brigitte" 4, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 1999.

Sonst noch was, Carl Hanser Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1999.

Der Welt den Rücken: Erzählungen (title means "Turn Your Back on the World: Stories"; also see below), Carl Hanser Verlag (Munich, Germany), 2000.

Erika: Erzählungen, Rowohlt (Reinbek bei Hamburg, Germany), 2001.

(With Stefan Worring) Köln: Bilder und Geschichten, Kiwi (Cologne, Germany), 2001.

Macbeth: schlafes Mörder, photographs by Tom Krausz, Frederking & Thaler (Munich, Germany), 2002.

(With Bernd Schroeder) Rudernde Hunde: Geschichten, C. Hanser (Munich, Germany), 2002.

Die schönsten Jahre (short story from Der Welt den Rücken: Erzählungen), 2005.

Contributor to Pooh's Corner: sämtliche Kolumnen, Rezensionen, Berichte, Filmkritiken: [ein dicker Sammelband mit sämtlichen Meinungen und Deinungen], by Harry Rowohlt, Haffmans Verlag (Zurich, Switzerland), c. 2001. Author's works have been translated into English, Chinese, Korean, and Spanish.

SCREENPLAYS

Nestwörme (for television), 1973.

Gefundenes Fressen (television series), 1977.

Anna (television series), 1979.

Harry Hocker lässt nicht locker (television series), 1980.

Tour de Ruhr (television series), 1981.

Frau über vierzig (television series), 1981.

Unternehmen Arche Noah (television program), 1983.

Herr Rogler und Herr Busse (television series), 1992.

ADAPTATIONS:

Heidenreich's novels and short stories have been adapted for film and television, including the novel Kein schöner Land, which was adapted as a television miniseries), 1985; the short stories "Die schönsten Jahre" and "Silberhochzeit" were adapted to television in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

SIDELIGHTS:

Prior to her literary career, Elke Heidenreich was a well-known radio and television personality in Germany. In 1983 she began to write for the magazine Brigitte, and since that time she has written several children's books and short-story collections for adults, while continuing her radio and television career.

Nero Corleone: Eine Katzengeschichte, later translated as Nero Corleone: A Cat's Story, is about a brave Italian barnyard cat, who earns the title "Don" because of his capable leadership. As barnyard life becomes too restrictive and boring, Don Corleone longs for further adventures. He and his littermate Rosa find an interesting life with a vacationing couple named Isolde and Robert. When their vacation is over, the cats decide to travel to Cologne with the married couple, where they experience life in the big city. "Heidenreich has created a feisty, take-charge character that's sure to bring pleasure to readers," wrote Cheryl Cufari in the School Library Journal. "Kids will relish this wisecracking, self-reliant little godfather," reported a Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books contributor.

Heidenreich's best-selling short-story collection Der Welt den Rücken contains seven stories with protagonists who are often between the ages of fifty and sixty years old, and who are becoming concerned about growing older. The first story, "Die schönsten Jahre," ("The Best Years") is the tale of the relationship between a mother and daughter. The daughter feels that she knows everything there is to know about her eighty-year-old mother, until the older woman dies and the daughter finds some letters and photographs that illuminate a hitherto-unknown side of her mother. In "Silberhochzeit" the author describes a couple who has been married for twenty years. To celebrate the occasion, they invite several friends to supper. As the evening unfolds, and conversations lengthen, several relationships begin to unravel. Christian Stahl wrote in Publishers Weekly that this collection is characterized by a wonderfully light style. He also described the author's stories as emotionally moving, and at the same time, entertaining and humorous.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, December, 1997, review of Nero Corleone: A Cat's Story, pp. 127-128.

New York Times, January 18, 1998, review of Nero Corleone.

Publishers Weekly, September 15, 1997, John Peters, review of Nero Corleone, p. 235; June 4, 2001, review of Some Folk Think the South Pole's Hot: The Three Tenors Play the Antarctic, p. 82; August 19, 2002, Manuela Haselberger, review of Nero Corleone: Eine Katzengeschichte, p. 2; August 19, 2002, Christian Stahl, review of Der Welt den Rücken, p. 2.

School Library Journal, December, 1997, Cheryl Cufari, review of Nero Corleone, p. 92.