Birthday At 95, Lilo Pulver dreams of a million and a new husband
When asked about a wish for her 95th birthday, Liselotte "Lilo" Pulver said in a recent interview: "What I wish for most is good health" - and then added with a mischievous laugh: "and a million".
Lilo Pulver is doing well. That is probably the most important message from the "Glückspost" interview with the Bernese actress. She has no significant ailments and wants to live to be over a hundred years old. She reported on a disciplined, structured daily routine: getting up at 7.30 a.m., daily exercise, walks, entertainment and a good night's sleep. Lilo Pulver has lived in a retirement home in Bern for a long time.
Distinctive laugh
The fame of the blonde actress with the distinctive laugh that went down in film history was based on the role of Vreneli in the Gotthelf film adaptations "Uli der Knecht" (1954) and "Uli der Pächter" (1955) by Franz Schnyder. These works made her a sought-after actress in one fell swoop.
In German comedies such as "Das Wirtshaus im Spessart" (1958) or the love story "Ich denke oft an Piroschka" (1955), Pulver became one of the most popular actresses in the German-speaking world with her often cheeky, cheerful, tomboyish roles in the style of Audrey Hepburn.
International offers were not long in coming either. Among Pulver's major successes were the comedy "One, Two, Three", in which she played a supporting role in 1961 under the direction of Billy Wilder, and a leading role in the Remarque film "A Time to Love and a Time to Die" (1958).
However, Lilo Pulver was denied the final leap to Hollywood. Engagements in major films fell through twice due to contractual details, as Pulver recounted in an interview in 2009. This still annoys her "insanely" to this day, the then 80-year-old admitted.
The award season came late
Early on, in the 1970s, the actress slowly withdrew from the public eye. She hosted the children's TV show "Sesame Street" and made a few more films before appearing in front of the camera for the last time in 2007 in the TV remake of "Die Zürcher Verlobung".
Germany honored Pulver with numerous awards long before Switzerland, including several Bambis, the Bavarian Film Prize and the Golden Camera.
The series of awards in the neighboring country also triggered awards in the actress's home country: in 2005, the Armin Ziegler Foundation honored her, in 2008 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Swiss Television Prize, and in 2011 she also received a lifetime achievement award at the SwissAwards.
Blows of fate
Before Liselotte, the daughter of an engineer, found her way into the limelight, she attended business school in Bern. After her first steps in show business as a mannequin, she trained as an actress at the Bern University of the Arts at the end of the 1940s, and her first engagements took her to the Bern City Theater and the Schauspielhaus Zurich.
Acting not only brought Lilo Pulver great fame, but also great love: while filming the movie "Gustav Adolf's Page", she met the German actor Helmut Schmid, the two fell in love, married and became the parents of two children.
In 1989, when Pulver had already largely retired from the film business, her daughter took her own life at the age of 21. Just three years later, her husband died of a heart attack.
Despite these tragedies, Pulver told the "Bund" in 2009 that she was "spoiled by fate" and had been "very lucky" in her life.
Recently, she even dreamed of a new husband in the "Glückspost". "Hope dies last - he should be beautiful, rich and funny," the magazine quoted Pulver as saying. This was followed by a resounding laugh.
SDA
