Gladly a "vicious murderess" Smoking prosecutor quits the Münster "Tatort" series

Mechthild Grossmann plays the always slightly annoyed public prosecutor in the successful "Tatort". As the boss of Thiel and Boerne, she puts them in their place. This will end in 2025.

The woman with the cigarette in her hand and the distinctive deep voice is saying goodbye: Mechthild Grossmann, who has been a prosecutor on ARD's Münster "Tatort" for more than 22 years, is leaving the show in 2025, as announced by Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

As the boss of Chief Inspector Thiel and forensic scientist Professor Boerne, the actress will still be seen in three new episodes, after which she wants to devote herself to new tasks, the broadcaster quoted Grossmann as saying. In the ARD ratings success, she plays public prosecutor Wilhelmine Klemm.

Grossmann would return immediately for the role of a "vicious murderess"

"When the last Münster "Tatort" with me is broadcast at the end of 2025, I will be 77 years old, and I have no plans to stop working. So I will continue to do theater and readings, preferably with music - and if WDR is ever looking for someone to play a vicious murderess, I would be back in a heartbeat," said Grossmann, according to a statement from WDR.

Grossmann, who was born in Münster in 1948, has been part of the cast of the Münster "Tatort" since the first episode in 2002. Before her, only Friederike Kempter had left the long-standing ensemble in the role of Boerne's assistant Nadeshda Krusenstern. Her supporting role was very popular with TV audiences. Above all, her strong sense of justice characterized public prosecutor Wilhelmine Klemm, who - especially when things didn't go according to plan - could sometimes get loud.

Long collaboration with Pina Bausch

Grossmann already had a long career before "Tatort" - she started at Theater Bremen in 1963. She first worked with the dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch in 1976. From 1977 to 1979, she had an engagement at the Schauspielhaus Bochum before celebrating many years of worldwide success with the Tanztheater Pina Bausch in Wuppertal - but not as a dancer, as she emphasizes on her own homepage.

She has also filmed with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Caroline Link, among others. She taught dance history and acting at the Folkwang University in Essen. The "Tatort" role is only "a very small part" of her professional life, Grossmann once said in a dpa interview. "In my perception, that's eight days a year. And I tend to work 280."

"My voice is definitely the best thing about me now"

Nevertheless, the role was something special for the actress. It was an honor and a pleasure for her "to work with Christine Urspruch and Björn Meyer, for many years with Friederike Kempter and the wonderful Vadder - Claus D. Clausnitzer - and of course with Axel Prahl and Jan Josef Liefers for so long - 23 years. Thank you," said the actress according to the press release.

She joked about her distinctive voice in an interview with "Die Zeit" a few years ago: "I always say that since I've been old and ugly, my voice has suddenly come into its own. My voice is definitely the best thing about me now. My daughter always says: "You can still do audiobooks in a wheelchair." Her roles are also somewhat limited by her voice, however. "If I were to play Grandma in an early evening series and say, 'The tea's ready', everyone would think it was poisoned."

TV audiences took Wilhelmine Klemm to their hearts

Alexander Bickel, head of the WDR fiction program department, thanked Grossmann "very warmly for her wit, her enthusiasm and her tireless and unmistakable commitment to justice and the law in her home town of Münster". Wilhelmine Klemm will be greatly missed by the "Tatort" audience, "who took the character and her wonderful actress to their hearts from the very beginning", said Bickel. "Dear Mechthild Grossmann: Thank you for so many wonderful years of crime entertainment!"

The 46th Münster "Tatort" with the title "Man stirbt nur zweimal" - still with Grossmann - is scheduled to be broadcast in the fourth quarter of 2024.

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