Charlotte Kerr (1927–2011)

Charlotte Kerr was born in Frankfurt, Germany. She debuted as an actress in 1951 in Schiller’s play Don Carlos. She became well-known for her German TV roles and for her appearances in the films of Rainer Erler, including Fleisch (1979).

In 1983, during the filming of a movie about Melina Mercouri, she met Friedrich Durrenmatt, a Swiss poet and artist, whom she married the following year. The two collaborated on the film Portrait eines Planeten and the play Rollenspiele. In 2000, 10 years after her husband's death, she opened the Centre Dürrenmatt in Neuchâtel, Switzerland to house his paintings and drawings. Her autobiography, Die Frau im roten Mantel (The Woman in the Red Coat), was published in 1992.