Quick Facts
Biography
Adriana Altaras (born 6 April 1960, Zagreb) is a German actress, theater director and writer, born in Zagreb.
Altaras was born in Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia to Jewish parents, Jakob and Thea Altaras. Due to political persecutionshe escaped Zagreb, with her mother in 1964 to Italy, in a car by her Italian uncle. She stayed with her mother in Italy for a few years, enough that she learns Italian.
From Italy she moved to Konstanz, Germany in 1967. After high school education, Altaras graduated from the Berlin University of the Arts. Altaras completed her academic studies in New York City. She founded the Western Stadthirschen theater in Berlin where she works as an actress, director and writer. In 1982 she made her movie debut, and in 1989 she had a lead role in Der Philosoph, directed by Rudolf Thome. However, the focus of her work remained with the various theater projects. She worked as a theater director at the Berliner Ensemble and Neuköllner Oper in Berlin. In 1998 she received the Deutscher Filmpreis Award.
She worked with Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation as an interviewer and lecturer. Altaras has two sons with composer Wolfgang Böhmer; Aaron and Leonard Altaras.
Works
- Titos Brille, Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2011
- Doitscha : eine jüdische Mutter packt aus, Köln: Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2015 ISBN 9783462047097