Alfred Struwe (April 22, 1927 – February 13, 1998) was a German actor, best known for his television role as Dr. Alexander Wittkugel in Zahn um Zahn.
Struwe was born in Marienburg, West Prussia (today Malbork in Poland), the son of a postman, and grew up there with five siblings. His first acting experience was in Hitler Youth summer camps. In 1944 he was called up first into the Reich Labour Service, then into the military. After attending officer training school in Hanover, he was sent along with other young contemporaries into battle in the final days of World War II. In 1945 he rejoined his family in Leipzig. Since his father, Gustav, was opposed to his making acting his career, he instead had to attend a police academy, until in 1948 it closed and he was also discharged. From then on, he was able to dedicate himself entirely to acting. He had already performed part-time in amateur productions and taken private acting lessons during his police training. In 1949 he joined the theater company in Greiz and subsequently was engaged in Brandenburg, Zittau, Cottbus, Karl-Marx-Stadt and Dresden.
Struwe made his first appearance before the cameras in 1954, in the DEFA co-production Leuchtfeuer. Then beginning in the 1960s, his face was often seen on both movie and television screens. Several times he played the part of the would-be assassin of Hitler, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. In 1985 he played what would become his signature role, the eccentric dentist Dr. Alexander Wittkugel in the television series Zahn um Zahn ("A Tooth for a Tooth"). This was so successful that in response to viewer demand the 7 projected episodes were extended and in the end 21 stories of "Dr. Wittkugel's Practices" were produced.
Struwe's daughter Catharina Struwe is likewise an actress, with, for example, a longstanding engagement at the Neue Bühne in Senftenberg.
With the dissolution of the Iron Curtain, the popular actor's life became quieter. Struwe made occasional further appearances on stage and on television, but otherwise enjoyed his retirement. He died in Potsdam in 1998 after a lengthy illness caused by pneumonia and was buried in the Southwest Cemetery in Stahnsdorf.
1990
as Zirkusdirektor Bernhard
1989
1988
1987
as Graf Jacob Heinrich von Flemming
1987
as Wilhelm II, German Emperor
1986
as Paul Klabbusch
1986
1985
as Dr. Alexander Wittkugel
1985
as Geschäftsführer
1984
as Obersturmbannführer Maas
1983
1983
as Dr. Ernst Merlin
1983
1983
as Herr Dr. Kobermann
1983
1983
as Georg Hartmann
1982
1982
1982
as Graf von der Lippe
1981
1981
as Conferencier
1981
1981
as Hampel
1980
as Flugplatzleiter Behrens
1980
as Standartenführer Hauk
1979
1979
1979
as Jens Schwager
1978
1977
as Fred Sturm
1977
as General von Natzmer
1977
as Alex - newspaper tycoon
1976
as Suko
1975
as Nienhusen
1974
as Peers
1974
as Aldrigton
1974
1974
as Pohl
1973
as General Gert von Wieseneck
1973
as 2. Polizeioffizier
1973
as Otterstadt
1972
1971
1971
as Uwe Kellerbauer
1971
as Herr Bader
1971
as Dr. Frowein
1971
1969
1968
1968
1968
as Berthold Beitz
1967
as Horst Karsten
1966
as Klaus von Stauffenberg
1965
as Kellner Hugo
1965
as Robert Konzock
1963
1954
as Junger Fischer