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Marie-Luise Marjan rose to fame as Mother Beimer in “Lindenstraße”. She first appeared in this role in 1985. This is what she looked like back then.
Bonn – Marie-Luise Marjan celebrates her 84th birthday on August 9th. The actress can look back on a long and successful career. As Mother Beimer, she became a cult figure in “Lindernstraße” and could be seen in her signature role as Mother Beimer from the beginning of the ARD broadcast in 1985 until the end in March 2020.
From 1985 to 2020: Marie-Luise Marjan remained loyal to “Lindenstraße” as Helga Beimer
In December 1985, “Lindenstraße” went on air on ARD and Marie-Luise Marjan began her journey as Helga Beimer. At the time, the actress was 45 years old. With a friendly smile and her typical short hair, Marie-Luise Marjan began her “Lindenstraße” career and blossomed into the “Mother of the Nation,” as she was often called.
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In her role, the Essen native experienced a lot. When the housewife of “Lindenstraße” also got divorced, there was a huge outcry. “She was always the middle-class center, the happy family, with the three children, with Marion, Benny and Klaus. It was this wonderful German, well-behaved family. Like a campfire, you could sit down, warm yourself, feel good with it. That’s why it was so accepted by the population. And when Helga Beimer got divorced, the nation was turned upside down,” explained Marie-Luise Marjan in 2020 in the podcast “In Conversation” by Deutschlandfunk Culture.
Marie-Luise Marjan with Joachim Luger and Christian Kahrmann for “Lindenstraße” in 1985. © IMAGO / United Archives
Even away from “Lindenstraße”: Marie-Luise Marjan’s eventful life
Her own life was also very turbulent. As a baby, the “Lindenstraße” star was given away by her biological mother and grew up in an orphanage. In 1947, she was adopted. She herself has no children – and consciously decided against it. “I always wanted to be an actress, and was on stage at the age of twelve. When I managed to do it after a lot of fighting, I didn’t want to let anyone take that away from me! I kept observing that women left the theater as soon as they started a family, and I didn’t want that,” she explained in 2018 in an interview with BZ Berlin.
Marie-Luise Marjan became known as Mother Beimer in “Lindernstraße”. She first appeared in the role in 1985. This is what she looked like back then. © IMAGO / United Archives & IMAGO / Sven Simon
A former colleague also had a difficult fate. “Lindenstraße” star Marianne Rogée had given up her seriously ill baby. Sources used: Imago; Deutschlandfunk Kultur / “In Conversation”; BZ Berlin
