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Helmut Zacharias (Berlin27 January 1920 - Brissago28 February 2002), also known under the pseudonym Charles Thomas, was a German violinist and composer.He wrote more than 400 compositions and sold 14 million records.

In addition, he appeared in a number of films, usually as a musician.

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[hide]*1 Biography

Biography[Edit][]

He was born in Berlin, the son of a singer and a violinist/conductor. [2from the age of 2 ½ years, he gave violin lessons from his father and from his 6th, he played in the club, a cabaret Faun in Berlin. [3two years later he succeeded Gustav Havemann's masterclass lesson of the Music Academy of Berlin, the youngest (up to then) student. [4another three years later (' 31), he was for the first time to listen to it on the radio, where he Mozart's Violin Concerto No 3 in G Major from 1775 played. At the age of 14 (' 34), he began touring. [3around the same time period, he was strongly influenced by the all-string jazz bands of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli's, whose plates were available in Germany. [5]

In 1940, he was "discovered" by the German EMIDepartment Lindström-Electrola[5], a year later he had a first hit with Schönes Wetter Heute. [1In the 1950s, he was considered as one of the best jazz violinists of Europe and was praised as The Magic Violinist and Germany's Mr. Violin. His biggest success came on 22 september 1956 when his number When the White Lilacs Bloom Again reached the 12 place in the Billboard Hot 100. [6[7another highlight he reached with the song Tokyo Melody, the official anthem of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The song reached on 21 November 1964 the ninth place in the UK Singles Chart. [8]

In the late 1950s he migrated to Switzerland[9and he performed with many well-known artists such as Yehudi Menuhin. Between 1968 and ' 73 had his own television show and in 1985 he received a medal of the order of merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. [4In 1995, it was determined that he suffered alzheimer's and two years later he retired from public life. He died in 2002 to Switzerland in Brissago and is buried at the Friedhof Ohlsdorf to Hamburg.

He was married to Hella from 1943 until his death and together they had three children. His son Stephan wrote among other things the soundtrack of the film Der Untergang (2004).

Œuvre[Edit][]

Disco- and below a selective filmography:[10]

Discography[Edit][]

  • 12 Violin Sonatas, op. 2 (Vivaldi) (1953)
  • Ich liebe bobbing Mund (1955)
  • Hello, Scandinavia (1958)
  • Holiday In Spain (1959)
  • Songs Of Old Russia (1959)
  • Candelight Serenade (1960)
  • A Violin Sings (1962)
  • On Lovers ' Road (1963)
  • Candlelight Serenade (1965)
  • The Golden Plate Of Helmut Zacharias (1967)
  • Happy Strings Happy Hits (1967)
  • James Last Meets Helmut Zacharias (1967)
  • Happy Strings Or Zacharias (1968)
  • Light My Fire (1968)
  • Mexico Melody (1968)
  • Zacharias Plays The Hits (1969)
  • Zacharias Plays Verdi & Puccini (1970)
  • Zacharias Plays Verdi & Bizet (1970)
  • Greatest Hits (1973)
  • Buenos Días (1974)
  • Swinging Hits (1977)
  • Les Belles Années (1978)

Filmography[Edit][]

Issue Year Film Role Notes
1949 Hello, Fräulein! Musician
1952 The hotel building nach dir Violinist
1952 Königin der Arena Conductor
1952 Eine neat Bescherung TV-film
1953 Das singende Hotel Steve Alten
1954 An jedem Finger zehn Player
1955 Who werde ich filmstar?
1962 Totò di notte n. 1
1963 Jolanthe lässt bits.... Themselves TV-film
1964 Silvester Show Musician TV-film
1966 Von uns-für Sie! TV-film
1981 So schön who heut ' müßt es bleiben, so ' Artist TV-film
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