Jürgen Roland, born Jürgen Schellack (25 December 1925 – 21 September 2007) was a German film director. Roland was described as the "father of German TV crime shows". He directed about 80 TV productions and 30 movies.[1]
Life and career
Roland was born on 25 December 1925 in Hamburg as Jürgen Schellack. He started his career as a radio host for the North western German Radio Station (NWDR) in 1945, and was one of the first presenters for the TV station of the NWDR in 1951. Norddeutscher Rundfunk Station Manager Jobst Plog [de] said, that Jürgen Roland "[...] belonged to the ranks of young radio reporter, who contributed after the war to the legendary reputation of the then NWDR." Roland's first TV series Der Polizeibericht meldet ... (lit. the police reports ...) was a detailed description of real crimes, filmed accurate and faithful.[1]
The TV series Stahlnetz (lit. steel net, Dragnet) caused Roland's fame. For the 1958s crime series, Roland worked with screenwriterWolfgang Menge. The cases were based on real crimes also, and the series was a blockbuster in Germany. After his work for the TV station Roland directed several movies, the 1960s Der grüne Bogenschütze (The Green Archer)—starring Gert Fröbe—was based on an Edgar Wallace's novel of 1923.[1]
Roland directed several Tatort (crime scene) episodes, and as of 2007, Roland's TV series Großstadtrevier (metropolitan precinct[2]) was shown for 21 years in German TV.[1]
German TV series for the Norddeutscher Rundfunk, based on real crimes.[1] Roland directed 22 episodes and was screenwriter for 2 episodes.[3] The series is filmed in black and white, the first episode of season 1 was aired 1958. German actors Hellmut Lange and Helmut Peine were in the cast.
