Biography
Margit Carstensen (29 February 1940 – 1 June 2023) was a German theatre and film actress, best known outside Germany for roles in the works of film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Carstensen was born and raised in the northern German city of Kiel. Upon graduation from the local high school in 1958, she studied acting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. This education led to her first stage appearances in Kleve, Heilbronn, Münster, and Braunschweig. In 1965, Carstensen began a four-year engagement with the German Playhouse in Hamburg. In 1969, she gained a local profile for her work in the Theater am Goetheplatz in Bremen, where she first met director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She then worked under his direction in a comedy by the 18th-century Venetian Carlo Goldoni, The Coffee Shop (which was recorded for television in 1970), bringing her national attention in West Germany. She subsequently played the role of serial murderess Geesche Gottfried in the premiere of Fassbinder's own play Bremen Freedom (also televised, in 1972), and then in the title role of his Henrik Ibsen adaptation Nora Helmer (televised in 1974) derived from A Doll's House. Outside of theatre, Ca…
Movies & TV Shows
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Possession (1981) — Margit Gluckmeister
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The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) — Petra von Kant
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Sonnenallee (1999) — Director
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Scene of the Crime (1970) — Margarethe
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Chinese Roulette (1977) — Ariane Christ
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World on a Wire (1973) — Maya Schmidt-Genter
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Martha (1974) — Martha
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Finsterworld (2013) — Frau Sandberg
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The Third Generation (1979) — Petra Vielhaber
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Derrick (1974) — Frau Hauser
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Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) — Sekretärin
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Tenderness of the Wolves (1973) — Frau Lindner
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Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven (1975) — Frau Thälmann
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Agnes and His Brothers (2004) — Roxy
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Satan’s Brew (1976) — Andree
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Fear of Fear (1975) — Margot
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Hands off Mississippi (2007) — Frau Strietzel
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The 120 Days of Bottrop (1997) — Self
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Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day (1972) — Erste Hausfrau
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Terror 2000 (1993) — Margret
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Angry Harvest (1985) — Eugenia
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100 Years of Adolf Hitler – The Last Hour in the Führerbunker (1989) — Martha Goebbels
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The Niklashausen Journey (1970) — Margarete
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Fassbinder (2015) — Self
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Nora Helmer (1974) — Nora Helmer
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It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (2007) — Linda Barnes
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Fassbinder: Love Without Demands (2015) — Self (archive footage)
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Schlingensief – A Voice That Shook the Silence (2020) — Self (archive footage)
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Bremen Freedom (1972) — Geesche Gottfried
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Shattered Glass (2002) — Käthe
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The Coffee House (1970) — Vittoria
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Manila (2000) — Regine Gorler
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Women in New York (1977) — Sylvia Fowler
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The Roaring Fifties (1983) — Sekretärin
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Adolf and Marlene (1977) — Marlene Dietrich
- Der Narr und seine Frau heute Abend in Pancomedia (2002) — Die Leserin
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La moitié de l'amour (1985) — Ivy
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The Ancestress (1971) — Berta
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Liebeskonzil (1982) — Staatsanwältin
- Gesche's Poison (1998) — Mutter Timm