Actress Vera Borek dies aged 85 in Vienna

Actress Vera Borek died in Vienna on Saturday evening at the age of 85 after a short hospital stay, ORF reported on Sunday, citing the APA and people close to her family.

Borek was born in Breslau on September 20, 1940, the daughter of a German opera singer and a Viennese leather goods merchant. She moved to Vienna with her family as a child, studied at an acting school in Hanover and worked in Bochum, Münster, Wiesbaden and Hamburg before returning to Vienna professionally.

She was a key contributor to theatre projects led by Hans Gratzer at Schauspielhaus Wien and by Michael Schottenberg with the Theater im Kopf. Borek was also a member of the Volkstheater Vienna ensemble from 1976 to 2005, performing roles including Jenny in The Threepenny Opera, Ada in The Beautiful View, Valerie in Tales from the Vienna Woods and Marthe in The Broken Jug.

She continued appearing at the Volkstheater after her retirement, including as Claire Zachanassian in The Visit in 2007 and Sister Rosa in the stage adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother in 2009. In 2014, she appeared as Fräulein Dr von Zahnd in Dürrenmatt’s The Physicists.

Borek also worked regularly in television and film, appearing in the series Tatort, Kommissar Rex and Der Bulle von Tölz. Her film credits included Vino Santo, Tales from the Vienna Woods and Mulligan’s Return.

She met actor, author and cabaret artist Helmut Qualtinger in Hamburg in 1969, and they married in 1982. They also toured together with readings. Qualtinger died in 1986.

Borek recorded numerous radio plays and audiobooks and was named Actress of the Year 2017 by the ORF radio play jury for her body of work and more recent performances. In 2010, she received the Golden Decoration of Merit of the State of Vienna.