She was one of the most famous faces of the “Fallers”: actress Ursula Cantieni is dead. The actress who played Johanna Faller from the Black Forest series “The Fallers” died on Tuesday night at the age of 75, as reported by Südwestrundfunk (SWR). . “All of us at SWR are dismayed and deeply saddened,” said SWR director Kai Gniffke.
Cantieni, who was born in Zurich, came to Germany at the age of ten, went to school in Stuttgart and did her Abitur there. She acted in theaters in Stuttgart, Esslingen and Konstanz, among others. Cantieni made her first television appearance in 1985 in the film “Polenweiher”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/.”Her first roles often had something to do with departure and rebellion against bourgeois conventions.” That suited Cantieni, who always followed her clear compass.
She played with the “Fallers” for 27 years and was there from the start. The series tells of the life of a Black Forest farming family in the present. The center is the imposing farm of the fictitious Faller family. In the original it is in an idyllic location near Furtwangen in the Black Forest. The 30-minute episodes are broadcast on SWR television on Sunday evenings. For decades, one of the main roles was the generous farmer.
Cantieni once said about Johanna Faller: “I gave her my face. I helped her to have a presence, even if she sometimes didn’t have much to say.” That was her main task. “I hope that I have done justice to this task.”
On the occasion of the death, the SWR changes its program
At the beginning of 2022, SWR surprisingly announced that the protagonist was leaving. The then 74-year-old left the series for personal reasons, it said. Since many episodes had already been shot by then, the audience could see Cantieni in her role throughout 2022.
Cantieni not only gave the SWR a face and a voice, but also the people in the southwest, said director Gniffke. “With her warmth, with her wisdom, with her charm and her wonderful sense of humor. A woman we will never forget.” Program director Clemens Bratzler was quoted in a statement in the evening as saying: “With Ursula Cantieni, not only has one of the greats in SWR left us, but also a woman who has radiated a lot of warmth, openness and warmth throughout her life.” On the occasion of the death, SWR television is changing its program and showing, among other things, the documentary “Ursula Cantieni – The Woman Behind Johanna Faller” this Wednesday at 8:15 p.m.