Taking leave
Actor William Cohn dies
Singer and actor William Cohn has died at the age of 65. Photo: Christoph Hardt/Geisler-Fotopress/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
He was much more than just Jan Böhmermann’s sidekick: William Cohn was an actor, singer and author. He has now died at the age of 65.
Millions of television viewers knew William Cohn as announcer and sidekick of entertainer Jan Böhmermann. He was in almost every episode of the then ZDFneo program “Neo Magazin Royale”.
He introduced the guests in the “Roche & Böhmermann” talk format. As Cohn’s management confirmed on Saturday, the actor, singer, author and speaker died “suddenly and unexpectedly” in Basel on Thursday. He was 65 years old.
His manager Gerd Fischer recalled Cohn’s TV career: “His ugly sweater, his nerdy glasses and his pointed texts helped him as a sidekick from Jan Böhmermann (…) to his breakthrough.” And further: «His showpiece remained the role of the scheming arms dealer Kaspar in the successful musical “Ludwig²” throughout his life as an artist. Since the world premiere in Füssen’s Festspielhaus in 2005, he has given the role character, voice and volume in well over 600 shows. Now he has left the stage that meant so much to him forever.”