Gert Westphal

Gert Westphal (1920–2002) was a German actor, narrator, and theatre and opera director. After training at the Dresden Conservatory, he received his first engagement at the Bremen Chamber Theatre in 1945 and began working as a radio-play narrator at Radio Bremen. From 1948, he headed its radio-play department; from 1953 to 1959, he held the same position at Südwestfunk in Baden-Baden. From 1960 to 1980, he was a member of the ensemble at Zurich Schauspielhaus. He subsequently worked freelance, primarily as a reciter for the stage, radio, and recorded media. He received the German Record Award for his recordings of works by authors including Goethe, Fontane, and Thomas Mann. In 1984, the newspaper Die Zeit called him the “King of Readers.” Westphal died in Zurich in 2002.