Lambert Hamel

Lambert Hamel (7 June 1940 – 13 February 2026) was a German actor best known for roles on stage but also active in film, television, musicals, and as a dubbing actor. Trained at the Schauspielschule Bochum, he was often cast in roles of villains and buffoons. Hamel played both Martin Luther and Helmut Kohl in television films, and he appeared in many popular television crime series. He performed at the Munich theatres Residenztheater and Münchner Kammerspiele from 1968, in roles such as Shakespeare's Bottom and Titus Andronicus, Arthur Miller's Willy Loman, and Thomas Bernhard's Theatre maker.

Life and career

Hamel was born in Ludwigshafen on 7 June 1940. He grew up with two sisters. He knew early on that he wanted to become an actor, though his father disapproved. He took German studies, philosophy, and theatre studies from 1960 to 1962 at the universities of Heidelberg and Cologne. He then completed acting training at the Schauspielschule Bochum, with Hans Schalla. While still in training, director Oscar Fritz Schuh brought him to the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Berlin, where he made his debut in 1963 as Thomas Diaforius in Molière's The Imaginary Invalid, directed by Fritz Kortner.

In 1964, Hamel moved to the Schauspiel Bochum, then briefly to the Bühnen der Stadt Köln, where he appeared as Artur in Mrożek 's Tango. From 1968, he worked for the Residenztheater in Munich, engaged by Helmut Henrichs, who had seen him in Cologne. He made his successful debut there in the title role of Molière's George Dandin.