Christel Bodenstein, 1938 – 2024

German actress Christel Bodenstein, 86, died on Dec. 5.  Starting as a ballet dancer, she was discovered by film director Kurt Maetzig and began her long career (1956-2017) in films and TV. Her star-making role was in the children’s fable The Singing Ringing Tree (which sounds like the world’s most annoying tree—how does anyone sleep?). She worked steadily in films and TV after that, including playing The Little Prince in a 1966 TV-movie. In later years, as the roles declined, Bodenstein toured as a singer, and worked as a stage manager and director in Berlin and Potsdam theaters. She was married twice, to director Konrad Wolf and actor and playwright Hasso von Lenski.