Bertolt Brecht, a German poet, playwright and theatrical reformer, was one of the most prominent figures in the 20th-century theater. Brecht was concerned with encouraging audiences to think rather than becoming too involved in the story line and to identify with the characters. Brecht developed epic theater, a form of drama where ideas are important using alienation effects.
Bertolt Brecht was born in Augsburg, Germany on February 10, 1898, to a Catholic father, who was the director of a paper company and a Protestant mother, who was the daughter of a civil servant. Brecht began writing poetry as a young boy and had his first poems published in 1914. After finishing elementary school, he was sent to the Königliches Realgymnasium, where he was famous for being a difficult child.
In 1917, Brecht enrolled as a medical student at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Between 1919 and 1921 he wrote theatre criticisms for a left-wing Socialist paper. After military service as a medical orderly, he returned to his studies, only to abandon them in 1921. During the Bavarian revolutionary turmoil of 1918, Brecht wrote his first play, entitled BAAL, which was produced in 1923. The play celebrated life and sexuality and was a widely popular success.
Brecht's association with Communism began in 1919, when he decided to join the Independent Social Democratic party. As a result of a brief affair with Fräulein Bie Banholzer, Brecht's son Frank was born. In 1922, he married the opera singer Marianne Zof; they divorced five years later, in 1927. Brecht, who abhorred bathing, was also famous for being promiscuous. At this time Brecht had become involved with both Elisabeth Hauptmann and Helene Weigel. Brecht and Weigel's son, Stefan, was born in October 1924 and they later married.
After repeated persecution from the invading German forces Brecht made the decision to leave Germany. Brecht continued in May 1941, with his wife, children and secretary, through Russia to the United States, eventually ending up in Santa Monica. Ruth Berlau, a Danish actress and Brecht's mistress, had joined the family in Helsinki and traveled with them from Finland to America. Margarete Steffin, a German writer and Brecht's secretary and mistress, died in Moscow; she had tuberculosis when she left Germany. Like Berlau, she made contributions to Brecht's exile plays. In the US, Brecht tried to write for Hollywood, but the only script that found partial acceptance was Hangmen Also Die, in 1942. This anti-Nazi film was directed by Fritz Lang, based on a screenplay written by John Wexley. Brecht complained bitterly about the enormous amount of intellectual isolation in Hollywood. His ideas, such as "the production, distribution and enjoyment of bread," were not taken seriously by movie moguls.
In 1947, Brecht was accused of un-American activities, but managed to confuse with half-truths, the chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, who praised Brecht for being an exemplary witness. However, Brecht had seen the writing on the wall and he fled to Switzerland, without waiting for the opening of his play, Galileo, in New York.
Throughout his life Bertolt Brecht was a prolific writer who wrote poetry, theater, movie scripts and many dramatic works of varying lengths. His impact continues to be felt as Brecht left the Berliner Ensemble to his wife, the actress Helene Weigel, which she ran until her death in 1971. It was perhaps the most famous German touring theatre of the postwar era, it was primarily devoted to performing Brecht's plays. His son, Stefan Brecht, became a poet and theatre critic who was primarily interested in New York's avant-garde theater. Brecht has always been a controversial figure in Germany, and, in his native city of Augsburg, there were objections to creating a birthplace museum. By the 1970s, however, it was interesting to note that Brecht's plays had surpassed Shakespeare's in the number of annual performances in Germany. In addition Brecht's influence can be seen in the cinema as modern filmmakers still credit him today.
Brecht died of a heart attack, at the age of 58, on August 14, 1956. The residence he shared with Helene Weigel overlooks the Mitte neighborhood of Berlin, where he is buried.