Freddy Quinn
Freddy Quinn is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity within the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. As Hans Albers had done two generations before him, Quinn adopted the persona of the rootless wanderer who goes to sea but longs for a home, family and friends. Quinn's Irish family name comes from his Irish-born salesman father, Johann Quinn. His mother, Edith Henriette Nidl, was an Austrian journalist. He is often associated with the Schlager scene.
Biography
Quinn was born in Lower Austria and grew up in Vienna. As a child he lived in Morgantown, West Virginia with his father, but moved back to live with his mother in Vienna. Through his mother's second marriage to Rudolf Anatol Freiherr von Petz, Quinn adopted the name Nidl-Petz.At the end of World War II, as part of a refugee group, Freddy encountered American troops in Bohemia. Due to his fluent English, the 14-year-old succeeded in pretending to be of American nationality. He was subsequently sent to the US in May 1945 with a military transport. On Ellis Island, he learned that his father had already died in 1943 in a car accident. The boy was immediately sent back to Europe and, before returning to his mother in Vienna, was stranded for a whole year in Antwerp in a children's home, where he learned to speak French and Dutch.
However, having left the landlocked country of Austria in favor of adventurous journeys through Southern Europe and Northern Africa, he eventually headed for Germany. He was "discovered" in St. Pauli, Hamburg, and was offered his first recording contract in 1954. He represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland with the atypical song, "So geht das jede Nacht", about an unfaithful girlfriend who dates many men. He did not win, and the full results of the contest were never released so his placement is not known. Most of his other songs are about Hamburg, the endless sea and the solitary life in faraway lands. His first hit record was "Heimweh", a German version of Dean Martin's "Memories Are Made of This". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.
Other hits, often with him simply billed as Freddy, followed: "Die Gitarre und das Meer", "Unter fremden Sternen", "Irgendwann gibt's ein Wiedersehn", "La Paloma", "Junge, komm bald wieder". His 1964 offering "Vergangen, vergessen, vorueber" was another million-selling release.
His popularity waned in the 1970s, but Quinn continued performing. "Junge, komm bald wieder" was sung by Alpay on 7 Dilde Alpay album, which was released in 1973.
Starting in the late 1950s, Quinn also acted in several movies, again frequently cast as the seafaring loner. Titles include Freddy, the Guitar and the Sea, Freddy unter fremden Sternen, Freddy and the Song of the South Pacific, and Homesick for St. Pauli. Subsequently, Quinn also performed on the stage in such diverse roles as Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, the king in The King and I, and Lord Fancourt Babberly in Charley's Aunt.
Quinn was also an accomplished circus performer who stunned television audiences as a tightrope walker, performing live and without a safety net. On another occasion, which was also televised, he rode a lion inside a circus cage while the lion was balancing atop a moving surface.
Quinn lives in Hamburg, Germany.
Selected filmography
- The Big Chance
- Freddy, the Guitar and the Sea
- Freddy and the Melody of the Night
- Only the Wind
- Freddy and the Millionaire
- Freddy and the Song of the South Pacific
- Homesick for St. Pauli
- Freddy in the Wild West
- The Roaring Fifties
Selected song list
- This list only contains songs that have been covered by Freddy Quinn or others.
- The year lists up a song has been recorded for the first time.
| Song in Dutch language | Song in English language | Song in French language | Song in German language | Song in Italian language | Song in Spanish language | year | Other |
| - | 26 Miles | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | Ain't Misbehavin' | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | America | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | At The Hop | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | Blue Mirage | - | - | - | - | 1962 | |
| - | Bouquet of Roses | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | Carry Me Back To Old Virginny | - | Geh'n wir nochmal den Weg nach Westen | - | - | 1989 | |
| - | Columbus Stockade Blues | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | Don't Forbid Me | - | - | - | - | 1956 | |
| - | Down By The Riverside | - | - | - | - | 1986 | |
| - | For The Good Times | - | - | - | - | 1971 | |
| - | Games That Lovers Play | - | - | - | - | 1968 | |
| - | Goodnight, Ladies | - | - | - | - | 1965 | |
| - | Green, Green Grass of Home | - | Green, Green Grass of Home | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | Hand Me Down My Walking Cane | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | Have I Told You Lately That I Love You | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | He'll Have to Go | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | Hello, Dolly! | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Help Me Make It Through the Night | - | - | - | - | 1989 | |
| - | High Noon | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | I Left My Heart In San Francisco | - | - | - | - | 1973 | |
| - | I'll Hold You in My Heart | - | - | - | - | 1964 | |
| - | I'm Moving On | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | Jambalaya | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | Jingle Bells | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Lili Marleen | - | Lili Marleen | - | - | 1969 | |
| Zonder thuis | Love me ever Leave me never | Seul au monde | Heimatlos | - | - | 1957 | |
| - | Love Story | - | - | - | - | 1971 | |
| - | Lovesick Blues | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | Magic Moments | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | Making Believe | - | - | - | - | 1981 | |
| - | Maria | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean | - | - | - | - | 1965 | |
| - | No Letter Today | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | No More | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Nobody's Child | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | Oh My Darling Clementine | - | - | - | - | 1989 | |
| - | Oh! Susanna | - | Ich kam aus Alabama | - | - | 1971 | |
| - | Oh, Lonesome Me | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Ol' Man River | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | Old Smokey | - | - | - | - | 1989 | |
| - | On The Sunny Side Of The Street | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | Ramona | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | I'm the One Who Loves You | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | Roll The Cotton Down | - | - | - | - | 1965 | |
| - | Rolling home | - | Rolling home | - | - | 1961 | |
| - | San Antonio Rose | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | Seasons In The Sun | - | - | - | - | 2000 | |
| - | Show Me The Way To Go Home | - | - | - | - | 1968 | |
| - | Six Days on the Road | - | - | - | - | 1981 | |
| - | Son, Won't You Come Home I've Roamed Around | - | Junge komm bald wieder | - | Hijo vuelve pronto | 1963 | Afrikaans: Kom Huistoe My Seun |
| - | Smoke That Cigarette | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | Some Broken Hearts Never Mend | - | - | - | - | 1992 | |
| - | Somewhere My Love | - | - | - | - | 1968 | |
| - | Sonny Boy | - | Sonny Boy | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Spanish Eyes | - | - | - | - | 1965 | |
| - | Speak Softly Love | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Stood Up | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | Summertime | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Sunday Morning Coming Down | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Tennessee Saturday Night | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | Tennessee Waltz | - | - | - | - | 1968 | |
| - | The Banana Boat Song | Day O | - | - | - | 1956 | |
| - | The Echo Of Your Footsteps | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | The Yellow Rose of Texas | - | Die schönste Frau von Texas | - | - | 1989 | |
| - | Tom Dooley | - | - | - | - | 1987 | |
| - | True Love | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor? | - | - | - | - | 1961 | |
| - | White Christmas | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | Why Can't I Ever Be Lucky | - | Wann kommt das Glück auch zu mir? | Qualcune da amare | - | 1962 | |
| - | Wunderbar | - | - | - | - | 1972 | |
| - | You Are My Sunshine | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry | - | - | - | - | 1976 | |
| - | You're Gonna Change | - | - | - | - | 1958 | |
| - | You, You, You | - | - | - | - | 1962 | |
| - | Your Cheatin' Heart | - | - | - | - | 1970 | |
| - | - | Le seul pays | Wer das vergisst | - | - | 1957 | |
| - | - | N'importe où | Irgendwann gibt's ein Wiedersehn | - | - | 1960 | |
| - | - | Mélodie du soir | Melodie der Nacht | - | - | 1960 | |
| Lang is de weg | - | Près de mon cœur | Weit ist der Weg | - | - | 1960 | Portuguese: Estrada sem fim |
| Rosalie | - | Rosalie | Rosalie | - | - | 1956 | |
| - | - | Que tout recommence | - | - | - | 1961 | |
| - | - | - | Adios Mexico | - | Adios Mexico | 1965 | |
| - | - | - | Die Gitarre und das Meer | - | La guitarra y el mar | 1959 | |
| - | - | - | Hundert Mann und ein Befehl | - | La balada de los boinas verdes | 1966 | |
| - | - | - | O du fröhliche | - | Es la paz que canta | 1963 | |
| - | - | - | O Tannenbaum | - | O Tannenbaum | 1963 | |
| - | - | - | Stille Nacht | - | Noche de paz | 1963 | |
| In zijn dromen | - | - | So viel Träume | - | - | 1961 | |
| - | - | - | Vaya con Dios | - | Vaya con Dios | 1965 | |
| Het verlangen was groot | - | - | Wenn die Sehnsucht nicht wär | - | - | 1961 | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | 1961 | Low German: De Hamborger Veermaster |
| - | - | - | - | - | ¡Ay, Jalisco, no te rajes! | 1968 | |
| - | - | - | - | Bésame Mucho | 1968 | ||
| - | - | - | - | - | Cielito Lindo | 1965 | |
| - | - | - | - | - | Cuando salí de Cuba | 1973 | |
| - | - | - | - | - | Cucurrucucú paloma | 1965 | |
| - | - | - | - | - | El Rancho Grande | 1965 | |
| - | - | - | - | - | La Golondrina | 1968 | |
| - | - | - | - | - | Yo vendo unos ojos negros | 1965 |