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In the world of films and series, the most famous animal actors are probably the collie Lassie and the German shepherd Rex. It’s no wonder many dogs still bear their names today. Those born earlier surely remember these gems as if it were yesterday.
Commissioner Rex
In today’s article, however, we will talk specifically about the Austrian series (later an Austrian-Italian co-production) Commissioner Rex. Up to two dogs even played the German shepherd throughout the series. Over the years many “partners” alternated at Rex’s side, who, together with the faithful dog, uncovered crimes.
In this article we’ll look at how these actors have changed over the years. An adaptation of this series was also made in Slovakia in 2017, but it certainly did not achieve the success of its predecessor.
1 Tobias Moretti as Richard Moser (1994 – 1998)
This Austrian actor, who played the first investigator alongside Rex, is now 61 years old. But before he became an actor, he enjoyed a career as a musician.
He studied at the Vienna University of Music and Applied Arts and shortly after finishing his studies became a permanent member of the ensemble of the Munich theatre under the direction of Frank Baumbauer. He was active from 1985 to 1995 and during that time earned many accolades.
From 1994 he appeared in the successful series Commissioner Rex, for which he earned as many as 4 awards. However, at his own request he decided to leave the series. His character thus died during the 4th season while carrying out his police duties.
Since 1997 he has been married to oboist Julia Moretti (née Wilhelm) and they have 3 children together.
2 Gedeon Burkhard as Alexander Brandtner (1998 – 2001)
After the series death of Richard Moser, Gedeon Burkhard (51) appeared in the series in the role of investigator Alexander Brandtner. In an explosion his dog Arko died, and so he never wanted to work with a canine partner again.
But when he met Rex everything changed in him and they became a really good duo. From the moment Gedeon appeared in the series, the international viewership of Commissioner Rex began to rise.
However, he didn’t stay in the series that long, because the creators wanted the investigator role recast due to Gedeon’s scandals in his personal life.
Besides that, until 2007 he also appeared in the well-known series Cobra 11 as detective Chris Ritter. He also appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s cult film Inglourious Basterds (2009). Another interesting role was that of the German actor Gustav Fröhlich in Czech director Filip Renč’s film Lída Baarová from 2016
3 Alexander Pschill as Marc Hoffmann (2002 – 2004)
Gedeon was thus replaced during the eighth to tenth seasons by the Austrian actor Alexander Pschill (50).
He portrayed the very astute investigator Marc Hoffmann.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornish College in Seattle, USA. Among other things, Pschill is also devoted to theatre acting and is even a co-founder and artistic director of the theatre “Bronski & Grünberg”.
4 Kaspar Capparoni as Lorenzo Fabbri (2008 – 2012)
In the 11th season the whole story of Commissioner Rex moves from Vienna to Rome, where Kaspar Capparoni (56) played investigator Lorenzo Fabbri.
He began his career at the age of 18 as a stage actor. This Italian actor appeared in many local television series and films. But people around the world mainly know him for the role of the investigator in the series Commissioner Rex.
He has been passionate about animals since childhood. By coincidence he had a German shepherd named Hella from a young age, who was later trained as a police dog.
