Anecdotes

Mother of Benedict Neuenfels

Her father was a Dutch physician named Frans Trissenaar, her mother was Austrian.

Best known on the screen for her role in Fassbinder's film Die Ehe der Maria Braun and in his 14-part miniseries Berlin Alexanderplatz.

Studied at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna from 1962 to 1964 and made her theatrical debut that year in Switzerland at the Stadttheater Bern. Active 1972-76 at the Schauspielhaus Frankfurt in title roles of Medea and Ibsen's Nora and Hedda Gabler.

Trissenaar began her collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder in the 70's, and under his direction she was in works such as The Stationmaster's Wife (Bolwieser, 1977), In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979), and in the television series of Alfred Döblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980).

Between 1972 and 1981, she had great success at the Schauspiel Frankfurt, especially in the roles of Nora Helmer in A Doll's House and in the title role of Hedda Gabler (both plays by Ibsen), as well as Medea by Euripides.

She played leading roles in Robert van Ackeren's films The Other Smile (1978) and Purity of Heart (Die Reinheit des Herzens, 1980), in the Oscar-nominated film Angry Harvest (Bittere Ernte, 1985), and in Xaver Schwarzenberger's Franza (1987).