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Percy Adlon is best known for his film "Bagdad Cafe," also known as "Out of Rosenheim." Born on June 1, 1935, in Munich, he is the son of Paul Rudolf Laubenthal, a renowned opera singer, and Susanne Adlon. He was raised in Ammerland/Starnbergersee in the Bavarian countryside. Adlon studied art and theater history, as well as German literature, at Munich's Ludwig-Maximilian University. He also took acting and singing classes and participated in a student theater group. Beginning his professional career as an actor, he developed an interest in radio, working as a narrator and editor for literary series and serving as a presenter and voice-over actor on television for ten years.
In 1970, Adlon directed his first short film for Bavarian Television, followed by over 150 documentaries focusing on art and the human experience. His first hour-long portrait, "Tomi Ungerer's Landleben," marked the start of a fruitful collaboration with Benigna von Keyserlingk, who became the producer for Adlon's documentaries and feature films.
In 1978, Percy and Eleonore Adlon founded their film production company, pelemele FILM GmbH. Their debut project was the docu-drama "The Guardian and his Poet," about Swiss poet Robert Walser, which earned two Adolf-Grimme Awards in Gold for best writer/director and best actor. Their first feature film, "Celeste," garnered international attention at Cannes in 1981. The 1987 film "Bagdad Cafe" initiated a partnership with Dietrich v. Watzdorf of Bayerischer Rundfunk. The story of Jasmin Münchgstettner and café owner Brenda became an emblem of friendship and warmth, cherished worldwide. Marianne Sägebrecht, whom Adlon discovered in 1979, rose to cult status, and Bob Telson's song "Calling You" became a classic.
Percy and Eleonore Adlon reside in Pacific Palisades, California, collaborating with their son Felix. They produced Felix's first feature film, "Eat Your Heart Out" (1997), through their US company Leora Films. Felix also starred in the Adlons' docu-fantasy "The Glamorous World of the Adlon Hotel," which received a Bavarian TV award.
Starting in 1997, Percy Adlon embraced digital filmmaking. He created a three-hour special on draftsman Tomi Ungerer for ARTE; filmed Mozart's "Magic Flute" featuring contemporary Berlin; documented Esa-Pekka Salonen and the LA Philharmonic; produced 22 short films inspired by lesser-known works of Johann Strauss Jr.; crafted a 90-minute film titled "Mein München," reflecting on his past and present relationship with his hometown; and completed his tenth feature film, "Hawaiian Gardens," along with the documentary "Koenig's Sphere," which tells the story of the monumental World Trade Center sculpture damaged but not destroyed during the 9/11 attacks.
Honoring his theatrical roots, in 2002 Adlon directed Donizetti's "Elisir d'Amore" at the State Opera Unter den Linden in Berlin, followed by the world premiere of Wilfried Hiller's opera "Wolkenstein" at the State Opera Nürnberg in March 2004.
Recent projects by Percy and Eleonore Adlon include their own stage adaptation of "Bagdad Cafe" as a musical, with music by Bob Telson, which premiered on July 6, 2004, at the Barcelona Teatre Musical. In 2007, they completed "Orbela's People," a documentary capturing life with a Maasai family in Ngorongoro, Tanzania.
Percy Adlon has been honored with the Officer's Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Bavarian Order of Merit. He is also a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
