Biographie
Kabel got into theater almost by chance. In 1932, a friend accompanied her to the audition at the Niederdeutsche Bühne, the forerunner of the later famous Ohnsorg Theater, in Hamburg. This led to a commitment for her, after which she took acting lessons. In the same year she had her stage premiere with the play "Ralves Carstens". Her previous dream of becoming a pianist was quickly forgotten. In 1937, Kabel married the actor and director Hans Mahler, who ten years later took over the management of the Ohnsorg Theater and promoted his wife's career. Her marriage to Mahler resulted in three children: sons Jan Rasmus Mahler (1938) and Heiko Mahler (1942) and daughter Heidi Mahler (1944), who also became an actress at the Ohnsorg Theater.
From 1954 onwards, Heidi Kabel made numerous television broadcasts from the Ohnsorg Theater, through which she became popular and experienced her breakthrough as a successful actress. Her greatest successes included the leading roles in the plays "The Most Beautiful Man from the Reeperbahn" from 1974 and "Fairground Stories" from 1983. In addition to numerous TV appearances, Kabel also appeared in the amusing TV series "Aunt Tilly" from 1987 and in the TV series "Campingpark" from 1990. Meanwhile, Kabel has already appeared in around 100 television appearances, for which she was awarded the most prestigious German media awards. Her awards include the 1967 "Golden Screen", 1982 "Silver Mask" from the Ohnsorg Theater, 1983 "Richard Ohnsorg Prize", 1984 "Biermann-Ratjen Medal", 1984 "Bambi", 1985 "Golden Camera" , in 1986 "Silver Laurel Leaf" from the Dramatists' Union and in 1994 she was appointed honorary commissioner of the Hamburg police.
In 2000, Kabel could look back on 60 years of successful stage experience. As an actress and personality, she developed into a Hamburg legend. In 2003, at the age of 89, her health deteriorated. She moved to a retirement home in Hamburg-Othmarschen. A year later, in autumn 2004, she was awarded the "Bambi" for her life's work.
Heidi Kabel died on June 15, 2010 at the age of 95 in a retirement home.
