Anke Christina Fischer ( Engelke; born 21 December 1965) is a German comedian, actress, voice-actress, and television presenter.
Personal life Born in Montreal, Canada, Engelke moved to Cologne, Germany in 1971 with her German parents. Early on, she exhibited singing talent, and was discovered in 1978 by Georg Bossert at a performance of her school's choir.
From 1994 to 2000, Engelke was married to the keyboardist Andreas Grimm with whom she has a daughter. She was married to musician Claus Fischer from 2005 to 2015, with whom she has two sons.
Career From 1979 to 1986, she was the presenter of the daily children's television show broadcast from the Funkausstellung (a German radio exhibition, held every other year in Berlin), and the weekly children and youth's sports magazine show Pfiff. From 1978 to 1980, she hosted the show Moment mal (Wait a minute) on RTL. SWF3 first brought her on board in 1986 as an editor; later on, she was the presenter there until 1998. She has sung with Fred Kellner und die famosen Soul Sisters since 1989. Since 1993, she has been part of the SWF3-Comedy-Ensemble Gagtory.
From 1996 to 2000, she was part of Die Wochenshow on Sat.1, a rather famous comedy TV show in Germany at that time, alongside Bastian Pastewka, Ingolf Lück and Marco Rima.
In 2003, Engelke and Olli Dittrich were awarded the Grimme-Preis for the improv show Blind Date 2 – Taxi nach Schweinau.
In December 2003, Engelke provided the voice of Dory in the German dubbing of the animated film Finding Nemo, which is voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in the English original. She also provided the voice of Jane Porter in the German dubbing of the Disney movie Tarzan, who is voiced by Minnie Driver in the original version.
Engelke can also be seen in the successful sketch comedy show Ladykracher on Sat.1. On 17 May 2004, when the very successful Die Harald Schmidt Show left Sat.1, Engelke took over its timeslot with Anke Late Night, which was cancelled due to low ratings a few months later on 21 October 2004.
Engelke has been the German voice of Marge Simpson on The Simpsons since her predecessor Elisabeth Volkmann died in the summer of 2006. Elisabeth Volkmann was Marge's German voice for 15 years until her death. Engelke's first episode was "My fair Laddy", which aired in Germany on 21 January 2007.
In December 2009, she hosted the European Film Awards ceremony, a role she would repeat in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
In May 2011, she hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf alongside Stefan Raab and Judith Rakers.
The following year, Engelke served as the spokesperson for Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Before presenting the votes, she also gave a live statement on the human-rights issues in the hosting country, saying: "Tonight nobody could vote for their own country. But it is good to be able to vote. And it is good to have a choice. Good luck on your journey, Azerbaijan. Europe is watching you." She was the only spokesperson to articulately address human rights during the event. She had also served as one of Germany's national juries for the contest during that year.
In February 2013, her involvement with the Eurovision Song Contest continued as she hosted Unser Song für Malmö, the German national final.
Filmography
Film Year Film Role Notes 2000 Christine 2001 Der Schuh des Manitu Abahachi and Winnetouch's mother (extended edition) The Little Polar Bear Mutter Eisbär (voice) 2003 Veronica Rell Just Get Married! Ina Finding Nemo Dory Voice (German dub) 2004 Germanikus Senator's wife Der Wixxer Doris Dubinsky 2005 Helena Stokowski The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island Iguanita/Frieda(voice) 2006 Urmel aus dem Eis Wutz The Trip to Panama Fish2007 The Simpsons Movie Marge Simpson Vollidiot Owl 2008 Urmel voll in Fahrt Wutz (voice) Freche Mädchen Mila's mother 2009 Lippels Traum Frau Jakob / Böse Tante 2010 Mila's mother2015 Frau Müller muss weg! Jessica Höfel Ghosthunters on Icy Trails Hetty Cuminseed2017 Happy Burnout Alexandra Nur ein Tag (voice) 2018 The Most Beautiful Girl in the World Cyril's mother 2021 My Son Marlene 2022 Locked-in Society Heidi Lohmann 2023 The Interpreter of Silence Edith Bruhns
Mini Series Year Film Role Notes 2025 Boah Bahn! Tina Bowermann a Mini Series made by Deutsche Bahn posted on Social Media in Cooperation with Anke Engelke
Songs Year Song name Role Notes Producer Published by 2025 Der Bahn Song Tina Bowermann a Song made by Deutsche Bahn in Cooperation with Anke Engelke for the Mini Series "Boah Bahn!" Score Squad wtf GmbH
Television Year Film Role Notes 1996-2000 Die Wochenshow Host and sketches German Television Award for Best Entertainment Program shared with Ingolf Lück, Bastian Pastewka, Markus Maria Profitlich, Ralf Guenther and Josef Ballerstaller (1999)German Comedy Award for Best Comedy/Variety Show shared with Josef Ballerstaller, Rainer Bender, Ralf Guenther, Ingolf Lück, Bastian Pastewka and Marco Rima (1999)Goldene Kamera-Audience Camera (1999)Adolf Grimme Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement (1999) 1997 Tatort Anke Episode: "Tod im All" 1998 ...und im Keller gärt es Episodes: "Umbau", "Klapsmühle", "Prinz" 2001 Blind Date Yvonne 2000-2001 Anke Anke German Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian (2000–2001) 2002 Blind Date 2 – Taxi nach Schweinau Ruth Bavarian TV Award shared with Olli Dittrich (2003)Adolf Grimme Award in Gold for Fiction/Entertainment shared with Olli Dittrich (2003)Nominated-German Television Award for Best Comedy Program shared with Olli Dittrich (2002) Blind Date 3 – Der fünfbeinige Elefant Constanze Pillmann 2002-2010 Ladykracher Various Roles German Television Award for Best Comedy Program (2002, 2011)German Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian (2002)German Comedy Award for Best Comedy/Variety Show shared Ralf Guenther and Josef BallerstallerGolden Rose for Best Performance – Comedy – Female (2004)Nominated-German Comedy Award for Best Comedian (2003)Nominated-Goldene Kamera for Best Entertainment Show (2009) 2003 Lindenstraße Conny / Moderatorin Episode: "Heldentum" Blind Date 4 – London, Moabit Caroline 2004 Blind Date 5 – Blaues Geheimnis Sonja Mette Anke Late Night Host and sketches 43 episodes 2005 Blind Date 6 – Tanzen verboten Elke 2006-2007 LadyLand Andrea Steinkamp / various other roles 11 episodes 2006-2009 Pastewka Anke Engelke 3 episodes 2007–present The Simpsons Marge Simpson German voice 2007 Fröhliche Weihnachten Anneliese / Mario Barth / Nina Hagen / Shakira / various other roles German Comedy Award for Best Comedy Event shared with Bastian Pastewka (2008)Bavarian TV Award shared with Bastian Pastewka (2008)Adolf Grimme Award for Entertainment shared with Bastian Pastewka (2008)Nominated-German Television Award for Best Comedy shared with Bastian Pastewka (2008) 2007-2010 Komissarin Lucas Rike 8 episodes 2008 Mitternachtsspitzen Amy Winehouse / Frau Schmickler Episode: "20 Jahre Mitternachtsspitzen"2009 Fröhliche Weihnachten II Various roles 22nd European Film Awards Host 2010 23rd European Film Awards Host with Märt Avandi2011 Fröhlicher Frühling Various roles Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Host with Stefan Raab and Judith Rakers German Television Award for Best Entertainment Program (2011) 24th European Film Awards2012 Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Herself Spokesperson presenting German votes. National jury for Germany. 25th European Film Awards Host2013 Unser Song für Malmö Host Anke hat Zeit Host Originally titled Helge hat Zeit and presented by Helge Schneider who terminated his version of the show after 2 episodes2018Deutschland 86Barbara Dietrich7 episodes2020The Last WordKarla Fazius6 episodes
Video games Year Game Voice role Notes 2007 The Simpsons Game Marge Simpson German voice
Audiobooks 2009: Heike Faller: Wie ich einmal versuchte, reich zu werden, publisher: Random House Audio, 2013: Felix Salten: Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde, publisher: tacheles,
References
External links
Brainpool's Anke Engelke page (in German) Article on sbznet.de: "Late-Night-Talk: Anke macht's für Harald" (23 December 2003) (in German)
Zeit (14/2004) Interview with Anke Engelke at the beginning of her Late-Night-Show (in German) Zeit (01/2005) Interview with Anke Engelke near the end of her Late-Night-Show (in German) Anke Engelke: Interview(Germany) Anke Engelke at the German Dubbing Card Index (in German)