Peter Kraus

One of the first artists to bring American-styled rock & roll to Germany, Peter Kraus was born Peter Siegfried Krausenecker in Munich on March 18, 1939. With both parents interested in music, Kraus began taking singing lessons as a young boy, and in 1954 he made his acting debut in the comedy Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer. More films, generally musically oriented, like Die Freundin Meines Mannes, followed, though Kraus also found fame in the music world, entertaining thousands of young fans across the country as a kind of teen idol. In the 1970s Kraus' popularity diminished, but appearances on German television shows and movies — as well as the release of various greatest-hits compilations and winning of lifetime achievement awards — found the singer experiencing a kind of resurgence as the new millennium began.