{{Short description|German director and screenwriter (1933–2023)}} {{Infobox person | name = Rainer Erler | image = Rainer_Erler_resize.jpg | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth-date|26 August 1933}} | birth_place = Munich, Bavaria, Germany | death_date = {{Death-date and age|8 November 2023|26 August 1933}} | death_place = Perth, Western Australia, Australia | other_names = | occupation = Director <br> Screenwriter }}
'''Horst Rainer Erler''' (26 August 1933 – 8 November 2023) was a German director, screenwriter, writer and producer.
== Life and career == Born in Munich, Erler grew up in Solln and entered the film industry as the assistant director of Rudolf Jugert, a role he fulfilled for eight years.<ref name="bio">{{cite news |title=Nachruf: Rainer Erler ist tot |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/rainer-erler-nachruf-1.6300301 |access-date=6 December 2023 |work=Süddeutsche Zeitung |date=8 November 2023 |language=de}}</ref> During his career he directed over 40 feature films and five stage works, and wrote 14 novels and more than two dozen short stories.<ref name="bio2" />
In 1972, Rainer Erler founded the production company Pentagramma with his wife Renate.<ref name="bio" /> He had his international breakout in 1979 with the television thriller film ''Fleisch'', which launched the career of Jutta Speidel, was sold in over 120 countries and even released theatrically in a large number of them.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="bio2">{{cite news |title=Rainer Erler: Filmregisseur ist tot |url=https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/tv/filmregisseur-rainer-erler-ist-tot-a-30a07181-1d80-4a62-8d72-62d541d6348e |access-date=6 December 2023 |work=Der Spiegel |date=9 November 2023 |language=de}}</ref> His films were often characterized by an original mixture of exploitation, science fiction and political themes.<ref name="bio2" />
Active until 2000, during his career Erler received numerous awards and honours, notably the Deutscher Science Fiction Preis and the Federal Cross of Merit.<ref name="bio" /> In his later years he moved to Perth, Australia, where he died on 8 November 2023, at the age of 90.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="bio2" />
==Selected filmography== * ''{{ill|Seelenwanderung|de|Seelenwanderung (Film)}}'' (1962, TV film) * ''Sonderurlaub'' (1963, TV film) * ''The Ringer'' (1963, TV film) — based on the eponymous play by Edgar Wallace<!--Not to be confused with "Der Hexer" (1964, directed by Alfred Vohrer)--> * ''{{ill|Honours for Sale|de|Orden für die Wunderkinder}}'' (1963, TV film) * ''{{ill|Lydia muss sterben|de}}'' (1964, TV film) — based on the novel ''False Bounty'' by {{ill|Stephen Ransome|fr}} * ''{{ill|Das Bohrloch|de|Das Bohrloch oder Bayern ist nicht Texas}}'' (1966, TV film) * ''{{ill|Fast ein Held|de}}'' (1967) * ''Endkampf'' (1968, TV film) * ''{{Ill|Professor Columbus|de}}'' (1968) * ''{{Ill|Der Attentäter|als}}'' (1969, TV film) * ''{{ill|The Delegation (1970 film)|de|3=Die Delegation|lt=The Delegation}}'' (1970, TV film) * ''{{ill|Jan Billbusch|de}}'' (1972, TV series, 16 episodes) * ''Der Amateur'' (1972, TV film) — based on the novel ''Think of a Number'' by Anders Bodelsen * ''Das Blaue Palais'' ({{aka}} ''The Blue Palace'', 1974–1976, TV series, 5 episodes) * ''{{ill|The Garbage Dump|de|Die Halde}}'' ({{aka}} ''The Rubbish Tip'', 1975, TV film) * ''{{ill|The Last Holidays|de|Die letzten Ferien}}'' (1975, TV film) * ''{{ill|Operation Ganymed|de}}'' (1977, TV film) * ''{{ill|Plutonium (film)|de|3=Plutonium (1978)|lt=Plutonium}}'' (1978, TV film) * ''Fleisch'' ({{aka}} ''Spare Parts'', 1979, TV film) * ''A Guru Comes'' ({{aka}} ''Here Comes the Guru'', 1980, TV film) * ''{{ill|Der Spot oder Fast eine Karriere|de}}'' (1981, TV film) * ''{{ill|Das schöne Ende dieser Welt|de}}'' (1984, TV film) * ''Nuclear Conspiracy'' (1986, TV film) * ''{{ill|Sugar (1989 film)|de|3=Zucker – Eine wirklich süße Katastrophe|lt=Sugar}}'' (1989, TV film) * ''{{Ill|The Kaltenbach Papers|de|Die Kaltenbach-Papiere}}'' ({{aka}} ''A Fatal Assignment'', 1991, TV film)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.rainer-erler.com/}} * {{IMDb name}} * {{ISFDB name|145871}}
{{Kurd Laßwitz Award Best Short Fiction}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erler, Rainer}} Category:1933 births Category:2023 deaths Category:People from Munich Category:German film directors Category:German television directors Category:German screenwriters Category:German science fiction writers Category:German male novelists Category:German male short story writers Category:German expatriates in Australia Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany