Günther Maria Halmer (1943-2026) can be seen in his final film role on Das Erste Friday evening at 8:15 p.m. The Bavarian film star died on May 10, 2026, after a serious battle with cancer. He was 83 years old. In the tragicomedy "Servus Eddie - Spätes Glück", he plays the homeless man Adam Einmiller, who has just pocketed the collection from a church. This marks the end of a career that encompassed more than 180 film and television roles, plus a long series of theater engagements.
One of his colleagues in this film is Jutta Speidel (72), who knew Halmer for almost four decades. "With him, one of the truly great ones has left us - and there are fewer and fewer who are still here", the actress said in an interview with the Munich daily newspaper "tz" about her late colleague. She also remembered actor Mario Adorf (1930-2026), who had died in Paris just days before Halmer: "Right now, an entire guard of wonderful, magnificent people is leaving. It makes me sad."
What "Servus Eddie - Spätes Glück" is about
"Servus Eddie - Spätes Glück" tells the story of Eddie Kolozecik (Maximilian Brückner), a patrol officer who thinks he's the sheriff of Munich and roams through the Isar metropolis with a Smith & Wesson on his hip. Because his boldness cost him a position in the higher service, he wants to fight his way back up: with unpaid extra shifts before his regular duty and a trap he sets in plain clothes for two completely harmless small-time dealers.
The bust falls apart when Eddie collides with an old man - Adam. In the collision, his service weapon is lost, and a witness (Marlene Morreis) turns the mishap into serious professional trouble. So the police officer takes care of Adam to minimize the damage. The fact that his mother Maria (Jutta Speidel) already knows the senior citizen is not part of his plan...
Plenty of Munich Talent
The film was directed by Felix Karolus, who wrote the screenplay together with Putzi von Adamo. The network praises the production as a pointedly written tragicomedy that combines turbulent twists with touching moments against a Munich backdrop. In addition to Halmer, Brückner, and Speidel, the cast includes Gerhard Wittmann, Kathrin von Steinburg, Stefan Betz, and Luca Verhoeven as a neighbor with a baby, among others. Wolfgang Aichholzer was the cinematographer, and Andrej Melita composed the music.
Speidel believes the material has more potential than just a single television evening. "Actually, the story has potential for its own series", she said. Whether anything will come of it remains to be seen. The film is already available to watch on the ARD Mediathek.
