80th birthday

Klinger: Women were talking dolls on ORF

Eva Maria Klinger

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

For older Austrians, Eva Maria Klinger has the status of a television legend. As one of the first "announcers" on Austrian screens, she achieved almost 100 percent popularity. 

Shortly before her 80th birthday on August 8, which she will spend with her son and his family on the French Atlantic coast, the cultural journalist looked back on her life. She was always seen as "blonde and sweet" and that still bothers her today. 

"Blonde and hearty" speaking doll
"When I won this voice actress competition on June 27, 1967, which was run by Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, I was a nice, young, obviously relatively telegenic girl of 22. Soon I was always seen as blonde and cute," she told APA, adding: "Of course that bothered me because I thought I wasn't just cute, I could also think and talk. But nobody at ORF was interested in that back then."

Back then, women at ORF were either cleaners, secretaries or talking puppets. "We weren't even allowed to write the lyrics ourselves, we had to learn the few sentences we were given by heart. That was the beginning of the so-called great popularity, because television was important back then. All around, men were responsible for everything."

Studying didn't change anything
She thought to herself: "Now I'll finish my degree and when I'm a doctor, everyone will treat me with a little more respect. Then I did my doctorate in the summer of 1970 - and nothing changed. That was only the case in the course of the 1970s with the women's movement. The ORF was simply a reflection of society. That's nothing against Gerd Bacher, whom I held in high esteem. Of the five general directors and the one female general director I had, he was the most important ..."

Eva Maria Klinger

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

"Achtung Kultur" and "K 1"
In addition to her work as an announcer, she also worked at Studio Wien. "One of my teachers was Max Eissler (1929-2002, note). I was allowed to make my first television reports with him. But I actually wanted to work in the culture department and also made cultural reports at Studio Wien - for example about the preservation of the old town on Spittelberg." After proving herself as a feature writer, she moved to the cultural department of radio station Ö1 in 1984. "I stayed there for almost eight years and learned a lot in a very pleasant and relevant atmosphere."

In 1992, she moved back to television, presenting the magazines "Achtung Kultur" and "K 1" and creating numerous reports, documentaries and portraits - for example about Claus Peymann and Klaus Maria Brandauer. In 2015, a few months after his death, she dedicated the insightful biography "Nie am Ziel" to the actor and theater director Helmuth Lohner. As a reporter, theater was her passion - which she incorporated into her many years as a juror for the Nestroy Theater Prize as well as into her "JosefStadtgespräche", which she has held once a month with artists from the Theater in der Josefstadt since 2006.

The passionate golfer will be spending her birthday on the French Atlantic coast with her son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. As a "sporty active vacation", she assures us. Also to get fit for the next theater season.