Freddy Quinn

Freddy Quinn
Background Information
Origin	Niederfladnitz, Austria
Birth date	27 September 1931
Death date	N/A
Age	93
Eurovision Song Contest
Country	Germany
Year	1956
Song	So geht das jede Nacht
Semi Position	--
Semi Points	--
Final Position	2nd
Final Points	N/A

Freddy Quinn is an Austrian singer who represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1956 with the song So geht das jede Nacht, finishing in second place.

He was "discovered" in St. Pauli, Hamburg, and was offered his first recording contract in 1954. His first hit record was "Heimweh" ("Homesickness", a.k.a. "Brennend heißer Wüstensand", "Dort wo die Blumen blüh'n" and "Schön war die Zeit", (1956), a German version of Dean Martin's "Memories Are Made of This". It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.

Other hits, often with him simply billed as Freddy, followed: "Die Gitarre und das Meer" (1959), "Unter fremden Sternen" (1959), "Irgendwann gibt's ein Wiedersehn" (1960), "La Paloma" (1961), "Junge, komm bald wieder" (1963). His 1964 offering "Vergangen, vergessen, vorueber" was another million selling release.

His popularity waned in the 1970s, but Quinn continued performing. "Junge, komm bald wieder" was sung by Alpay on 7 Dilde Alpay ("In Seven Languages Alpay" in Turkish) album, which was released in 1973.

Starting in the late 1950s, Quinn also acted in several movies, again frequently cast as the seafaring loner. Titles include "Freddy, die Gitarre und das Meer" (1959), "Freddy unter fremden Sternen" (1959), "Freddy und das Lied der Südsee" (1962), and "Heimweh nach St. Pauli" (1963). Subsequently, Quinn also performed on the stage in such diverse roles as Prince Orlofsky in "Die Fledermaus", the king in "The King and I", and Lord Fancourt Babberly in "Charley's Aunt".

Quinn was also an accomplished circus performer who stunned television audiences as a tightrope walker, performing live and without a safety net. On another occasion, which was also televised, he rode a lion inside a circus cage while the lion was balancing atop a moving surface.