Background
Raab was born in Bergreichenstein, Sudetenland, which is now Kašperské Hory, Czechoslovakian Republic.
Actor screenwriter autobiographer
Raab was born in Bergreichenstein, Sudetenland, which is now Kašperské Hory, Czechoslovakian Republic.
He completed the abitur at Musische Gymnasium Straubing, and studied in Munich.
Raab is best remembered for his work with German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with whom he collaborated on 31 film projects. He made his cinema debut in Fassbinder"s Liebe ist kälter als der Tod (Love Is Colder than Death) in 1969. Over the next few years, he made numerous films with Fassbinder, including Warum läuft Herr R. Amok? (Why Does Herr R Run Amok?) and Der Amerikanische Soldat (The American Soldier) in 1970, Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte (Beware of a Holy Whore) in 1971, and Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (The Merchant of Four Seasons) in 1972.
He also worked as a production designer, assistant director, producer, and a screenwriter.
On 28 June 1988, at age 46, Raab died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome related complications. Before Raab died, he worked to raise awareness about Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in Germany.
In 1987 he discussed his illness in Herbert Achternbusch"s Wohin?, a film about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome-hysteria. In 1988 he made Mitten im Leben, a documentary about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen.
However, the illness remained poorly understood and Raab was placed in quarantine-like conditions in the Hamburg Tropical Institute.
Prejudice about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was also evident when Raab"s body was refused burial in Steinbeißen, the Lower Bavarian town in which his family had settled in 1945. He is buried in Ohlsdorf Cemetery in Hamburg.