Background
Carmen-Maja Antoni was born into the chaos that followed the war. Her father, Pedro Antoni, was an artist who left the family scene soon after she was born, leaving the baby with her mother, Ursula Antoni-Orendt, an "all-round artist" who later became a production director with the DFF, East Germany"s national broadcasting corporation.
Education
As soon as she had completed her studies she was hired by Potsdam"s Hans Otto Theatre.
Career
Carmen-Maja made her camera debut when aged eleven, as one of the three "Blue Streaks" in a Young Pioneer Cabaret programme on national television By the time of the successful completion of her final school exams she had already negotiated her way through the admissions process for the Konrad Wolf Film Academy in the Babelsberg quarter of Potsdam. On joining, she became the academy"s youngest student.
Still aged only 18, it was here that in 1964 she appeared as an exceptionally young "Grusche", the heroine in "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" by Bertolt Brecht.
She later took the part of "Minna" in Lessings"s "Minna von Barnhelm". By 1970 Carmen-Maja Antoni had moved on to the People"s Theatre in the centre of Berlin.
Over the years she has played in a very large number of stage plays and films, and her unmistakable voice has also been heard in various radio plays. In addition, she teaches at the Konrad Wolf Film and Television Academy in Babelsberg.
1974: Critics" Prize of the Berliner Zeitung: Best Actress of the year for the role of "Eva" in Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti.