Elke Neidhardt

Elke Neidhardt
Born
Elke Cordelia Neidhart

5 July 1941
Stuttgart, West Germany
Died25 November 2013 (aged 72)
EducationState University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart
Occupation(s)Actress, theatre and opera director
SpouseChristopher Muir (married 1967, divorced 1977)
PartnerNorman Kaye
FamilyFabian Muir (son)

Elke Cordelia Neidhardt AM (5 July 1941  25 November 2013) was a West German born actress and opera and theatre director. She spent most of her career after 1967 in Australia and became an Australian citizen in 2007. She appeared in theatre, television and feature films in Germany, Austria, France and Australia, and directed operas in Zurich, Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Vienna, Cologne and Australia. She is best known in Australia for directing operas with Opera Australia, and most particularly for directing the first full modern Australian production of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, in Adelaide in 2004.