), is a German musician, songwriter, actor and author, best known for being the drummer and one of the singers of punk rock band Die Ärzte.
[3] He then worked in a warehouse for a short time before beginning a three-year apprenticeship as a window-dresser for the department store Hertie.
Bela B first played in the short-lived Soilent Grün before co-founding Die Ärzte in 1982 with singer/guitarist Farin Urlaub and bassist Hans Runge.
The band was later renamed Depp Jones, named after a character in the German version of the comic book series Lucky Luke.
Their 1990 debut LP, Return to Caramba!, failed to capitalise on the popularity of Die Ärzte, and its follow-ups Welcome to Hell and At 2012 A.D. did even worse.
Farin Urlaub's new band, King Køng, also struggled, and in 1993 he and Bela B agreed to reform Die Ärzte, with former Depp Jones guitarist Rodrigo González joining them on bass.
However, he generally plays sitting down in the studio, and also performed seated during the Rock'n'Roll Realschule concert and at times during the "Jenseits der Grenze des Zumutbaren" ("Beyond the Reasonable Limit") and "Unrockstar" tours.
Bela B was the owner of the Leipzig comic book publisher Extrem Erfolgreich Enterprises (Extremely Successful Enterprises), which published horror comic books, including German versions of independent series such as "Faust" and "Satanika".
In 1985, Bela portrayed one of the main characters in Richy Guitar [de], a film about an aspiring rock band which also starred his Die Ärzte bandmates Farin Urlaub and Hans Runge.
More recently, Bela played the lead role of concentration camp prisoner Hans Steinbrück in the 2004 film Edelweiss Pirates.
Bela's voice-over work includes the voice of Clay in the German version of the MTV cartoon television series Free for All.
His work also includes several audio dramas, such as Faust vs. Mephisto alongside Thomas D from the German band Die Fantastischen Vier and the audiobook Venus in Furs with actress Catherine Flemming.
In 2004, he completed the 20 km event in the 26th Ahrensburg Lümmellauf and the Dracula Transylvania Marathon from Sighişoara to Mediaş, Romania.