Benedix, Roderich (Leipzig, 1811-73, Leipzig), went on the stage at the age of 20, acting in plays and singing tenor parts in opera. In 1855 he became director of the Stadttheater at Frankfurt (Main), and from 1859 to 1861 was theatre director at Cologne and thereafter in Leipzig. He wrote more than 100 plays, well-constructed good-humoured comedies popular in almost all German theatres in the second half of the 19th c. Among the best known were Das bemooste Haupt (1841), Doktor Wespe (1843), Das Gefängnis (1859), Die Dienstboten (1865), Die zärtlichen Verwandten (1866), and Aschenbrödel (1868). He also wrote a novel with a theatrical background, Bilder aus dem Schauspielerleben (1847).