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- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Sandra Hüller was born in Suhl. She studied acting at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. For her performance of Anneliese Michel in Hans-Christian Schmid's drama Requiem she won The Silver Bear for Best Actress. She is internationally known for her starring role in Maren Ade's Toni Erdmann, for which she won among others the European Film Award and the Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress.- With a strong body of work in her native Germany, Antje broke out into the international marketplace in Zack Snyder's Superman retelling, "Man of Steel" as the villainess, "Faora". Other credits include Renny Harlin's "5 Days of August", Warner Brothers' "The Seventh Son", Simon Curtis's "The Woman in Gold" with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds and Ariel Vroman's "Criminal" with Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman and Tommy Lee Jones. Antje has most recently been seen in Stephen Poliakoff's "Close to the Enemy" for the BBC, the Sky/Amazon pilot, "Oasis" and the hit Netflix series "Dark" which has just shot it's second series which will air in summer 2019. Antje can next be seen playing the lead role in the limited series "Dead End" and in the feature "Blame Game" which opened the Max Ophuls Film Festival.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Grimme-Preis award winner, Matthias Schweighöfer, is one of Germany's most successful actors and is quickly becoming an international phenomenon.
Schweighöfer was most recently seen in Christopher Nolan's film, "Oppenheimer," Netflix's "Heart of Stone" opposite Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan and "The Swimmers" for director Sally El Hosaini. Upcoming, Schweighöfer will be seen in Netflix's "Family Switch" opposite Jennifer Garner and "Girl You Know It's True," a film based on the incredible story of the R&B duo Milli Vanilli.
A talented multi-hyphenate, Schweighöfer also discovered his love for being behind the camera and has gone on to direct multiple projects. In addition, he founded his production company, Pantaleon Film, with his producing partner Dan Maag which continues to be one of Germany's preeminent production companies.
Born behind the Berlin wall, Schweighöfer's last 10 films have all reached #1 at the German Box office. He is best known for his films "Der Geilste Tag," "Der Nanny," "100 Dinge" and "Vaterfreuden," and his first English speaking role and international film, "Valkyrie" alongside Tom Cruise and Kenneth Branagh.
Schweighöfer has continued working on international projects and produced, directed and stared in the first German-language Amazon Original Series "You Are Wanted." The series launched in over 200 countries and in 6 different languages. He also starred in and produced "Resistance" for IFC Films which also stars Jessie Eisenberg, Ed Harris and Edgar Ramirez.
Most recently, Schweighöfer Directed, Produced, and Starred in "Army of Thieves," the prequel Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead," in which he also starred in. "Army of the Dead" was viewed in over 72 million households and quickly became one of Netflix's most viewed film of all time, and "Army of Thieves" became the Number 1 film on Netflix in 90-plus countries during its first week.- Actor
- Soundtrack
- Music Artist
Christian Friedel was born on 9 March 1979 in Magdeburg, East Germany [now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany]. He is an actor and music artist, known for The Zone of Interest (2023), 13 Minutes (2015) and Babylon Berlin (2017).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Armin Mueller-Stahl is a German actor with a relatively long film career. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role as an abusive father in the biographical drama "Shine" (1996).
In 1930, Mueller-Stahl was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. The town developed around the castle of Schalauer Haus, which had been founded by the Teutonic Knights. Tilsit was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945, and renamed to Sovetsk. It is currently part of the Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia located in Central Europe. The town is located close to the Oblast's borders with Lithuania, and has long had an ethnic Lithuanian minority.
Mueller-Stahl's father was bank teller Alfred Müller (who later changed the family name to Mueller-Stahl) ,and his mother was university professor Editha Maaß. Editha was born to a Baltic German family from Estonia. During World War I, the Maaß lived in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg). They moved to Tilsit in 1918.
Mueller-Stahl was born in Germany's Weimar Republic period, and spend his childhood and early adolescence in Nazi Germany. In 1938, he moved with his family to the town of Prenzlau in Brandenburg. During World War II, Mueller-Stahl parted with his father. Alfred was drafted into military service, and later fought on the Eastern Front of World War II. In 1945, Alfred died in a military hospital in Schönberg , Mecklenburg.
In 1945, Editha briefly moved her family to Goorstorf, located near Rostock, the largest city of Mecklenburg. They returned to Prenzlau following the end of World War II. Armin continued his school education there. He graduated from school in 1948, at the age of 18.
Mueller-Stahl initially aspired to become a professional violinist. In 1948, he moved to Berlin. There he attended the city conservatory in West Berlin, where he studied violin playing and musicology. He graduated in 1949, and acquired qualifications to work as a music teacher. At this point, he decided to become an actor instead.
After a few years of studies, Mueller-Stahl made his professional debut at the "Theater am Schiffbauerdamm" of Berlin in 1952. In 1954, he started performing in the Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") , a prestigious theater in East Berlin. For the next 20 years, he was primarily a theatrical actor. During the 1960s, he started a side career as a character actor in East German films. By the 1970s, he repeatedly appeared in polls as East Germany's most popular actor.
From 1973 to 1976, Mueller-Stahl played the Stasi agent Werner Bredebusch in the spy thriller television series "The Invisible Visor" (1973-1979). Bredebusch was initially the series' main character, a Stasi agent who impersonates deceased fighter pilot Achim Detjen and infiltrates West Germany. The series achieved high ratings, and Mueller-Stahll received acclaim. He left the series in 1976, and its ratings soon declined.
In 1976, Mueller-Stahl signed an open letter, protesting against East Germany's decision to exile singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann (1936-). Consequenly, Mueller-Stahl found himself blacklisted in East Germany. After a few years of being unable to find roles in his country, Mueller-Stahl migrated to West Germany.
In 1981, Mueller-Stahl played Von Bohm, the male lead in the romantic drama "Lola" (1981). The film depicted Von Bohm as a building commissioner who struggles against widespread corruption in the town of Coburg, while falling in love with brothel-employed singer Lola (played by Barbara Sukowa). Following the film's relative success, Mueller-Stahl found steady work in West German cinema throughout the 1980s.
Although he barely spoke English at this point of his life, Mueller-Stahl was cast as General Petya Samanov in the American television miniseries Amerika. The dystopian series depicted a version of the United States which was under Soviet military occupation, and in which Soviet general Samanov is the de facto ruler of the occupied country. "Amerika" was the second-highest rated miniseries of the 1986-87 U.S. television season.
Mueller-Stahl decided to to seek more acting roles in the United States, and made his American film debut in the crime drama "Music Box" (1989). He was cast in the role of Mike Laszlo, a Hungarian-American family man, who is exposed as a wanted war criminal who killed numerous civilians during the Siege of Budapest (1944-1945). The film won the "Golden Bear" at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.
Mueller-Stahl next received the primary role of Polish-Jewish immigrant Sam Krichinsky in the family drama "Avalon" (1990). The film concerned the gradual assimilation of Krichinsky's family into modern American culture. The film was critically praised, and its screenwriter won the "Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay".
In 1991, Mueller-Stahl played the role of Inspector Grubach in the mystery thriller "Kafka". The film depicted a conspiracy in 1910s Prague, and was loosely inspired by the works of Franz Kafka (1883-1924). The film under-performed at the box office, but gained a cult following.
During the same year, Mueller-Stahl played New York City-based taxi driver Helmut Grokenberger in the anthology film "Night on Earth". In the film, Helmut is an East German immigrant in the United States. He is a former professional clown, whose ineptness as a driver and ignorance of New York geography make him ill-suited for his new profession. The film was critically well-received.
In 1992, Mueller-Stahl played Meissen porcelain collector Baron Kaspar Joachim von Utz in the eponymous film "Utz". The film was an adaptation of a 1988 novel by Bruce Chatwin (1940-1989), concerning a passionate collector and his unwillingness to part with his collection, even at the offer of a better life abroad. For this role, Mueller-Stahl won the "Silver Bear for Best Actor" at the 42nd Berlin International Film Festival.
In 1996, Mueller-Stahl played Peter, the abusive father of concert pianist David Helfgott (1947-). The film concerns the negative effects of long-term physical and mental abuse of David by his father. Mueller-Stahl's role was critically praised, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The award was instead won by rival actor Cuba Gooding Jr. (1968-).
In 1998, Mueller-Stahl played German scientist Conrad Strughold in the science fiction film "The X-Files", a spin-off of the then-popular television series "The X-Files" (1993-2002, 2016-2018). In the film, Strughold is a member of the Syndicate, a shadow government which collaborates with extraterrestrial would-be colonists. The film was a box-office hit, earning 189 million dollars at the worldwide box office.
In 2007, Mueller-Stahl played Semyon, a high-ranking member of the Russian mafia, in the gangster film "Eastern Promises". The film was critically praised, and appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.Mueller-Stahl won the "Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role".
In 2009, Mueller-Stah played former Stasi colonel Wilhelm Wexler in the action thriller "The International". In the film, Wexler works with a merchant bank that has secret ties to drug cartels, powerful corporations, corrupt governments, and terrorist organizations,. The film earned about 60 million dollars at the worldwide box office, and was considered notable for drawing inspiration from real-world banking scandals of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Also in 2009, Mueller-Stahl portrayed Cardinal Strauss, Dean of the College of Cardinals and the Papal Conclave, in the mystery thriller "Angels & Demons". The film was an adaptation of a 2000 novel by Dan Brown (1964-). It concerns the assassination of fictional Pope Pius XVI, and a conspiracy trying to influence the election of his successor. The film earned about 486 million dollars at the worldwide box office, the highest-grossing film in Mueller-Stah's career.
In 2011, Mueller-Stahl received the "Honorary Golden Bear" at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. His only film role in the 2010s was playing Fr. Zeitlinger in the experimental film "Knight of Cups ". The film uses images from tarot cards as a main theme, while elements of the plot were inspired by the "Hymn of the Pearl" (2nd century) and the "The Pilgrim's Progress" (1678) by John Bunyan.
By 2021, Mueller-Stahl was 90-years-old. He lives in semi-retirement in California, where he enjoys its pleasant climate. He has written a number of novels and short stories, and has taken painting as a hobby.- Actress
- Writer
Her father was a Prussian count (Count von Lehndorff-Steinort) who was involved in a plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944 and hanged that year, when Vera was three. Her mother was arrested, and Vera and her sisters spent the rest of the war in Gestapo camps. They were reunited with their mother after the war, but the family was destitute, and ostracised by other Germans for their father's treachery. She ended up studying textile design in Florence, where a fashion designer first asked her to model. She had first travelled to New York in 1961 as plain old Vera, but failed to secure a single booking. After retreating to Milan for a spell, she returned to take Manhattan under her new name.... Veruschka!- Actor
- Director
Ulrich Mühe was born on 20 June 1953 in Grimma, East Germany. He was an actor and director, known for The Lives of Others (2006), Funny Games (1997) and Der letzte Zeuge (1998). He was married to Susanne Lothar, Jenny Gröllmann and Annegret Hahn. He died on 22 July 2007 in Walbeck, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.- Sylvester Groth was born in Jerichow, German Democratic Republic on March 31st, 1958. He is an actor with an extensive television and theater career, well known for portraying Goebbels in Inglourious Basterds (2009), Clausen in Dark (2019) and starring in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Stalingrad (1993) and Deutschland 83 (2015).
- Actress
- Director
- Additional Crew
Katharina Thalbach was born on 19 January 1954 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress and director, known for The Tin Drum (1979), Der Minister (2013) and I've Never Been to New York (2019). She is married to Uwe Hamacher.- Actor
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Alexander Scheer, born in the GDR 1976 in East-Berlin is considered one of the most daring actors of his generation. His passion for film and music was sparked during his camera debut in kids musical "Bill of the Black Hand" in 1988. Ten years later his first lead in "Sun Alley" (which turned out to be the first box office smash about life behind the iron curtain) made Scheer popular in reunified Germany overnight. He joined the ensemble of Europe's most influential theater at the time; the Volksbühne Berlin, improved his craft for a decade and was honored "Actor of the Year" in 2009. On the big screen his portrait of a top terrorist in Golden Globe winning "Carlos" (2010) was a kick-off for several portrayals of world famous personalities: among others Scheer played the iconic characters Keith Richards, Friedrich Nietzsche, Andy Warhol and David Bowie. For his fascinating portrait of east German coal miner and songwriter "Gundermann" ( 8 German Film Awards including "Best Director" and "Best Picture 2019" ) Alexander Scheer performed all songs himself and was awarded "Best Actor in a Leading Role".- Actor
- Producer
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Hentschel worked in London as a professional backup dancer for artists such as Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Paulina Rubio, Jamelia and others. Later he was hired as a choreographer and worked on many music videos and tours in Canada and Asia.In 2003, Falk decided to stay in Los Angeles for good and pursue his dream of becoming an actor. He made his acting debut in the Emmy Award-winning show Arrested Development in 2005. Small parts in Journeyman and numerous low-budget films followed. In 2008, Hentschel decided to create his own projects and wrote the short film Who is Bobby Domino, where he met his production partner Jesse Grace. The two of them went on to write and produce more short films, of which many entered some of the most prestigious film festivals in the world and won numerous accolades. In 2009, Falk landed his first big-budget feature film role as Bernhard the assassin, co-starring next to Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in Knight and Day. The following year, Falk played the role of drug addict Richard Conway on TNT's The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick. In 2011, Hentschel played opposite singer Justin Bieber in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Targets of Obsession". He also starred in the NCIS: Los Angeles episode "Archangel". In August, 2015, it was announced that Hentschel will portray the Carter Hall version of Hawkman in the 2016 show DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and also Arrow and The Flash.- Actress
- Producer
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Katarina Witt was born on 3 December 1965 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress and producer, known for Ronin (1998), Jerry Maguire (1996) and Carmen on Ice (1990).- Actress
- Producer
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Nora Tschirner was born on 12 June 1981 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress and producer, known for Rabbit Without Ears (2007), Tatort (1970) and Kebab Connection (2004).- Deborah Kaufmann was born on 23 March 1970 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress, known for Jailbirds (1996), Dark (2017) and Die Deutschen (2008).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
With his lanky frame, big nose, toothbrush moustache and horn-rimmed glasses he looked like someone had decided to cross Groucho Marx with Albert Einstein. The perennial scene-stealer Felix Bressart had two distinct careers as a comic actor: an earlier one, on stage and screen in his native Germany, and a later -- even more prosperous one -- in Hollywood. Trained under Maria Moissi in Berlin, Felix began acting professionally after World War I. He honed his skills in the genres of political parody, musical comedy and slapstick farce in the theatres of Hamburg, Berlin and Vienna (with Max Reinhardt). By 1933, he had established his film acting credentials in popular mainstream movies like Three from the Filling Station (1930) and Die Privatsekretärin (1931). Like so many other distinguished actors he was forced to leave the German realm after the Nazis took power in 1933. Felix moved via Switzerland and France to a new domicile in the United States where his connections to fellow émigrés like Joe Pasternak and Ernst Lubitsch guaranteed him rapid and steady employment.
In Hollywood, Felix joined the regular company of stock players at MGM. He was immediately typecast, his stock-in-trade being disheveled academics, wistful European philosophers, scientists and music professors of diverse ethnicity. His first major screen success was as one of the Russian commissars in Lubitsch's Ninotchka (1939), a delightful performance which spawned as similar part being created for him in Comrade X (1940). The role which ultimately defined his career, in equal parts comedy and pathos, was in the classic wartime satire To Be or Not to Be (1942), as Greenberg, a Jewish member of an acting troupe with Carole Lombard and Jack Benny. It seemed, that Felix was still underemployed in films, since he managed to practise as a doctor of medicine on the side. Sadly, he died of leukemia in 1949 at the untimely age of 57.- Ronald Zehrfeld was born on 15 January 1977 in East Berlin, East Germany. He is an actor, known for Barbara (2012), The People Vs. Fritz Bauer (2015) and In the Face of Crime (2010).
- Felix Kramer was born on 23 March 1973 in East Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for Dogs of Berlin (2018), Dark (2017) and Freies Land (2019).
- Petra Kleinert was born on 6 July 1967 in Jena, East Germany [now Thuringia, Germany]. She is an actress, known for Shop of Little Pleasures (2017), Doppelter Einsatz (1994) and Leipzig Homicide (2001). She is married to Reinhold Kammerer.
- Annett Fleischer was born on 21 June 1979 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress, known for Böse Mädchen (2007), Hubert ohne Staller (2011) and Im Netz (2015).
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- Soundtrack
Florian Lukas was born on 16 March 1973 in East Berlin, East Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for Good Bye Lenin! (2003), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and The Weissensee Saga (2010).- Devid Striesow was born on 1 October 1973 in Bergen auf Rügen, East Germany [now Germany]. He is an actor, known for All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), The Counterfeiters (2007) and Before the Fall (2004). He has been married to Francine since 2008. They have two children.
- Actor
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- Producer
Jan Josef Liefers was born on 8 August 1964 in Dresden, East Germany [now Saxony, Federal Republic of Germany]. He is an actor and director, known for Tatort (1970), The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008) and The Tower (2012). He has been married to Anna Loos since 5 August 2004. They have two children. He was previously married to Aleksandra Tabakova.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Franz Dinda was born on 25 March 1983 in Jena, East Germany [now Thuringia, Germany]. He is an actor and producer, known for Die Wolke (2006), Blackout - Die Erinnerung ist tödlich (2006) and The Physician (2013).- Fritzi Haberlandt was born in East Berlin, German Democratic Republic on 6th June. She is a theater and television actor known for her roles in Kalt ist der Abendhauch (2000), Babylon Berlin (2017), Summer Window (2011), Liegen lernen (2003), Deutschland 86 (2018) and Deutschland 89 (2020). She won the Bavarian Film Award for Kalt ist der Abendhauch and was nominated for the German Film Award for Fenster zum Sommer.
- She was born Maria Erika Knab in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) in Eastern Prussia. As routes to Hollywood go, hers was both dramatic and circuitous. Erika's parents were killed near the end of World War II by Red Army soldiers. The ten-year old orphan may have been one of the tens of thousands of civilians who were lucky enough to be evacuated in 1945. Little is known about the next decade of her life, but, in 1955, Erika turned up in West Berlin. There, she acted (as Erika Knab) in a few motion pictures, even had a leading role in Das Sandmännchen (1955), a fairy tale for children loosely based on Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost. She also signed a contract with the short-lived Berolina production company and went on to dub the voice of Mickey Mouse for German viewers. Sometime during this period, she became Erika Peters after marrying an American citizen.
In 1957, Erika arrived in the U.S., initially making ends meet by importing used Volkswagens (without, apparently, an agency license). Reinvesting her earnings from this enterprise, she then ran a coin-operated laundromat in Los Angeles. In 1959, Erika made her screen debut on American television. She was featured in several movies, including Elvis Presley's G.I. Blues (1960), Heroes Die Young (1960) (headlining, as the daughter of a Romanian partisan) and a couple of low budget horror films (Mr. Sardonicus (1961) and House of the Damned (1963)). In addition, she guest starred in a handful of popular TV shows. In one particular instance, she was picked to appear in an episode of Jack Webb's G.E. True (1962), because an actress with a German accent was required who also "could fit into a normal-sized suitcase" (this, for an episode about an escape from communist East Berlin entitled "The Suitcase Man").
In 1961, Erika obtained a divorce from her first husband. Three years later, she married the costume designer Sy Devore and permanently retired from acting. After Devore died less than two years later from a heart attack. Erika got married a third time in 1969 to Robert M. Brunson, president of Century Fast Foods in Los Angeles. She henceforth called herself Erika Devore Brunson. Perpetually resourceful, never letting grass grow under her feet, she subsequently reinvented herself as a successful interior designer and creator of antique reproduction furniture. She invested a great deal of her profits in animal welfare-related charities. Erika Brunson twice served as commissioner of the Department of Animal Services and as a long-standing board member of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).
Erika Devore Brunson passed away in Los Angeles on May 17 2022 at the age of 86. - Actor
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Milan Peschel was born in 1968 in East Berlin, East Germany. He is an actor and director, known for Stopped on Track (2011), The Captain (2017) and Tatort (1970). He is married to Magdalena Musial. They have two children.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ludwig Trepte played his first leading part in "Kombat Sechzehn" (2005). He then played parts in films such as "Guten Morgen, Herr Grothe" (2008) and "Ihr könnt euch niemals sicher sein" (2009), for each of which he was awarded a Grimme-Preis and for the latter also the special award for best leading actor at the Baden Baden television film festival. For his role as Paul in the feature film "Keller-Teenage Wasteland" he was awarded the prize for "Best Up-and-Coming Actor" at the 27th Max Ophüls Film Festival 2006. In 2008, he received the young talent award of the Golden Camera followed by the "Curd Jürgens/Lili Palmer Memorial Camera". Ludwig Trepte received international attention as Viktor Goldstein in "Generation War". The film was awarded the international EMMY in the category TV Movie/Mini-Series in 2014. The eight-part series "Deutschland 83" (2015), in which he plays the general's son Alexander Edel, was praised by the national and international press. The series was selected as the "Best International Series" at the "Festival Séries Mania" in France in 2015 and received the international EMMY in the category TV Movie /Mini-Series. In addition, "Deutschland 83" was the first German series to premiere on American television. Before "Deutschland 83", Ludwig Trepte played the leading role in the short film "The Last Will" by Dustin Loose, based on the short story of the same name by the Swedish bestselling author Håkan Nesser. In 2015 the short film was awarded the Student Oscar of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. The actor performed outstandingly as the violent rocker Nico, alongside Frederick Lau and Kida Khodr Ramadan in the mini- series "4 Blocks" (2016). This series also caused a sensation both nationally and internationally: "4 Blocks" was awarded the Grimme Prize and the Golden Camera, among others. Ludwig Trepte has appeared in numerous film and television productions in recent years. Among them in the ZDF three-part TV film "Tannbach" (2014, directed by Alexander Diehrbach), "Bornholmer Straße" (2013, directed by Christian Schwuchow), "Eine mörderische Entscheidung" (2012, directed by Raymond Lay), "Deckname Luna" (2011, directed by Ute Wieland), "Die Kinder der Villa Emma" (2015, directed by Nikolaus Leytner), and in "Katharina Luther" as the scholar Melanchton (2016, directed by Julia von Heinz). Most recently he appeared on the cinema screen alongside Jella Haase and Saskia Rosendahl in the drama "Nirgendwo" (2016, directed by Matthias Starte), in which he played the leading part of the student Danny. In 2017 he was back in front of the camera as the general's son Alexander Edel for "Deutschland 86" and the feature film "Spielmacher".- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in Königsberg in 1935, Renate Ewert and her family had to leave their home and relocate to Hamburg during WWII. As she was determined to become an actress, she applied for the "Hamburger Kammerspiele" but was rejected. By doing synchronising jobs for foreign movies she finally got her first role in the third part of 08/15 - In der Heimat (1955). After that one, she appeared in a number of movies as the seductive, mysterious girl but never got the dramatic parts she was eager to play.
She had affairs with some famous actors of the time but these didn't help her career. At the middle of the 60s she didn't get many offers anymore and turned to tablets and alcohol. At the 10th of December of 1966, she was found dead by a friend, actress Susanne Cramer, who wanted to visit her in her apartment: she had died three weeks previously, probably by starvation.
Her parents couldn't deal with Renate Ewert's untimely death: They poisoned themselves not long after their daughter died.- Actor
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Curt Lowens was born on 17 November 1925 in Allenstein, East Prussia, Germany [now Olsztyn, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Poland]. He was an actor, known for Angels & Demons (2009), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and Flightplan (2005). He was married to Katherine Guilford. He died on 8 May 2017 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Sabine Bethmann almost became an international star. She was slated by Kirk Douglas to co-star as Varinia in his epic blockbuster Spartacus (1960). However, when director Anthony Mann was unceremoniously replaced with Stanley Kubrick, it was Jean Simmons who was preferred for the part. Sabine's career never quite recovered from this setback.
Bethmann was born and spent her childhood in Tilsit, East Prussia. After schooling, she qualified as a physiotherapist and earned extra money on the side as a photographic model. At age 24, the attractive blonde was discovered for the screen and made her debut as star of the romantic drama Waldwinter (1956), directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner. Her girl-next-door appeal gained her almost instant popularity. As a result, Bethmann was given leads or second leads in a string of major cinematic releases: the U-Boat drama Haie und kleine Fische (1957) (as a commodore's wife), Fritz Lang's lavish remakes of The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) and The Indian Tomb (1959) (an architect's wife) and the medical drama Frauenarzt Dr. Sibelius (1962) (as an obstetric nurse). Bethmann typically played altruistic wives or lovers whose self-sacrifice would be rewarded at the end of the day.
By the mid 60s, the more unambitious roles which had hitherto been her bread and butter (namely the rustic Heimatfilm romances and the 'Pauker' school farces) had greatly diminished in popularity. With fewer movie offers forthcoming, Bethmann turned to television. Her final starring fling was as secretary to a private eye in Cliff Dexter (1966), a popular but short-lived James Bond pastiche. By the 1970s, her screen appearances became more and more sporadic. By the time she was in her sixtieth year, Sabine Bethmann had retired from acting. She lived the rest of her life in Berlin in relative obscurity until her death in November 2021. - Josephin Busch was born on 1 October 1986 in East Berlin, Berlin, Germany. She is an actress, known for Letzte Spur Berlin (2012), The Tower (2012) and The Horseman (2019).
- Actress
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Anna Thalbach was born on 1 June 1973 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress, known for The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), Downfall (2004) and The Little Ghost (2013).- Director
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Christian Schwochow was born on 23 September 1978 in Bergen auf Rügen, East Germany. He is a director and producer, known for Cracks in the Shell (2011), Novemberkind (2008) and Munich: The Edge of War (2021).- Harry Liedtke was born on 12 October 1882 in Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany [now Kaliningrad, Russia]. He was an actor, known for Die Konkurrenz platzt (1929), Der Mann ohne Namen - 1. Der Millionendieb (1921) and Die Liebe einer Königin (1923). He was married to Käthe Dorsch, Ernestine Emaline Johanne Proft, Christa Tordy and Hanne Schutt. He died on 28 April 1945 in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg, Germany.
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Charly Hübner was born on 4 December 1972 in Neustrelitz, East Germany [now Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany]. He is an actor and writer, known for Police Call 110 (1971), Magical Mystery or: The Return of Karl Schmidt (2017) and The Good Neighbour (2011). He is married to Lina Beckmann. They have one child.- Paula Schramm was born on 11 October 1989 in Potsdam, East Germany [now Brandenburg, Germany]. She is an actress, known for The Whistleblower (2010), The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018) and Anonymous (2011).
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Fabian Busch was born on 1 October 1975 in East Berlin, East Germany. He is an actor and director, known for Look Who's Back (2015), Edgar (2009) and The Reader (2008). He is married to Sunny Scheucher.- Actress
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Luise Helm is a renowned German actress and voice artist from East Berlin. Following in the footsteps of her actor father, she began her career at age five as a dubbing artist and, by the age of ten, branched out to on-screen roles.
Her breakthrough role in the widely popular teen comedy Ants in the Pants (2000) paved the way for a thriving career in film and TV, earning her the German Television Prize for Königskinder (2003). Acting in both German and English, Luise Helm has starred in Am Tag als Bobby Ewing starb (2005), Julie Delpy's My Zoe (2019), Bliss (2021), and Bones and Names (2023). Other notable TV appearances include Tatort (1970), Police Call 110 (1971), Cologne P.D. (2003), and the Australian cult classic Outriders (2001).
Beyond her on-screen presence, Helm is the distinctive German dubbing voice behind international stars like Scarlett Johansson, Megan Fox, and Sienna Miller, and can be recognized as Volkswagen's brand voice. Since 2010 Helm has also ventured into the field of audio books, which earned her the German Audio Book Prize in 2023.
She enjoys melding her talent for voice and acting in projects such as Amazon Prime's Trunk: Locked In (2023), as well as a variety of artistic endeavors, including "Das sowjetische Hauptquartier" (video installation from Sven Johne) and "Dark Room" (collaboration with Orchester im Treppenhaus).- Isabell Gerschke was born on 5 June 1979 in Potsdam, East Germany [now Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany]. She is an actress, known for Tatort (1970), Bound for Leem (2010) and Little Thirteen (2012).
- Uwe Preuss was born in Dresden in 1961. He is a theater and television actor known for his roles in Deutschland 83 (2015), Im Angesicht des Verbrechens (2010), 4 Blocks (2017) and Dogs of Berlin (2018). He first appeared on stage in 1992 at the Dresden State Theater and made his television debut in Boomtown Berlin (2003).
- Kareen Schröter was born in 1963 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress, known for Seven Freckles (1978), And Next Year at Lake Balaton (1980) and Mein Vater Alfons (1981).
- Marion Michael was born as Marion Ilonka Michaela Delonge in Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia) in 1940. Her father was a doctor. The last months of the war she spent together with her mother and her four-year older brother on Hiddensee, a small island in the Baltic Sea. After the war, the family moved to Berlin where Marion attended a secondary school. As a ten-year-old, she made her stage debut in little theatre and was taught classical dance in the ballet school of Tatjana Gsovsky. When she was only 15, she was selected out of allegedly 12,000 entries for the lead in Liane, das Mädchen aus dem Urwald/Liane, Jungle Goddess (Eduard von Borsody, 1956). This adventure film was largely shot on location in Africa.
The story is about a girl who is discovered in the African jungle by an expedition group which includes Hardy Krüger. A tribe adores her as a goddess. It turns out that she is Liane, the long lost granddaughter of a rich shipowner in Hamburg. Her dark hair was dyed blonde and she was promoted as the 'German Brigitte Bardot'. Michael appeared topless during the first half of the film and this was part of the success of the film. However, she was acceptable for family audiences as the nature child with no obvious erotic suggestiveness.
The film was a huge box office hit, and producer Gero Wecker offered her a seven-year-contract. The press loved her, she was constantly photographed, and at the age of 18 she already owned a sports car. Unfortunately this success of her debut film would not be matched by any of her later films.
Marion Michael played next in the comedy Der tolle Bomberg/The Mad Bomberg (Rolf Thiele, 1957) opposite Hans Albers, an adaptation of the 1923 novel of the same title by Josef Winckler based on a real historical Westphalian aristocrat of the nineteenth century.
Then followed the sequel Liane, die weiße Sklavin/Jungle Girl and the Slaver (Hermann Leitner, 1957), this time opposite Adrian Hoven. Set in North Africa, this story concerns Arab slave traders who abduct Liane and members of her tribe. Later, the two Liane films were edited together and re-marketed as Liane - die Tochter des Dschungels/Liane - The Daughter of the Jungle.
In order to break away from the Liane image, Marion took dance and acting lessons and then appeared opposite Christian Wolff in Es war die erste Liebe/First Love (Fritz Stapenhorst, 1958) in which a Catholic theology student falls in love with a country girl. Tragedy came about when, during the shooting of the crime film Bomben auf Monte Carlo/Bombs on Monte Carlo (Georg Jacoby, 1960) with Eddie Constantine, she had a car accident that left her face temporarily scarred. However, she recovered and returned to acting in Schlußakkord/Festival (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1960), the Schlagerfilm Davon träumen alle Mädchen/That's What All The Girls Dream About (Thomas Engel, 1961), and Jack und Jenny/Jack and Jenny (Victor Vicas, 1963) with Senta Berger and Ivan Desny.
The following decade, Marion Michael mainly worked for love theatre and television. For six years she worked at the Städtischen Bühnen Köln and In 1970 gave birth to a son, Benjamin, allegedly fathered by an American director, with whom she lived in a commune and with whom she also did some street theatre. Afterwards, she suffered severe depression after a short marriage to actor Marcel Werner ended, and retired from acting in 1976. For a while she then worked as a saleswoman. In 1979 she took the unusual step of moving from West to East Germany, where she worked as a synchronisation assistant for TV.
She still occasionally acted in TV-films such as In Hassliebe Lola/In Hate Love Lola (Lothar Lambert, 1995) and Blond bis aufs Blut/Blonde Till Blood (Lothar Lambert, 1997), and in 1996 her life became the topic of a TV musical, Liane (Horst Königstein, 1996). She also played a small role in the production. The film was nominated for the Adolf Grimme award and the Prix Europa 1997.
In her later years, she still remained a well known German film icon and with her second husband, Freimut Patzner, lived in an old house in Oderbruch. In 2007 Marion Michael died of heart failure in a hospital in Gartz an der Oder. It was four days before her 67th birthday. - Actor
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Friedrich Mücke was born on 12 March 1981 in East Berlin, East Germany. He is an actor, known for Friendship! (2010), Weinberg (2015) and Alles ist Liebe (2014).- Rhea Harder was born on 27 February 1976 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress, known for Berlin, Berlin (2002), Notruf Hafenkante (2007) and Flashback (2000). She has been married to Jörg Vennewald since June 2013. They have two children.
- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Has performed throughout the world for over forty years. Born March 11, 1955 in the former East Berlin, East Germany, to Hans and Eva-Maria Hagen. At the age of four began to study ballet and at an early age was considered to be an "opera prodigy". In 1979, appeared with Herman Brood, and Lene Lovich in the film Cha-Cha (1979). The three composed the film's soundtrack.- Schwarz studied at the School of Dramatic Arts "Ernst Busch" Berlin. During his studies he worked at various theaters in Berlin (including Danton Danton's death in the Deutsches Theater in 2007 and Jim in The Glass Menagerie, asked 2006) and worked for film and television.
Since January 2008 he is a permanent member of the theater in Berlin. Here mainly influenced the artistic director Thomas Ostermeier Meier its further development as a stage actor. That was in addition to Schwarz and Lars Eidinger to see in a production of Hamlet, and played in the premiere of the Stephen Ravenhill The cut. In December 2008, Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman, directed again Ostermeier, Rennes premiere. In France as in "Performance of the Year 'acclaimed performance as Erhardt Schwarz played alongside Josef Bierbichler , Kirsten Dene and Angela Winkler . In the premiere of David Giesel's comedy Die Tauben, Schwarz embodied the forgetful psychologist Dr. Erich Asendorf. This was followed by roles in Friedrich Hebbel's Nibelungen , Edward Bond's Saved and Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan. Then he stood again with Lars Eidinger in The Misanthrope, in a production of the Belgian director Ivo van Hove on stage.
The playwright Marius von Mayenburg wrote to Judith Engel, Eva Meckbach, Robert Beyer and Schwarz Perplex, the piece, which premiered in November 2010 in the theater.
His film debut was with the film Polska Love Serenade (2007) on the side of Claudia Eisinger. The film was for the Max Ophüls Prize Nominees.
Sebastian Schwarz moderated at irregular intervals with Georg Uecker developed by Frank Oberhäußer quiz format Babel Fish to the stage in Berlin and designed the stage with David Ruland comedy Zack and Dave.
Sebastian Schwarz lives in Berlin. - Susan Hoecke was born on 23 July 1981 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress, known for The Sweet Shop (2013), Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei (1996) and Doc Meets Dorf (2013).
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Marianne Hold was born on 15 May 1929 in Johannisburg, East Prussia, Germany [now Pisz, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Poland]. She was an actress, known for Schwarzwälder Kirsch (1958), Mein Schatz ist aus Tirol (1958) and Die Lindenwirtin vom Donaustrand (1957). She was married to Frederick Stafford. She died on 11 September 1994 in Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Viktoria Ngotsé was born on 10 April 1989 in Leipzig, East Germany [now Saxony, Germany]. She is an actress, known for Mute (2018), Gunpowder Milkshake (2021) and Captain America: Civil War (2016).- Julia Hartmann was born on 9 July 1985 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress, known for Fast Forward (2009), Jenseits des Spiegels (2018) and Tatort (1970).