German Actors and Actresses in American Movies
On this list are German actresses and actors, who appear often in american movies.
(this list is not in any specific order)
(this list is not in any specific order)
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Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He is known for his work with American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, receiving acclaim for portraying SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012). For each performance, he won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Additionally, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Landa.
Christoph Waltz was born in Vienna, Austria, into a theatrical family, his mother Elisabeth Urbancic, an Austrian-born costume designer, and Johannes Waltz, a German-born stage builder. He has three siblings. His maternal grandmother was Viennese Burgtheater actress Maria Mayen, and his step-grandfather was fellow Burgtheater actor Emmerich Reimers. His maternal grandfather, Rudolf von Urban, was a psychologist and psychiatrist who wrote the 1949 book "Sex Perfection and Marital Happiness".
Waltz attended the Theresianium and Billrothstrasse in Vienna. Upon graduation, he attended the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar before going to New York to the Lee Strasberg Institute. While in New York, Christoph met his first wife, and moved back to Vienna, then to London.
During the 80s, Christoph worked primarily in theatre, commuting from his home in London to Germany. Slowly Waltz began to work in TV, taking one-off roles in series, and TV movies. Film roles soon followed. Attempts to break into English-speaking film and TV were, however, unsuccessful. Waltz has expressed his gratitude to have been able to make a living and support his family through acting. For thirty years he worked steadily, tirelessly, in this manner.
It was not until he met Quentin Tarantino that his career in Hollywood took off. The role of Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) catapulted Waltz from a lifetime working in German TV/film to the new life of an international superstar and Academy Award-winning actor. He won 27 awards for his performance as Hans Landa, including the Cannes prix d'interpretation Masculin for 2009, the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, the BAFTA Best Supporting Actor award, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (which he won again for 2012's Django Unchained (2012)).
He also has portrayed computer genius Qohen Leth in the film The Zero Theorem (2013), American plagiarist Walter Keane in the biographical film _Big Eyes (2014), and 007's nemesis and head of SPECTRE Ernst Stavro Blofeld in _Spectre (2015)_. In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa, aka "The Jew Hunter". Clever, courteous, and multilingual - but also self-serving, cunning, implacable, and murderous. Waltz played gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet (2011). That same year, he starred in Water for Elephants (2011), Roman Polanski's Carnage (2011), and a remake of The Three Musketeers (2011). He played German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), a role Tarantino wrote specifically for Waltz.
Waltz resides in Berlin and Los Angeles. His wife is costume builder Judith Holste.- Actor
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Blond, blue-eyed, tall and handsome Dutch actor Rutger Hauer enjoyed an international reputation for playing everything from romantic leads to action heroes to sinister villains. Hauer was born in Breukelen, a Dutch town and former municipality in the province of Utrecht.
He was the son of Teunke Hauer (née Mellema) and Arend Hauer, actors who operated an acting school. As his parents were often touring, he and his three sisters were raised by a nanny. A bit of a rebel during his childhood, he chafed at the rules and rigors of school and was often getting into mischief. His grandfather had been the captain of a schooner and at age fifteen, Hauer ran away to work on a freighter for a year. Like his great-grandfather, Hauer was color-blind, which prevented him from furthering his career as a sailor.
Upon his return he attended night school and started working in the construction industry. When he again bombed at school, his parents enrolled him in drama classes. An amateur poet, he spent most of his time writing poetry and hanging out in Amsterdam coffee houses instead of studying. He was expelled for poor attendance and afterward spent a brief period in the Dutch navy.
Deciding he didn't like military life, Hauer honed his acting skills trying to convince his superiors he was mentally unfit and was sent to a special home for psych patients. It was an unpleasant place, but Hauer remained there until he had convinced his ranking officers that the military really did not need him.- Amy Bruckner was born on 28 March 1991 in Conifer, Colorado, USA. She is an actress, known for Nancy Drew (2007), Phil of the Future (2004) and ER (1994).
- Actress
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Yvonne Maria Schaefer a German American actress and producer, based in Frankfurt, Germany, and New York, NY.
Early on she began her career as an actress and model. Yvonne worked with agencies in Europe, Asia, and South Africa for designers and sports manufacturers.
In the 1990s, Yvonne studied at Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Due to her activities in extreme sports and worldwide travels, Maxim Lifestyle Magazine voted Yvonne Maria Schaefer as the "Action Girl". Yvonne was on the annual Maxim Calendar - Most Beautiful Woman of the Year, along with Pamela Anderson, Elisha Cuthbert and Carmen Electra. Yvonne resumed her work as an actress, in the 1990s and has worked in international films, TV series, and stage productions. She sang background vocals for various bands including Joe Cocker and Vanessa Mae . She lived part-time in various countries in Asia and Mallorca and Malaga, Spain, where worked in Spanish film productions, including in the thriller Trece. In 2008 Yvonne moved to New York City where she continued working as an actress and producer. In the same year, she founded YMC Films Productions in New York, and in 2012 YMC Entertainment a branch in Frankfurt am Main Germany. During her travels, Yvonne intensively studied the theories of physics linking the spiritual with the material world. In addition, she attended international seminars in metaphysics, epigenetics, and healing science
She worked in films including, Forget Me Not (2009) opposite Peter Greene , (Pulp Fiction (1994) , (The Bounty Hunter (2010), The Mask (1994) . In the Brooklyn Banker she worked with David Proval (Smokin' Aces (2006) , (Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005) In The Brooklyn Banker (2016) , directed by Federico Castelluccio, Made (2001) (The Sopranos (1999), (The Pink Panther 2 (2009) with Paul Sorvino , (Goodfellas (1990) and Troy Garity (Gangster Squad (2013) Yvonne played an Arabic mother and wife of a strict Diplomat, in the comedy TV Pilot, Man of the House directed by Christopher Backus ,with Mira Sorvino and Fergie In 2012 she was the female lead in the festival film Checkmate, Keep Your Enemies Closer (2013)and played alongside Manny Perez (La soga (2009) The Ministers (2009) ) and William Sadler,(The Green Mile (1999), The Shawshank Redemption (1994) . This film premiered in 2013, at the Albuquerque Film and Media Experience, supported by Robert Redford. Yvonne worked with (Carlito's Way (1993), Smoke (1995) in the film APT.5K. Yvonne co-produced the thriller, The Child (2012), an adaptation of the bestselling novel by Sebastian Fitzek, with Eric Roberts, The Dark Knight (2008), Sunny Mabrey and Ben Becker. In the film The Child, Yvonne plays the role of Sophie Stern, Eric Roberts 's character's ex-wife. She is the lead in the Texas film production Voodoo (2014) and in the film Mi Hijo (2015), directed by John Hoyt. Yvonne co-produced a segment of Berlin, I Love You (2019) , with Hayden Panettiere ,
In 2008, Yvonne Maria Schaefer met the actor and painter Federico Castelluccio. The couple lives in New York City. On a joint trip to Frankfurt Germany, Federico Castelluccio discovered a painting by the 17th-century Italian baroque painter Guercino and bought it at auction. A limited 6-part Doku-series by German filmmakers was made about the discovery of the long-lost painting, featuring Federico Castelluccio and Yvonne, titled "This can only be a real Guercino".
Yvonne also advises international film productions and is a consultant to companies and start-ups in other industries.
known as Yvonne Schäfer.- Actress
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- Camera and Electrical Department
Diane Kruger was born Diane Heidkrüger in Algermissen, near Hildesheim, Germany, to Maria-Theresa, a bank employee, and Hans-Heinrich Heidkrüger, a computer specialist. She studied ballet with the Royal Ballet in London before an injury ended her career. She returned to Germany and became a top fashion model. She later pursued acting and relocated to Paris at the suggestion of filmmaker Luc Besson (The Fifth Element (1997)). She married French actor Guillaume Canet (The Beach (2000)) in 2001.- Actor
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Ken Duken was born on the 17th of April 1979 as a son of an actress and a doctor in Heidelberg / Germany. He started to learn acting from his stage actress mother Christina Loeb. Later he took courses by James Reynolds and Bruce McDonald but he never attended drama school.
Before starting his career on television in 1997 Ken acted throughout different stage plays, for example "Visit from an old Lady". In the year 1998 he got a hold of his first leading role in the film "Land of Milk and Honey" (direction: Friedemann Fromm), and played side by side with Franka Potente and Heiner Lauterbach. BILD, largest daily paper in Germany, called him a "Shootingstar" with great talent and charisma.
In 2000 Ken convinced in the role of Mark, a young guy confined to a wheelchair, in the motion picture "Gran Paradiso" from Miguel Alexandre. This film was nominated for the German Film Award. After some German productions, for example "Nightshift" (ZDF, direction: Lars Becker), Ken took part in the comedy "100 per cent" from Simon Verhoeven.
Throughout the last years Ken Duken above all was shooting abroad together with great actors like Peter O'Toole, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow and Dominique Pinon. With the Italian production "Hidden Children" (2003, direction: Leone Pompucci) he gained great success and won amongst others the French Movie-Award at the 18th "Reincontres de Television de Reims".
In 2003 Ken and some friends founded the film production company "Grand Hotel Pictures". The successful debut's name was "From another Point of View" (direction and production), which premiered on the 15th of April 2004 in Munich, starring his wife Marisa Leonie Bach and Dominique Pinon, famous French actor (Alien4, Amélie...). At the same time he put on Music-Videos (e.g. Curse - "Gangster-Rap", Oomph - "Das letzte Streichholz") and began to write the script for his first own film "Waiting for Eve".
In 2005 Ken played the leading role in the movie "Another league" (produced by Wüste Film, winner of the Berlinale 2004 with "Against the wall") for which he was assigned as best actor at the Comedy-Festival in Monte Carlo. Furthermore he took part at the big Italian production "Karol" (film version of the life of the deceased Pope John Paul II (Karol Woytila)) for Channel 5 (Italy) which achieved an audience rating of 47%. In Poland this film beat all records and was more successful than "Star Wars 3" or "War of the worlds".
In March 2005 Ken Duken was awarded with the Grimme Award for his role in "Kiss and Run" before he started filming "Störtebeker" (a movie about the life of the most famous German pirate) in May 2005. Afterwards he played the character Teddy Schrader in Lars Becker's "Nightshift". In summer 2006 Ken played the role of Anatol Kuragin in the international production "War & Peace", based on the novel of Tolstoj, directed by Robert Dornhelm, where he had to shoot in Vilnius/Lithuania and St. Petersburg and afterward he was shooting another international production in Morocco - "Ali Baba", directed by Pierre Aknine. After leading roles in the movies "Distanz" and "Gellert", which were produced by Grand Hotel Pictures, he took part in the Italian production "Il Commissario de Luca", directed by Antonio Frazzi and played Ben Winter, a war returnee from Afganistan in the tv movie "Willkommen zuhause". In 2008 Ken won his second Grimme Award for "Eine andere Liga" and the Franz Hofer Award. In the same year he played the name part in the fairy tale "Koenig Drosselbart", co-starred with Gary Dourdan in the international production "Fire", played the leading role in "Das Unglueck von Ueberlingen" (directed by Till Endemann), a tv movie about the air plane crash in Ueberlingen in 2002, and took part in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds". In 2009 he won the "Bayerischen Fernsehpreis" for "Willkommen zuhause" in the category "best actor TV-movie". At the moment he co-stars with Till Schweiger in his new movie "Zweiohrkueken.- Actor
- Producer
Ralf Rudolf Moeller (born on 12. January 1959) is a German-American actor and former Mr. Universe. He is well-known for his roles as Brick Bardo in Cyborg, Kjartan in The Viking Sagas, as hero in the TV series "Conan the Adventurer", Hagen in Gladiator, Thorak in The Scorpion King and Ulfar in Pathfinder - The Legend of the Ghost Warrior. Since 2014, Moeller is both a German and an American citizen.
Moeller's first role came in 1988, in the German "Tatort: Gebrochene Blüten," where he appeared alongside the German actors Götz George and Eberhard Feik. In the following year, Moeller appeared in Cyborg and in 1992 he had a role in Roland Emmerich's Universal Soldier, where he appeared alongside global stars Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude van Damme. One year later, in 1993, he played the role of the villain Brakus, the archenemy of Philip Rhee and Eric Roberts in "Best of the Best 2 - the Unbeatable." After Cyborg and Universal Soldier, "Best of the Best 2" was his third role in an American movie and the second time he played a supporting role.
His two most popular and biggest roles were in Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000), in which he starred alongside Oscar-winner Russell Crowe as well as his role in The Scorpion King (2002). Aside from these two films, he also played the starring role in The Viking Sagas and in Conan the Adventurer. The series ran from 1997-1998 and told the story of Conan, who had been - accompanied by his three cronies - anointed by Crom to fight the evil Hissah Zul and to destroy it so that Conan could become the king, as had once been predicted to him.
Ralf Moeller's acting career continued in the movie "El pardino (2004)," a continuation of the movie The Bad Pack. In the movie he played the role of special agent Kurt Mayers. In 2005, he had a role as Bruno alongside Rosanna Arquette in "My Suicidal Sweetheart." In the movie "Beerfest (2006)" - which included actors Donald Sutherland and Jürgen Prochnow - Moeller played the role of Hammacher. That same year he appeared in the film "Ozzie", a movie in which greats like Joan Collins appeared. In addition, he played the role of warden Arnold Calgrove in the movie "Seed." In 2007, "Seed" received an award for having the best special effects at the horror film festival in New York. "Pathfinder" followed in 2007 - and in "Postal" Ralf Moeller played the role of Officer John. In the following years, he appeared in "Alone in the Dark II (2008)"and "Dejection (2009)" before landing roles in "The Sword and the Sorcerer II," "Tales of an Ancient Heart" as well as "The Tourist" - all in 2010. "The Sword and the Sorcerer II" received nominations in six categories. "The Tourist" (Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Timothy Dalton and others) was honored with the ASCAP Award for best box office movie. He was also awarded the Teen Choice Award for the best action role. In 2014, Ralf Moeller appeared in "Love, Hate & Security."
Apart from these US movies, Ralf Moeller also had numerous (guest) roles in German productions. However, in the made-for-TV movie "Der Superbulle und die Halbstarken" (RTL, 2000; 4 million viewers) Ralf Moeller played the lead role. Even in the 2003 movie "Hai Alarm auf Mallorca (Shark Attack on Mallorca)", Moeller had the lead role. "Shark Attack" remains one of RTLs most successful productions over the course of many years (almost 7 million viewers). Aside from a guest role (Ferox) in "Held der Gladiatoren (2003)", Moeller also played the role of King Thorklit in "Die Nibelungen" that same year. In 2008, Moeller appeared in "Far Cry," a German-Canadian co-production also featuring Til Schweiger. In "Time of the Comet," he appeared as Freiherr von Keittel. Ralf Moeller also had roles in the TV series "Die Küstenwache" und "Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei."- Sophie Rois was born on 1 June 1961 in Ottensheim, Austria and studied acting at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna from 1982 to 1985. In the following years, she played at several theaters in Berlin, since 1992 she has been ensemble member at the city's Freie Volksbühne. Appearing also on successful TV productions such as Die Manns - Ein Jahrhundertroman (2001), she became one of the most respected actresses in the German speaking region.
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Franka Potente was born on 22 July 1974 in the German city of Münster, to Hildegard, a medical assistant, and Dieter Potente, a teacher, and raised in the nearby town of Dülmen. After her graduation in 1994, she went to the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule, a drama school in Munich, but soon broke off to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York. After a notable debut in Nach Fünf im Urwald (1995), the role of the heroine in Run Lola Run (1998), directed by her then longtime companion Tom Tykwer was her national breakthrough. After some other successful movies in Germany, she starred in several Hollywood productions, most prominently The Bourne Identity (2002) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and lived one year in Los Angeles. After her return to Berlin, she continues working with German and international directors.- Actor
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Jürgen Prochnow is the son of a telecommunications engineer. He has an older brother, Dieter Prochnow, who is also in the acting profession. Jürgen's parents encouraged him initially to study the banking trade. However, their son had other ideas and began working on the side as an extra and a gaffer at a theater in Düsseldorf. He eventually commenced acting studies at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen in 1963. His graduation three years later was followed by a first theatrical engagement in Osnabrück. Between 1971 and 1975, Prochnow was a member of the ensemble of the Schauspielhaus Bochum under the direction of Peter Zadek.
On screen from 1971, he made his debut on the big screen in (what was also Wolfgang Petersen's first film) the thriller One or the Other (1974). Prochnow commanded the lead as a struggling student who blackmails his sociology professor (Klaus Schwarzkopf) after discovering that the academic had attained his credentials by means of a plagiarised doctoral thesis. Dire consequences ensue. That same year, Petersen also directed Prochnow in an episode of the hit police series Tatort (1970). In the New German Cinema of the 1970s, the charismatic Prochnow was given ample opportunities to shine, as he did in the title role of the prison drama The Brutalization of Franz Blum (1974) and in Volker Schlöndorffs political drama The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975) as a deserter wanted by the police and whose flight sparks a series of fateful events. During this period, the actor's stock-in-trade screen personae were laconic, taciturn types, often loners, yet men of integrity and strong emotional centres.
Prochnow's breakthrough to international stardom came via Wolfgang Petersen's brilliant maritime war drama Das Boot (1981). Prochnow took the nominal lead and was top-billed as the cool-headed, sympathetic veteran U-boat commander Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, a kind of father figure to his crew and affectionately known as 'the old man'. A contemporary New York Times reviewer commented "The captain of the U-boat is played by Jurgen Prochnow, a remarkable actor who has also worked with Mr. Petersen on four other films. Mr. Prochnow's sad, solemn face rarely changes, but his pale eyes are extraordinarily alive. As the captain, he becomes a source of spiritual strength for his crewmen, even though his own cynicism is readily apparent". While the story of Das Boot was fictionalized, it was in part based on the exploits of a real Lehmann-Willenbrock, who did, in fact, captain U-96 (as one of four commands). He was decorated with the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves (one of the highest honours bestowed) and survived the war to become captain of Germany's nuclear freighter Otto Hahn.
In the wake of Das Boot, Prochnow received many offers from Hollywood, his craggy features and military bearing getting him frequently typecast as callous villains in action films: he was Eddie Murphy's nemesis Maxwell Dent in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), a brutal Norman knight in Robin Hood (1991), vicious gangster Charlie Dowd in Hurricane Smith (1992), the unhinged author of horror novels Sutter Cane in John Carpenter 's supernatural thriller In the Mouth of Madness (1994) and Judge Griffin, the chief villain of the piece who frames Sylvester Stallone for murder in Judge Dredd (1995). Prochnow also reunited with Wolfgang Petersen who directed him again in the box-office blockbuster Air Force One (1997) in the role of a rogue eastern European dictator bent on reigniting the Cold War. In season eight of the TV series 24 (2001), Prochnow featured as Jack Bauer's elusive antagonist Sergei Bazhaev, leader of a secret Russian crime syndicate.
On the side of the white hats, Prochnow has portrayed the ambitious banker André Vernet in The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the poorly received biographical drama See Arnold Run (2005) (Prochnow had once even been under consideration to play Arnie's iconic Terminator role). He has also been active in German films and television, including a role as an unscrupulous businessman attempting to market a pharmaceutical product with known harmful side-effects in The Dark Side of the Moon (2015). On stage, he has essayed Etzel, king of the Huns in Siegfried's Erben at the 2018 Nibelungen Festival in Worms.
As a voice-over actor, Prochnow has been the German voice for Sylvester Stallone in several films (including Rocky (1976) and Rocky II (1979). He has also dubbed most of his own English-language roles into German. His awards include a Bambi in 1988 for his messianic role in The Seventh Sign (1988), a Golden Kamera as Best German Actor for Das Boot and a Jupiter Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013.
Prochnow adopted American citizenship in 2004, regularly commuting between Los Angeles and Munich. The actor's first wife was Isabel Goslar (daughter of Jürgen Goslar) who worked on Das Boot as a script supervisor and continuity manager. His second wife was the actress Birgit Stein who died in a motorcycle crash in Utah four years after her divorce from Prochnow in 2018. Since March 2015, Prochnow has been married to the Austrian actress Verena Wengler.- Actress
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Anna Maria Mühe (born 1985) is a German actress.
Born in Berlin to actor Ulrich Mühe (1953-2007) and actress Jenny Gröllmann (1947-2006), she was invited by director Maria von Heland to a casting for Big Girls Don't Cry. She also played in a video of Schiller's song "Sehnsucht". After making her screen acting debut as the lead character in the 2002 German feature film Big Girls Don't Cry, she appeared in many other films and television series, including, respectively, Not My Day (2014) and Alpha 0.7 - Der Feind in Dir (2010).
Anna Maria Mühe was approached in 2001, at the age of fifteen, by the director Maria von Heland in a Berlin diner, an American diner, and invited to a casting that did not concern her with the main role in Big Girls. The Kati, who together with her best friend Steffi (Karoline Herfurth) has to master adulthood, made an effort in the film. Her first film was focused on the summer holidays, so that her regular schooling was not affected. Later she received her artistic education from Marianne Fischer-Kupfer and her daughter Kristiane Kupfer (acting). Each of her roles continues to be worked out individually in a personal acting coaching session before every filming.- Actress
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Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, who also holds German citizenship. She was born on April 30, 1982 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, to parents Inez (née Rupprecht), who owned an art gallery, and Klaus Dunst, a medical services executive. She has a younger brother named Christian Dunst, born in 1987. Her father is German, from Hamburg, and her mother, who is American, is of German and Swedish descent.
Her career began at the age of 3 when she started modeling and appearing in commercials. She made her feature film debut with an uncredited role at age 6 in the 'Oedipus Wrecks' segment of Woody Allen's 1989 film New York Stories (1989). She received her first film credit in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990). Her family moved to Los Angeles in 1993, where her film career took off.
In 1994, she made her breakthrough performance in Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), alongside such stars as Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination, the MTV Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and the Saturn Award for Best Young Actress. In 1995, she was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. Over the next few years, she made a string of hit movies including Little Women (1994), Jumanji (1995) and Small Soldiers (1998).
In 2000, she received rave reviews for her role as "Lux Lisbon" in Sofia Coppola's independent film, The Virgin Suicides (1999) and proved her status as a leading actress in the comedy hit, Bring It On (2000). She also graduated from Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles in June of that year.
In 2002, she landed one of her best known roles as Peter Parker's love interest, Mary Jane Watson, in Spider-Man (2002). She continued her role in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
She went on to land roles in such films as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), the romantic comedy Wimbledon (2004), and in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown (2005). She also played the title character in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006).
Dunst won the Best Actress Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for her performance as Justine in Lars von Trier's Melancholia (2011). In 2012, she appeared in Walter Salles' film adaptation of On the Road (2012) and the independent comedy Bachelorette (2012). She also has several films in production, including The Two Faces of January (2014).
Her charity work includes designing a necklace to raise funds for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation as well as supporting various cancer charities.- Actress
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Born on 13 August 1971 in Düsseldorf, Germany, as the daughter of former German national ice hockey keeper Rainer Makatsch. After studying politics and sociology at the University of Düsseldorf for two years and an apprenticeship as dressmaker, she was hired by newborn TV music channel VIVA in 1993 and hosted popular shows such as Interaktiv (1996). Also presenting the charts show Bravo TV (1985), the media considered her the prototype of a "girlie girl". Her first appearance in a movie, Jailbirds (1996), surprised the critics and slowly changed her image. In the following years, she played leading characters in successful projects such as Am I Beautiful? (1998) and Gripsholm (2000). Living in London from 1999 to 2005, she also appeared in English language movies, most prominently Love Actually (2003). After another convincing performance on Margarete Steiff (2005), she is considered a respected actress anyway. In 2009 she played the main role in 'Hilde', the biographical movie about the famous German actress/singer Hildegard Knef. Her performance was a tour de force.- Actor
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Daniel Brühl was born in Barcelona, Spain. His father was German TV director Hanno Brühl (1937-2010), who was born in São Paulo, Brazil. His Spanish mother was a teacher. He also has a brother and a sister, Oliver and Miriam. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Cologne, Germany, where he grew up and attended the Dreikönigsgymnasium. Brought up in a fully multilingual home, he speaks fluent German, English, Portuguese, Spanish, French and Catalan.- Actor
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Actor, producer, writer, and director Til Schweiger is Germany's best-known actor and also the country's most successful director. With more than 51 Million admissions no other German filmmaker drew more people to cinemas. He runs his own production company Barefoot Films based in Berlin, Germany.
Til Schweiger (born December 19, 1963) was raised along with his two brothers in his hometown Giessen. In his early years, Schweiger began studying German and Medicine. He decided to drop out of university to pursue his career as an actor and went to drama school from 1986-1989. After graduation, he played at several theaters as a stage actor to gain more experience.
In 1991, Schweiger landed his first lead role in Manta, Manta (1991) following his big breakthrough role on Maybe... Maybe Not (1994) with the support of Germany's renowned film producer and mentor Bernd Eichinger. In 1996, Til Schweiger founded his first film production company Mr. Brown Entertainment together with business partner and film producer Tom Zickler. Schweiger debuted as producer with Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997) winning several Festival Awards. The road movie remains a cult favorite with audiences worldwide. Within the same year, Schweiger was the first foreign actor to win the "Polish Oscar" at the International Warsaw Film festival for his performance in in Bandyta (1997). He has since built up acting credits in dozens of German movies including Der Eisbär (1998), where Schweiger made his debut as director.
Judas Kiss (1998) was Schweiger's first role in an international film. He then appeared in several internationally acclaimed movies including SLC Punk! (1998), The Replacement Killers (1998), Driven (2001), Intimate Affairs (2001), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003), King Arthur (2004), New Year's Eve (2011), and many more.
To this day, Schweiger has delivered a series of German-language hits and won numerous Awards as actor/writer/director/producer: Barefoot (2005) grossed about $7,7 million with 1,5 million admissions, Rabbit Without Ears (2007) was up to 2014 Schweiger's most successful film and earned some $74 million locally, followed by the sequel Rabbit Without Ears 2 (2009). In 2011, Schweiger wrote, produced and directed Kokowääh (2011), which grossed $43 million, starring alongside his youngest daughter Emma. A sequel hit theaters in 2013.
As an actor, he received widespread critical acclaim and further recognition for his portrayal as the legendary Hugo Stieglitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009).
In December 2014, Til Schweiger released the family-friendly dramedy Head Full of Honey (2014) , which he co-wrote, directed, produced and starred in. It is his most successful film to date breaking the 6, 3 million admissions barrier of his 2007 hit Rabbit Without Ears (2007).
Schweiger, who started his career in German TV, plays the lead role on hit local crimes series Tatort (1970)(Hamburg) (Scene of the Crime). His debut generated the best ratings for the long-running procedural in 20 years.- Actor
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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
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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.- Clemens Schick was born on 15 February 1972 in Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is an actor, known for DogMan (2023), Andor (2022) and Futuro Beach (2014).
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Claudia Maria Schiffer is a German model, actress, and fashion designer, based in the United Kingdom. She rose to fame in the 1990s as one of the world's most successful models, cementing her supermodel status. In her early career, she was compared to Brigitte Bardot. She has appeared on more than 1,000 magazine covers and holds the record for the model with the most magazine covers, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. In 2002, Forbes estimated her net worth to be around US$55 million.