German Actors
by jochen-schwiede | created - 02 Mar 2014 | updated - 29 Nov 2018 | PublicGerman, Austrian and Switzerland Actors and Actresses
1. Daniel Brühl
Actor | Rush
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 ...
2. Christoph Waltz
Actor | Inglourious Basterds
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...
3. Diane Kruger
Actress | Inglourious Basterds
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 ...
4. Alexandra Maria Lara
Actress | Der Untergang
Born on 12 November 1978 in Bucharest, Romania, Alexandra Maria Lara fled to Germany with her parents when she was four and half years old. After graduating at the French High School, she studied acting at the Theaterwerkstatt Charlottenburg from 1997 and 2000, but had already played leading ...
5. Franka Potente
Actress | Lola rennt
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 ...
6. Thomas Kretschmann
Actor | King Kong
Thomas Kretschmann was born in East Germany. Before becoming an actor, he was a swimmer. He has acted in several popular American movies, such as Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), The Pianist (2002), U-571 (2000), In Enemy Hands (2004), etc. He has three children, Nicolas, Stella and Sascha with ...
7. Til Schweiger
Actor | Inglourious Basterds
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.
...
8. Bruno Ganz
Actor | Der Untergang
Bruno Ganz was an acclaimed Swiss actor who was a prominent figure in German language film and television for over fifty years. He is internationally renowned for portraying Adolf Hitler in the Academy Award-nominated film Downfall (2004).
Ganz was born in Zürich, to a Swiss mechanic father and a ...
9. Jürgen Prochnow
Actor | Das Boot
Born in Berlin, Germany, in 1941, Jürgen Prochnow is a leading actor of the German stage and screen. He was memorable as the submarine captain in the gritty WW II film Das Boot (1981), which brought him to international prominence. He has since starred in many well-received European and Hollywood ...
10. Matthias Schweighöfer
Actor | Army of the Dead
Matthias Schweighöfer is one of the most successful German actors. Born into a family of actors, he soon knew he belonged in front of a camera, too. His parents, the theatre actors Gitta Schweighöfer and Michael Schweighöfer, often took him to some of their rehearsals, so he later participated in ...
11. Moritz Bleibtreu
Actor | Das Experiment
Moritz Bleibtreu is a German actor born on August 13, 1971 in Munich growing up in Hamburg. He first appears in children's television series Neues aus Uhlenbusch (1977) at the age of six. His breakthrough was the role called "Abdul" in the movie Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997). He also became ...
12. August Diehl
Actor | Inglourious Basterds
August Diehl was born on January 4, 1976 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for Inglourious Basterds (2009), A Hidden Life (2019) and 23 (1998). He has been married to Julia Malik since 1999. They have two children.
13. Sebastian Koch
Actor | Das Leben der Anderen
Sebastian Koch is one of the most internationally sought-after German actors of his generation. After stage engagements in Berlin, Bochum and Darmstadt, the Karlsruhe native was twice awarded the "Grimme Prize" in 2002 for the title role in Peter Keglevic's "Der Tanz mit dem Teufel - Die Entführung...
14. Martina Gedeck
Actress | Das Leben der Anderen
Martina Gedeck was born in Munich. After spending a year in the US, she studied drama at the Berlin University of the Arts. Martina's film career began while she was still at drama school. Her filmography covers practically all genres of film.
Gedeck has won a total of 23 major cinema and TV awards....
15. Max Riemelt
Actor | Napola - Elite für den Führer
Max Riemelt was born on January 7, 1984 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for Before the Fall (2004), Free Fall (2013) and Berlin Syndrome (2017).
16. Ulrich Mühe
Actor | Das Leben der Anderen
Ulrich Mühe was born on June 20, 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 previously married to Susanne Lothar, Jenny Gröllmann and Annegret Hahn. He died on July 22, 2007 in Walbeck, ...
17. Christian Berkel
Actor | The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Christian Berkel was born on October 28, 1957 in West Berlin, West Germany. He is an actor, known for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Trumbo (2015) and Valkyrie (2008). He has been married to Andrea Sawatzki since December 17, 2011. They have two children.
18. Sylvester Groth
Actor | Inglourious Basterds
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 ...
19. Ulrich Tukur
Actor | Das Leben der Anderen
Ulrich Tukur was born on July 29, 1957 in Viernheim, Hesse, Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for The Lives of Others (2006), Solaris (2002) and Amen. (2002). He has been married to Katharina John since October 2003. He was previously married to Amber Wood.
20. Jürgen Vogel
Actor | Die Welle
Jürgen Vogel was born on April 29, 1968 in Hamburg, West Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for The Wave (2008), The Free Will (2006) and Life is All You Get (1997).
21. Juliane Köhler
Actress | Der Untergang
Juliane Köhler was born on August 6, 1965 in Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress, known for Downfall (2004), Aimee & Jaguar (1999) and Nowhere in Africa (2001).
22. Julia Jentsch
Actress | Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage
Julia Jentsch was born on February 20, 1978 in Berlin, Germany. She is an actress, known for Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005), The Edukators (2004) and 24 Weeks (2016). She has been married to Christian Hablützel since 2012. They have one child.
23. Nadja Uhl
Actress | Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
Nadja Uhl was born on May 23, 1972 in Stralsund, German Democratic Republic. She is an actress, known for The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), Operation Sugar (2012) and Divided We Stand (2022).
24. Robert Stadlober
Actor | Sommersturm
Robert Stadlober was born on August 3, 1982 in Friesach, Carinthia, Austria. He is an actor and producer, known for Summer Storm (2004), Enemy at the Gates (2001) and Engel & Joe (2001).
25. Devid Striesow
Actor | Im Westen nichts Neues
Devid Striesow was born on October 1, 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.
26. Burghart Klaußner
Actor | Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei
Burghart Klaußner was born on September 13, 1949 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for The Edukators (2004), The White Ribbon (2009) and The People Vs. Fritz Bauer (2015). He is married to Jenny. They have two children.
27. Christiane Paul
Actress | Im Juli
Christiane Paul known for "In July", "Counterpart", "Parliament", and "FBI International" was born behind the Berlin wall in East Berlin. At the age of 28, she already was a medical doctor, had a little daughter and had starred in more than 20 movies including the national top-sellers "In July" and...
28. Maximilian Schell
Actor | Judgment at Nuremberg
Maximilian Schell was the most successful German-speaking actor in English-language films since Emil Jannings, the winner of the first Best Actor Academy Award. Like Jannings, Schell won the Oscar, but unlike him, he was a dedicated anti-Nazi. Indeed, with the exception of Maurice Chevalier and ...
29. Peter Lorre
Actor | M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder
Peter Lorre was born László Löwenstein in Rózsahegy in the Slovak area of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of Hungarian Jewish parents. He learned both Hungarian and German languages from birth, and was educated in elementary and secondary schools in the Austria-Hungary capitol Vienna, but did ...
30. David Kross
Actor | The Reader
David Kross was born on July 4, 1990 in Bargteheide, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany next to Hamburg. He attended Eckhorst High School in Bargteheide till 2007. In this period, he first appears in the German movie Help, I'm a Boy! (2002). He also receives his first leading role in the movie Tough Enough...
31. Klaus Kinski
Actor | Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Klaus Kinski was born as Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski in Zoppot, Free City of Danzig (now Sopot, Poland), to Susanne (Lutze), a nurse, and Bruno Nakszynski, a pharmacist. He grew up in Berlin, was drafted into the German army in 1944 and captured by British forces in Holland. After the war he began...
32. Heike Makatsch
Actress | Love Actually
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...
33. Katharina Schüttler
Actress | Freier Fall
Katharina Schüttler started acting for film and television when she was 11 years old. Her breakthrough in Germany was the International Emmy Award winning Mini-Series "Generation War" ("Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter") in which she portrayed singer Greta del Torres. She appeared in many films for ...
34. Nora Tschirner
Actress | Keinohrhasen
Nora Tschirner was born on June 12, 1981 in East Berlin, East Germany. She is an actress and producer, known for Rabbit Without Ears (2007), Tatort (1970) and Kebab Connection (2004).
35. Wotan Wilke Möhring
Actor | Pandorum
Wotan Wilke Möhring was born on May 23, 1967 in Detmold, Germany. He is an actor, known for Pandorum (2009), Winnetou & Old Shatterhand (2016) and Antibodies (2005).
36. Friedrich Mücke
Actor | Friendship!
Friedrich Mücke was born on March 12, 1981 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor, known for Friendship! (2010), Weinberg (2015) and Alles ist Liebe (2014).
37. Elmar Wepper
Actor | Kirschblüten - Hanami
Elmar Wepper was born on April 16, 1944 in Augsburg, Germany. He is an actor, known for Cherry Blossoms (2008), Zwei Münchner in Hamburg (1989) and Unsere schönsten Jahre (1983). He has been married to Anita Schlierf since 2004.
38. Gert Fröbe
Actor | Goldfinger
Tall, portly built German born actor (and talented violinist) who notched up over 100 film appearances, predominantly in German-language productions. He will forever be remembered by Western audiences as the bombastic megalomaniac "Auric Goldfinger" trying to kill Sean Connery and irradiate the ...
39. Armin Mueller-Stahl
Actor | Eastern Promises
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 ...
40. Sibel Kekilli
Actress | Gegen die Wand
Sibel Kekilli is a German actress of Turkish origin. With her debut in Fatih Akin's movie "Head On" she gained major public attention. The film won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival 2004 and her acting performance received several national and international prizes, among them the highly ...
41. Götz Otto
Actor | Iron Sky
Götz Otto was born on October 15, 1967 in Dietzenbach, Hesse, Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for Iron Sky (2012), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) and Cloud Atlas (2012).
42. Max Schreck
Actor | Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens
Max Schreck was born in Berlin. He worked in an apprenticeship until his father's death before enrolling into a school for acting. He toured the country with his peers and was a member of several theaters until he became a part of Max Reinhardt's group of innovative German actors. He played mostly ...
43. Curd Jürgens
Actor | The Spy Who Loved Me
Curd Jürgens (commonly billed as "Curt Jurgens" in anglophone countries) was one of the most successful European film actors of the 20th Century. He was born Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens on December 13, 1915, in Solln, Bavaria, in Hohenzollern Imperial Germany, a subject of Kaiser ...
44. Herbert Grönemeyer
Actor | Das Boot
Herbert Grönemeyer was born on April 12, 1956 in Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. He is a music artist and actor, known for Das Boot (1981), The American (2010) and A Most Wanted Man (2014). He was previously married to Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer.
45. Gustav Fröhlich
Actor | Metropolis
Gustav Fröhlich was born on March 21, 1902 in Hanover, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Metropolis (1927), Leb' wohl, Christina (1945) and His Daughter Is Peter (1955). He was previously married to Maria Hajek and Gitta Alpar. He died on December 22, 1987 in Lugano, Ticino, ...
46. Otto Sander
Actor | Der Himmel über Berlin
Otto Sander was born on June 30, 1941 in Hanover, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for Wings of Desire (1987), Das Boot (1981) and Faraway, So Close! (1993). He was previously married to Monika Hansen. He died on September 12, 2013 in Berlin, Germany.
47. Karoline Herfurth
Actress | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Karoline Herfurth was born on May 22, 1984 in Berlin, Germany. She is an actress and director, known for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), Passion (2012) and SMS für Dich (2016).
48. Tom Schilling
Actor | Oh Boy
Tom Schilling was born on February 10, 1982 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor and producer, known for A Coffee in Berlin (2012), Before the Fall (2004) and Who Am I (2014).
49. Ken Duken
Actor | Max Manus
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...
50. Volker Bruch
Actor | Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
Volker Bruch was born on March 9, 1980 in Munich, Germany. He is an actor, known for The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), The Reader (2008) and Babylon Berlin (2017).
51. Anna Maria Mühe
Actress | Mitten in Deutschland: NSU
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 ...
52. Florian David Fitz
Actor | Jesus liebt mich
Florian David Fitz was born on November 20, 1974 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for Jesus Loves Me (2012), The Most Beautiful Day (2016) and 100 Things (2018).
53. Nina Hoss
Actress | Phoenix
Nina Hoss was born on July 7, 1975 in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She is an actress, known for Phoenix (2014), Tár (2022) and A Most Wanted Man (2014). She has been married to Alex Silva since 2015.
54. Romy Schneider
Actress | L'important c'est d'aimer
Romy Schneider was born on 23 September 1938 in Vienna, Austria into a family of actors. Making her film debut at the age of 15, her breakthrough came two years later in the very popular trilogy Sissi (1955). Her mother, supervising her daughter's career, immediately approved Romy's participation ...
55. Corinna Harfouch
Actress | Der Untergang
Corinna Harfouch was born in Suhl, German Democratic Republic on October 16th, 1954. She is an award-winning theater and television actor, well known for starring in Der Untergang (2004), Lara (2019), Bibi Blocksberg (2002) and Deutschland89 (2020). She played Martha in the German theater ...
56. Katharina Thalbach
Actress | Die Blechtrommel
Katharina Thalbach was born on January 19, 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.
57. Hannelore Hoger
Actress | Bella Block
Hannelore Hoger was born on August 20, 1942 in Hamburg, Germany. She is an actress and director, known for Bella Block (1993), Heimat 2: Chronicle of a Generation (1992) and Die Bertinis (1988).
58. Iris Berben
Actress | Triangle of Sadness
Iris Berben was born on August 12, 1950 in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. She is an actress, known for Triangle of Sadness (2022), Rosa Roth (1994) and Krupp: A Family Between War and Peace (2009).
59. Hannelore Elsner
Actress | Die Kommissarin
One of the pre-eminent divas of post-war German cinema, Hannelore Elsner (born 'Elstner') was the consummate actress: a gifted and versatile performer with a penchant for intense roles, often as emancipated, strong-willed women. A Bavarian engineer's daughter (her father died of tuberculosis when ...
60. Senta Berger
Actress | Unter Verdacht
Senta Berger was born in 1941 in Vienna, Austria to her father Josef Berger who was a musician and her mother Therese Berger, a school teacher. Senta and her father performed together when she was just four years old. She sang and her dad played the piano. At five years old, she took ballet lessons...
61. Alexandra Neldel
Actress | Unschuldig
Alexandra Neldel was born in 1976 in West Berlin, Germany. Her parents divorced when she was a child. His father is a hunter.
It was always very hard for her to decide if she would be with her father or her mother. Maybe that is the reason why she decided to leave her parents and to live her own ...
62. Katja Riemann
Actress | Fack ju Göhte
Katja Riemann was born on November 1, 1963 in Kirchweyhe, Weyhe, Lower Saxony, Germany. She is an actress and director, known for Suck Me Shakespeer (2013), Rosenstrasse (2003) and Bandits (1997).
63. Anneke Kim Sarnau
Actress | The Constant Gardener
Anneke Kim Sarnau was born on February 25, 1972 in Elmshorn, Germany. She is an actress, known for The Constant Gardener (2005), Police Call 110 (1971) and Final Hope (2002).
64. Jessica Schwarz
Actress | Romy
Jessica Schwarz was born on May 5, 1977 in Erbach im Odenwald, Hesse, Germany. She is an actress, known for Romy (2009), No Regrets (2001) and Buddenbrooks (2008).
65. Alexander Fehling
Actor | Inglourious Basterds
Alexander Fehling was born on March 29, 1981 in Berlin, Germany. He is an actor and writer, known for Inglourious Basterds (2009), Labyrinth of Lies (2014) and Homeland (2011).
66. Hannah Herzsprung
Actress | The Reader
Hannah Herzsprung was born on September 7, 1981 in Hamburg, West Germany. She is an actress, known for The Reader (2008), Four Minutes (2006) and Who Am I (2014).
67. Florian Lukas
Actor | Good Bye Lenin!
Florian Lukas was born on March 16, 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).
68. Johanna Wokalek
Actress | Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
Johanna Wokalek was born on March 3, 1975 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. She is an actress, known for The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008), Pope Joan (2009) and Barefoot (2005). She is married to Thomas Hengelbrock. They have one child.
69. Veronica Ferres
Actress | Crisis
After playing a lead role in Oscar and Golden Globe nominated movie "Schtonk!", Veronica has worked in over one hundred feature films; more than thirty of which were American / English productions. Two Emmy-Award-winning productions stand out among the numerous films, TV and made-for-TV movies that...
70. Alice Dwyer
Actress | Ma folie
Alice Dwyer was born in 1988 in Berlin, Germany. She is an actress, known for Ma folie (2015), Act of Violence (2008) and What You Don't See (2009).
71. Ulrich Matthes
Actor | Der Untergang
Ulrich Matthes was born on May 9, 1959 in West Berlin, West Germany. He is an actor, known for Downfall (2004), Feuerreiter (1998) and The Ninth Day (2004).
72. Stipe Erceg
Actor | Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei
Stipe Erceg was born on October 30, 1974 in Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia [now Croatia]. He is an actor and producer, known for The Edukators (2004), Unknown (2011) and The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008).
73. Ronald Zehrfeld
Actor | Barbara
Ronald Zehrfeld was born on January 15, 1977 in East Berlin, German Democratic Republic. He is an actor, known for Barbara (2012), The People Vs. Fritz Bauer (2015) and In the Face of Crime (2010).
74. Josefine Preuß
Actress | Türkisch für Anfänger
Josefine Preuß was born on January 13, 1986 in Zehdenick, Brandenburg, Germany. She is an actress, known for Türkisch für Anfänger (2012), Turkish for Beginners (2006) and Ruby Red (2013).
75. Sophie Rois
Actress | 3
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 ...
76. Ulrich Noethen
Actor | Der Untergang
Ulrich Noethen was born on November 18, 1959 in Munich, Germany. He is an actor, known for Downfall (2004), The Slurb (2001) and My Führer (2007). He was previously married to Friederike Wagner.
