Henning Baum. Author Siebbi.

20 Most Famous German Actors


 

German film has a long history that dates back to the early years of the industry. In the years before World War I, movie theaters themselves started to become recognized landmarks.

German filmmakers used to tour their films before this, stopping at various fairgrounds to show them. Owners of caf茅s and bars who recognized an opportunity to draw in more patrons decided to install the first running cinemas in their establishments.

Before the start of the First World War, most moviegoing took place in what was known as a 鈥淜ientopp,鈥 a storefront theater. In Mannheim, the nation鈥檚 first independent, specialty theater debuted in 1906, and by 1910, there were more than 1000 theaters open for business.

Amazingly, German has invested in Numerous establishments, both public and private. These institutions offer formal education in various facets of filmmaking. This has enabled the sharpening of acting skills for German Actors. Germany has become a home to some fine and talented actors. Amazingly, most of the actors have made it big in the movie industry abroad.

Here are some of the great of Germany鈥檚 most famous actors!

1. Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich. Author Eric Koch.

Marlene was a German and American actress. Her career spanned from the 1910s to the 1980s. Marlene Dietrich deservedly earned a spot as one of the most recognizable figures from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Dietrich鈥檚 sympathetic, moving, and brave characters astounded the audience. She starred in many Hollywood films. These films were such as Morocco (1930) (her only Academy Award nomination), Dishonoured (1931), Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus (both 1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934) and The Devil Is a Woman (1935), Desire (1936) and Destry Rides Again (1939).

Marlene held a prominent position as an entertainer in the US throughout World War II. She made memorable appearances in several post-war movies, including Billy Wilder鈥檚 A Foreign Affair (1948), Alfred Hitchcock鈥檚 Stage Fright (1950), Billy Wilder鈥檚 Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Orson Welles鈥 Touch of Evil (1958), and Stanley Kramer鈥檚 Judgment at Nuremberg (1961).

Interestingly, she was well-established for her humanitarian work during World War II. Dietrich provided lodging, and financial support, and even argued for the citizenship of German and French exiles.

She received numerous honors from the United States, France, Belgium, and Israel for her efforts to boost morale on the front lines during the conflict. Dietrich was ranked as the seventh greatest female screen legend of classic Hollywood movies by the American Film Institute in 1999.

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2. Alfred Abel

Alfred Abel. Author Alexander Binder.

Alfred was a German film actor, director, and producer. Abel had several careers before becoming an actor. He first pursued a career as a forester in his early adult years before going on to study gardening in Saxon Mittweida. To pursue a career as a businessman, he switched his topic of study to business. The Leipzig Academy then offered a brief course in art drafting. Abel went to acting lessons in private during this time.

Abel was well known for his restrained use of dramatic gestures in his acting. He mastered the use of reserved language to convey the psychology and internal conflicts of his characters. Between 1913 and 1938, he made over 140 silent and sound movie appearances. His most well-known performance was Joh Fredersen in Fritz Lang鈥檚 Metropolis from 1927.

He collaborated with several well-known filmmakers, including Detlef Sierck and Anatole Litvak. Some of his more well-known sound roles are Count Eberhard in Litvak鈥檚 Dolly鈥檚 Way to Stardom (1930), Heinz Ruehmann鈥檚 Meine Frau, die Hochstaplerin (1931), Count d鈥橢guzon in Reinhold Schuenzel鈥檚 romance Beautiful Adventure (1932), and Dichter Knips in Franz Liszt鈥檚 鈥淭he Court Concert鈥 (1936).

3. Volker Bruch

Bruch was born in West Germany in 1980 to an Austrian mother and a German father. During his time at the gymnasium, he started performing and was active in student-acting organizations.

He attended the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, Austria, to study performing arts after earning his university entry diploma. Bruch deliberately decided to focus on performing for television and cinema rather than theater while he was a student. He made some of his earliest television appearances during this period.

In the early years of his career, Bruch largely appeared in supporting roles in German television and television film projects. He received a German Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. The award was for his performance as Axi in the 2005 German television film Rose. The film was his first notable performance.

As a result of his roles in several films such as the French film Female Agents, the English-language German biopic The Red Baron (in which he played Oberleutnant Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen), the Oscar-nominated German film The Baader Meinhof Complex (in which he played Stefan Aust), and the Academy Award-winning American film The Reader, Bruch鈥檚 acting career was notable in 2008.

His two most well-known international performances were as Inspector Gereon Rath in the neo-noir series Babylon Berlin (2017). Moreover, he was well recognized for his role as Wilhelm Winter in the television drama Generation War (2013). He received the 2018 Grimme-Preis for the two roles. This award is Germany鈥檚 most prestigious television award.

4.Christel Bodenstein

Christen is another Famous German actor. Acting was not her first Career, She trained as a ballet dancer at the State Ballet School in Berlin as well as the Leipzig Opera Ballet School.

However, She met the director of the movie Kurt Maetzig, who advised her to study acting and do a screen test for a movie. She then enrolled at the Academy of Film and Television in Potsdam to study acting.

She performed in numerous East German (GDR) shows. However, her breakthrough performance as the little princess in The Singing Ringing Tree is what made her famous outside of Germany (1957).

5. Hans Albers

Hans Albers. Author Alexander Binder .

By his late teens, he had developed a serious interest in acting. He enrolled in acting classes without telling his parents. Albers enlisted in the German Army in 1915 to fight in World War I but was injured shortly after.

He performed comedies, capers, and operettas in the nearby Residenz theater after being discharged from the hospital. Albers relocated to Berlin after the war. In Berlin, he worked as a humorous actor in several Weimar-era Berlin theaters. His role as a waitress in the drama Verbrecher marked his breakout performance (Criminals).

He was one of the most well-known German performers of the 20th century. Moreover, he was the biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1960. He acted in several films such as Jahreszeiten des Lebens, Die Tochter der Gr盲fin Stachowska, Der Mut zur S眉nde, and Das Spitzentuch der F眉rstin Wolkowska.

6. Lissy Arna

Lissy Arna was a German actress. Between 1918 and 1962, she made 63 film appearances. Martin Fri and Karel Lama, who directed The Squeaker in 1931, had her as the lead. She made her cinematic debut in 1930, working with William Dieterle to direct German-language adaptations of American movies.

Some of the movies she acted in were A Night鈥檚 Adventure (1923), The Elegant Bunch (1925), The Woman without Money (1925), and Adventure on the Night Express (1925).

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7.Christoph Maria Herbst

Christoph Maria Herbst. Author Michael Schilling.

Christoph is a German actor and comedian. He is well known for his various acting characters. Herbst made his debut on German television in 1997 on the program Sketchup 鈥 The Next Generation.Herbst鈥檚 movie career began in 1998 in the film Der wirklich letzte Junggeselle (鈥淭he last bachelor鈥).

His leading roles included those in Traumschiff Surprise 鈥 Periode 1, 2003. Moreover, his role as the butler Alfons Hatler in the 2004 comedy film Der Wixxer. He played Christoph Sensenbrink in the film Look Who鈥檚 Back, which was one of his more notable roles.

In 1986, Herbst was a founding member of the private Theater in Cronenberg and its acting school. He鈥檚 still performing in German theatres.

8. Fabian Hinrichs

Fabian Hinrichs. Author Stefan Brending

Fabians is well-established I鈥檓 Germany for his acting characters. He is best known for his performance as Hans Scholl in Sophie Scholl 鈥 The Final Days, which was nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Hinrichs was a member of the European Film Academy as well as the German Film Academy. He was a part of the Volksb眉hne Berlin group from 2000 to 2006. He has received various awards for his acting career such as New Faces Award in 2004 for the best actor in Sophie Scholl 鈥 The Final Days and Theatre Today Awards as the actor of the year.

9. Mirko Lang

Mirko Lang. Author :Ralf Roletschek

German actor Mirko Lang has performed in a wide range of scripts, television programs, and stage productions. He began studying music and theater in Hannover after completing his Abitur there, where he also made his debut on stage.

Lang acted in several films while still in school, including Das Wunder von Bern, a well-known German film, and Engel and Joe, in which he had the major role. He earned a Talent Award as Germany鈥檚 most talented young actor after completing his studies in 2002. He has been an independent actor since that time.

10. Paul Henckels

German actor Paul Henckels appeared in both movies and plays. Between 1921 and 1965, he made more than 230 film appearances. In the 1900s, Paul Henckels began his performing career on stage.

His zany, colorful characters and distinctive Rhineland accent made him well renowned. Professor B枚mmel, a teacher in Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944), and Dr. Pudlich, a veterinarian in the 鈥淚mmenhof film series鈥 in the 1950s, were two of his most well-liked parts. He was also well-known for his work as a theatrical performer and spent a lot of time at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. He performed Wibbel the Tailor, one of his most well-liked theater roles, more than a thousand times.

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11.Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Rudolf Klein-Rogge, sometimes known as Friedrich Rudolf Klein, was a German actor. He was well recognized for his roles as ominous characters in movies from the 1920s and 1930s. Moreover, he was established for being a regular in Fritz Lang’s Weimar-era movies.

He was best known in popular culture, especially to English-speaking audiences, for his roles as the criminal genius Doctor Mabuse and the stereotypical mad scientist C. A. Rotwang in Lang’s Metropolis. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Klein-Rogge also made appearances in several significant French films.

Some of the movies he acted in  Das Licht am Fenster (1919), Spiele eines Milliard盲rs (1919), Das Geheimnis des Irren (1919), Morphium (1919), Flitter-D枚rtje (1919) and Die Launen eines Milliard盲rs (1919).

12. Vincent Redetzki

Vincent Redetzki. Author JCS.

Vincent Redetzki is a German actor. He is well-known for his amazing acting characters. He performed his first little role at the Theater am Kurf眉rstendamm at the age of nine.

Vincent made his stage debut in the drama Unter Eis (Under Ice) by Falk Richter at the Berlin Schaub眉hne two years later, in 2003. He has since been in a few performances of Richter, including Trust (2009) and 2006鈥檚 Die Verst枚rung, Im Ausnahmezustand, and Trust.

The television series Die W枚lfe included Redetzki as one of the key characters. Amazingly, he took home the German Television Promotional Award and the Emmy Award for best TV Movie/Mini-Series in 2009.

13.Hubert von Meyerinck

Meyerinck was born in Potsdam, Brandenburg, the son of Friedrich von Meyerinck. He made his stage acting debut in 1917 at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. From 1918 to 1920, he continued his acting career at the Hamburg Kammerspiele.

When he returned to Berlin, he appeared in avant-garde plays by Carl Sternheim as well as several revue shows and kabarett venues. Later, with engagements at the Deutsches Theater and the Lessing Theater, he made a comeback to traditional theater. He played roles such as The Imaginary Invalid, Mephistopheles, Captain of K枚penick, and Meckie Messer in Brecht鈥檚 Threepenny Opera.

Meyerinck began acting in silent films in 1920. He gained notoriety for his high forehead and mustache. Interestingly, he frequently wore a monocle to emphasize his mesmerizing expression. Due to the need for scoundrel and charlatan characters and his distinctive rasping voice, which complemented his physiognomy wonderfully, he was able to continue his career in the sound film period.

Meyerinck passed away in Hamburg from heart failure. He is interred nearby in the Schladen cemetery.

14. Albert Paulig

Albert was a well-known silent-era German film performer. In 1914, Paulig released his debut movie. The next year, he made an appearance in A Trip on the Ice, Ernst Lubitsch鈥檚 debut motion picture (1915). Paulig appeared in several thrillers by Harry Piel, including The Man Without Nerves (1924).

15. Fritz Rasp

German actor Fritz Heinrich Rasp starred in more than 100 motion pictures between 1916 and 1976. Rasp was referred to in his obituary in Der Spiegel as 鈥渢he German film villain in service, for over 60 years.鈥

In 1909, following his successful recovery from a speech handicap, he made his stage debut. The character actor had a long career and performed in some of the most renowned theaters in Germany.

Throughout the 1920s German cinema鈥檚 Golden Age, Rasp took on many criminal or sinister roles. He is regarded as one of the most popular movie antagonists in German cinema history.

Rasp played 鈥淛. J. Peachum鈥 in The Threepenny Opera (1931), the reckless seducer Meinert in Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), Mr. Brocklehurst in the early German production of Jane Eyre Orphan of Lowood (1926), and the bank robber Grundeis in Emil and the Detectives (1931).

16. Ralph Arthur Roberts

German actor and director Ralph Arthur Roberts also wrote plays and occasionally directed in theater and film. He became the director of the Berlin Theatre in Behrenstra脽e in 1928.

Ralph made his stage debut in 1903 at the Wiesbaden Residenz theater. He also performed on occasion at the Berlin Trianon Theatre and the Breslau Schauspielhaus.

Ralph had several supporting roles in movies. He had a certain look that included a monocle, and he tended to play directors and businessmen in movies. He is noted for his propensity to play quirky characters, which led to humorous self-commentary roles like the public prosecutor in Der Maulkorb, where he established himself as 鈥渙ne of the best character actors of his generation.鈥

17. Henning Baum

Henning Baum. Author Siebbi.

On September 20, 1972, Henning Baum was born. He is a well-known German actor from movies and TV. His portrayal of Michael 鈥淢ick鈥 Brisgau in the television series Der letzte Bulle is his most well-known role (The Last Cop).

Henning has acted in several films such as M盲dchen, M盲dchen (2001), as Trainer Chris, Der letzte Bulle (2010鈥2014, TV series, 60 episodes), as Mick Brisgau and Undercover Love [de] (2010, TV film), as Johannes M眉ller. Moreover, he acted in Iron Fist [de] (2014, TV film), as G枚tz von Berlichingen and M盲dchen, M盲dchen (2016), as Gerhard 鈥淩ex鈥 Maier.

18. Detlev Buck

Detlev Buck. Author Siebbi.

Buck is well established German film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He has been one of the most significant filmmakers working in Germany since releasing his first short film, Work and Leisure [de], in 1982 when he was just 21 years old.

Karniggels, his debut feature from 1991, launched him into the world stage. He has since continued to produce both short and feature-length movies.

He is renowned for acting in movies directed by other people and making cameo appearances in his movies. His performance in Blue Moon is a wonderful illustration of his acting abilities.

19. Mario Adorf

Mario is a German actor who is regarded as one of the finest character actors in old European cinema. He has appeared in more than 200 films and television shows since 1954, both in the lead and supporting parts, including the 1979 Oscar-winning picture The Tin Drum.

Mario gained notoriety in Europe, particularly in Germany, and also appeared in movies shot abroad, such as Smilla鈥檚 Sense of Snow and Ten Little Indians. He also had a minor part as a German club owner in the BBC adaptation of Smiley鈥檚 People by John le Carr茅. He performed in a lot of films in Italy as well.

20. Gedeon Burkhard

Gedeon Burkhard.Author Siebbi.

German actor Gedeon Burkhard performs in both film and television. Even though he has appeared in several movies and TV shows in both Europe and the US, he is best known for his roles as Corporal Wilhelm Wicki in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds and Alexander Brandtner in the Austrian/German television series Kommissar Rex (1997-2001), which was broadcast in many different countries. He is particularly well known for playing Chris Ritter in the enduring television series Alarm f眉r Cobra 11.

 

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