Bruno Ganz

Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in Der Untergang (The Downfall) movie.

(born March 22 1941 in Zurich) is a Swiss actor.

Before taking his Matura exams (in Switzerland, the general qualification for university entrance), Ganz had decided to become an actor. In 1960, aged 19, he played his first movie role, in Der Herr mit der schwarzen Melone ("The Man in the Black Derby"). Gustav Knuth, one of the main actors, believed in Ganz's qualification as an actor.

Bruno Ganz was a member of the ensemble of the Berliner Schaubühne. In 1972 he made his debut at the Salzburger Festspiele under Claus Peymann as director in the first performances of Thomas Bernhard's Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige.

In 1979, Ganz starred opposite Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, directed by Werner Herzog.

In 1990-1991 Ganz voiced two characters in the German radio adaptation of Douglas Adams's novel Life, the Universe and Everything (Judiciary Pag and Prak), produced by Südwestfunk (now Südwestrundfunk) and Bayerischer Rundfunk.

In 2000 Ganz played the star role in Peter Stein's 13-hour performance of Goethe's Faust I and Faust II.

In 2004 he was the first German-speaking actor to play Adolf Hitler, in a main role in Bernd Eichinger's picture Der Untergang (The Downfall). Before this picture, in German films Hitler was played in only very short scenes or from behind.

Bruno Ganz is separated from his wife, with whom he has a son named Daniel. Apart from his hometown of Zürich, Ganz lives in Venice and Berlin.

Awards

In 1996 he received the Iffland-Ring.Further awards:
* Schauspieler des Jahres 1973 -- awarded by the German magazine Theater heute
* Deutscher Darstellerpreis (Chaplin-Schuh)
* Bundesfilmpreis
* Hans-Reinhart-Ring der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft f. Theaterkultur
* Schweizer Filmpreis 2000
* Officier dans l'ordre des arts et des lettres
* David di Donatello 2000
* Berliner Filmpreis 2001

Filmography

Baruto no Gakuen (バルトの楽�'), 2006, starring Ken Matsudaira
Youth Without Youth, 2006, starring Tim Roth, Alexandra Maria Lara. Regie: Francis Coppola
Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II (2005)
Der Untergang - Hitler und das Ende des Dritten Reichs (The Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich), 2004, Adolf Hitler, starring Heino Ferch, Ulrich Matthes, Corinna Harfouch, Birgit Minichmayr, Juliane Köhler
The Manchurian Candidate, 2004, Richard Delp
Luther, 2003, Johann von Staupitz, starring Joseph Fiennes, Alfred Molina, Peter Ustinov, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Mathieu Carrière
*"Behind Me - Bruno Ganz", 2002
Epsteins Nacht (Epstein's Night), 2002, Adam Rose, starring Mario Adorf, Otto Tausig
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust, 2001 TV, Faust
*"Pane e tulipani" ("Bread and Tulips"), 2000, Fernando Girasoli
*"Mia aioniotita kai mia mera" ("Eternity and a Day"), 1998, Alexandre, directed by: Theo Angelopoulos
*"Saint-Ex", 1997, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
*"L'Absence" ("The Absence"), 1994, Player, screen-play and directed by: Peter Handke
*"In weiter Ferne, so nah!" ("Faraway, So Close!"), 1993, Damiel, directed by: Wim Wenders
*"Brandnacht" ("Night on Fire"), 1992, Peter Keller, starring Suzanne von Borsody, Dietmar Schönherr
*"La Domenica specialmente" ("Especially on Sunday"), 1991, Vittorio, starring Nicoletta Braschi, Ornella Muti
*"Erfolg" ("Success"), 1991, starring Franziska Walser, Peter Simonischek, Mathieu Carrière, Thomas Holtzmann, Jutta Speidel, Gustl Bayrhammer
*"Strapless", 1989, Raymond Forbes, starring Blair Brown, Bridget Fonda
* Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire) , 1987, Damiel, directed by: Wim Wenders
*"Krieg und Frieden" ("War and Peace"), 1983
*"Die Fälschung" ("Circle of Deceit"), 1981, Georg Laschen, screen-play: Nicolas Born, directed by: Volker Schlöndorff, starring Hanna Schygulla, Gila von Weitershausen
*"La Dame aux camélias" ("Lady of the Camelias"), 1980, Count Perregaux, starring Isabelle Huppert, Clio Goldsmith
*"Der Erfinder" ("The Inventor"), 1980, Jakob Nüssli
*"5% de risques", 1980, David, starring Jean-Pierre Cassel
*"Retour à la bien-aimée" ("Return to the Beloved"), 1979, Dr. Stephan Kern, starring Isabelle Huppert (Jeanne Kern)
*"Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht" ("Nosferatu the Vampyre"), 1979, Jonathan Harker, directed by: Werner Herzog, starring Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani (Lucy Harker), Roland Topor
*"The Boys from Brazil", 1978, Professor Bruckner, starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, Lilli Palmer
*"Die Linkshändige Frau" ("The Left-Handed Woman"), 1977, Bruno, screen-play and directed by: Peter Handke, starring Edith Clever, Michael Lonsdale, Angela Winkler, Bernhard Wicki, Bernhard Minetti, Gérard Depardieu
*"Der Amerikanische Freund" ("The American Friend"), 1977, Jonathan Zimmermann, directed by: Wim Wenders, screen-play: Patricia Highsmith, co-starring: Dennis Hopper
*"Die Wildente" ("Wild Duck"), 1976, Gregors, with Anne Bennent
*"Die Marquise von O..." ("The Marquise of O..."), 1976, The Count, directed by: Eric Rohmer, starring Edith Clever, Otto Sander, Ruth Drexel
*"Lumière" ("Lumiere"), 1976, Heinrich Grün, screen-play and directed by: Jeanne Moreau
*"Sommergäste" ("Summer Guests"), 1976, screen-play: Botho Strauß, directed by: Peter Stein, starring Edith Clever, Jutta Lampe
*"Chikita", 1961
*"Der Herr mit der schwarzen Melone" ("The Man in the Black Derby"), 1960

Trivia

* Alcide Nikopol, the protagonist of the "Nikopol trilogy" of graphic novels by Enki Bilal, is clearly modelled after the likeness of a young Bruno Ganz.
* Played a biologist convincing Liebermann (Laurence Olivier) that cloning Hitler was possible in The boys from Brazil and later went on to play Hitler himself in Der Untergang.

External links

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