Detailed Biography

Bruno Ganz ; born March 22, 1941, Zürich) is a Swiss actor, arguably best known for his role as Damiel in Wings of Desire and for his role as Adolf Hitler in Der Untergang.

Early life

Ganz was born to a Swiss mechanic father and a northern Italian mother. He had decided to pursue an acting career by the time he entered university. He was equally drawn to stage and screen but initially enjoyed greater success in the theater.

Career

In 1960, Ganz landed his first film role, in Der Herr mit der schwarzen Melone . Despite the support of lead actor Gustav Knuth, his cinematic debut was not particularly successful and it was only many years later that his career in film got off the ground. Ganz made his theatrical debut the following year and devoted himself primarily to the stage for almost two decades thereafter. In 1970, he helped found the Berliner Schaubühne ensemble and two years later performed in the Salzburg Festival premier of Thomas Bernhard's Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige, under the direction of Claus Peymann. The German magazine Theater heute solidified Ganz’s reputation as a stage actor by pronouncing him Schauspieler des Jahres in 1973. One of Ganz's most physically demanding stage portrayals was the title character in Peter Stein’s 2000 production of Goethe's Faust , as he suffered injuries during rehearsals and his assumption of the role was delayed.

Ganz made his film breakthrough in a major part in the 1976 film Sommergäste, launching a widely recognized film career in both Europe and the U.S. He has worked with directors Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Éric Rohmer, and Francis Ford Coppola, among others. In 1979 he starred opposite Klaus Kinski in Herzog’s Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht .

Ganz played a professor opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in the thriller The Boys from Brazil , about Nazi fugitives. He went on to portray Adolf Hitler in the acclaimed Der Untergang . Ganz himself did four months of research on Hitler in preparation for the role.

In the United States, Ganz probably is best known for his role in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire , as the angel Damiel. He co-starred with Dennis Hopper in Wenders' The American Friend, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game.

Ganz recently appeared in The Reader and Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, which were both nominated for the 81st Academy Awards .

It has been announced that he will play Italian journalist Tiziano Terzani in an upcoming biopic.

Ganz has also served as a speaker in classical music works, including a recording of Luigi Nono's Il Canto Sospeso with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Personal life

Ganz is separated from his wife Sabine, whom he married in 1965, and with whom he had his only son Daniel . When not in his hometown of Zürich, he resides in Venice and Berlin.

Awards