Bruno Ganz ' onMouseout='HidePop("63406")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Zürich">Zürich
Zürich or Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre and sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland, the political capital of Switzerland being Berne...
) is a
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, arguably best known for his role as Damiel in
Wings of DesireWings of Desire is a 1987 film by the German director Wim Wenders. Its original German title is Der Himmel über Berlin, which can be translated as The Sky over Berlin. Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry partially inspired the movie; Wenders claimed angels seemed to dwell in Rilke's poetry...
and for his role as
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
in
Der Untergang.
Ganz was born to a Swiss
mechanicA mechanic is a craftsman who uses tools to repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics, aircraft mechanics, diesel mechanics, and...
father and a
northern ItalianNorthern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative worth, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian nation...
mother.
Bruno Ganz ' onMouseout='HidePop("63406")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Zürich">Zürich
Zürich or Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre and sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland, the political capital of Switzerland being Berne...
) is a
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, arguably best known for his role as Damiel in
Wings of DesireWings of Desire is a 1987 film by the German director Wim Wenders. Its original German title is Der Himmel über Berlin, which can be translated as The Sky over Berlin. Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry partially inspired the movie; Wenders claimed angels seemed to dwell in Rilke's poetry...
and for his role as
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
in
Der Untergang.
Biography
Ganz was born to a Swiss
mechanicA mechanic is a craftsman who uses tools to repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics, aircraft mechanics, diesel mechanics, and...
father and a
northern ItalianNorthern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative worth, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian nation...
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.
In 1960, Ganz landed his first film role, in
Der Herr mit der schwarzen Melone (
The Man in the Black Derby). 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 FestivalThe Salzburg Festival is a prominent festival of music and drama. It is held each summer within the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
premier of
Thomas BernhardThomas Bernhard was an Austrian playwright and novelist. He is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :...
's
Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige, under the direction of Claus Peymann. The German magazine
Theater heute (
Theater Today) solidified Ganz’s reputation as a stage actor by pronouncing him
Schauspieler des Jahres (Actor of the Year) in 1973. One of Ganz's most physically demanding stage portrayals was as Faust in
Peter SteinPeter Stein is a critically-acclaimed German theatre and opera director who established himself at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, a company that he brought to the forefront of German theatre....
’s 2000 production of Goethe's
FaustFaust or Faustus is the protagonist of a classic German legend who makes a pact with the Devil in exchange for knowledge...
(Parts I and II), where he had suffered injuries during rehearsals and his assumption of the role was delayed.
Ganz’s breakthrough in cinema came with a major part in the 1976 film
Sommergäste. His performance launched a distinguished career that has included important roles in both European and American films, for which he has received several of Europe’s most prized accolades. He has worked with the directors
Werner HerzogWerner Herzog is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director....
,
Wim WendersErnst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
,
Éric RohmerÉric Rohmer is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. A key figure in the post-war New Wave cinema, he is a former editor of influential French film journal Cahiers du cinéma.Schérer fashioned his pseudonym from the names of two famous artists: actor and director Erich von Stroheim...
, and
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an Italian-American film director, producer and screenwriter. Away from showbusiness, Coppola is also a vintner, magazine publisher and hotelier. He is a graduate of Hofstra University where he studied theatre. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the UCLA Film School...
, among others. In 1979 he starred opposite
Klaus KinskiNikolaus Karl Günther Nakszyński, best known as Klaus Kinski , was a German actor. He acted in over 130 films, and is perhaps best-remembered for his collaborations with writer/director Werner Herzog....
in Herzog’s
Nosferatu: Phantom der NachtNosferatu the Vampyre is a 1979 West German vampire horror film, set primarily in nineteenth-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, Romania. The film was conceived as a stylistic remake of the 1922 German Dracula adaptation, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens...
(
Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night).
Ganz played a professor opposite
Sir Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
in the thriller
The Boys from BrazilThe Boys from Brazil is a 1978 thriller film made by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and produced by Stanley O'Toole and Martin Richards with Robert Fryer as executive producer. The screenplay, by Heywood Gould, is based on...
(1978), about Nazi fugitives. He went on to portray
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
in the acclaimed
Der Untergang (The Downfall) (2004). 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 DesireWings of Desire is a 1987 film by the German director Wim Wenders. Its original German title is Der Himmel über Berlin, which can be translated as The Sky over Berlin. Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry partially inspired the movie; Wenders claimed angels seemed to dwell in Rilke's poetry...
(American title), as the angel Damiel. He co-starred with
Dennis HopperDennis Lee Hopper is an American actor, filmmaker and artist, with a career that spanned half of the 20th century. Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1955, and appeared in two films also featuring...
in Wenders'
The American Friend, a version of Patricia Highsmith's novel
Ripley's GameRipley's Game is a psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, the third in her "Ripliad" series.-Plot summary:In the third Ripley novel, Tom Ripley is a wealthy man in his early thirties. He lives in Villeperce, France, with his French wife, Heloise...
.
Ganz recently played in
The Reader and
Der Baader Meinhof KomplexDer Baader Meinhof Komplex is a 2008 German film by Uli Edel; written and produced by Bernd Eichinger. It stars Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck and Johanna Wokalek. The film is based on the German best selling non-fiction book of the same name by Stefan Aust and retells the early years of the West...
, which were both nominated for the 81st Academy Awards (best picture and best foreign language film).
It has been announced that he will play the role of
Tiziano TerzaniTiziano Terzani was an Italian journalist and writer.-Biography:Terzani was born in Florence to poor working class parents. He attended the University of Pisa as a law student and pupil of Collegio Medico-Giuridico . After graduating, he worked for Olivetti, the office equipment producer...
in a biopic about the Italian journalist and writer.
Ganz has also served as a speaker in classical music works, including a recording of
Luigi NonoLuigi Nono was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music and one of the most important composers of the 20th century.- Early years :...
's
Il Canto Sospeso with the
Berlin Philharmonic OrchestraThe Berlin Philharmonic , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra...
.
Ganz is separated from his wife Sabine, whom he married in 1965, and with whom he had his only son Daniel (b. 1972). When not in his hometown of
ZürichZürich or Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre and sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland, the political capital of Switzerland being Berne...
, he resides in
VeniceVenice is a city in northern Italy, the capital of the region Veneto, a population of 271,367 . Together with Padua, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area . The city historically was an independent nation...
and
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Awards
- 1973 "Actor of the Year" in German magazine Theater heute (Theatre Today)
- 1976 German Film Awards
The Deutscher Filmpreis is the highest German movie award. From 1951 to 2004 it was awarded by a commission, since 2005 the award has been given by the Deutsche Filmakademie...
- 1979 Deutscher Darstellerpreis (Chaplin-Shoe)
- 1991 Hans-Reinhart-Ring
The Hans-Reinhart-Ring is a prestigious Swiss award in theatre....
, given by The Swiss Society for Theatre Culture
- 1996 Iffland-Ring
The Iffland-Ring is a diamond-studded ring with the picture of August Wilhelm Iffland ....
- 2000 Swiss Film Awards
- 2000 Ritter der Kunst und Literatur/Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
- 2000 David di Donatello
David di Donatello, named after Donatello's David, is a movie award assigned each year for cinematic performances and production by Ente David di Donatello, part of Accademia del Cinema Italiano. It is the Italian equivalent to the Academy Award. There are 24 categories as of 2006.- History :The...
- 2001 Berliner Filmpreis (Berlin Film Awards)
- 2004 Bavarian Film Awards
The Bavarian Film Awards have been awarded annually since 1979 by the State Government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are the most highly regarded awards for filmmaking achievement in Germany.The Bavarian Film...
, Best Actor
Filmography
- Der Herr mit der schwarzen Melone (The Man in the Black Derby), 1960
- Chikita, 1961
- Sommergäste (Summer Guests), 1976
- Lumière, 1976
- Die Marquise von O
The Marquise of O is a novella by Heinrich von Kleist. It was first published in 1808.-Synopsis:The story begins with a marvellous one-sentence paragraph, in which the widowed Marquise von O...
... (The Marquise of O...), 1976
- Die Wildente (Wild Duck), 1976
- Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend), 1977
- Die linkshändige Frau (The Left-Handed Woman), 1977
- The Boys from Brazil
The Boys from Brazil is a 1978 thriller film made by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and produced by Stanley O'Toole and Martin Richards with Robert Fryer as executive producer. The screenplay, by Heywood Gould, is based on...
, 1978
- Messer im Kopf (Knife in the Head), 1978
- Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht
Nosferatu the Vampyre is a 1979 West German vampire horror film, set primarily in nineteenth-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, Romania. The film was conceived as a stylistic remake of the 1922 German Dracula adaptation, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens...
(Nosferatu the Vampyre), 1979
- Retour à la bien-aimée (Return to the Beloved), 1979
- 5% de risques, 1980
- Der Erfinder (The Inventor), 1980
- La Dame aux camélias (Lady of the Camelias), 1980
- Hands Up!, 1981
- Die Fälschung (Circle of Deceit), 1981
- Krieg und Frieden (War and Peace), 1983
- Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire)
Wings of Desire is a 1987 film by the German director Wim Wenders. Its original German title is Der Himmel über Berlin, which can be translated as The Sky over Berlin. Rainer Maria Rilke's poetry partially inspired the movie; Wenders claimed angels seemed to dwell in Rilke's poetry...
, 1987
- Strapless, 1989
- Erfolg (Success), 1991
- La Domenica specialmente (Especially on Sunday), 1991
- The Last Days of Chez Nous
The Last Days of Chez Nous is an Australian drama, directed by Gillian Armstrong and written by Helen Garner. Made in a style which emphasizes naturalism over melodrama, the film centres around what happens after Vicki arrives at the house of her older sister Beth, who is now married to a...
, 1992
- Brandnacht (Night on Fire), 1992
- Prague
Prague is a 1992 British drama film directed by Ian Sellar. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Alan Cumming - Alexander Novak* Sandrine Bonnaire - Elena* Bruno Ganz - Josef* Raphael Meiss - Ralph...
, 1992
- In weiter Ferne, so nah! (Faraway, So Close!), 1993
- L'Absence (The Absence), 1994
- Saint-Ex, 1997
- Mia aioniotita kai mia mera
Eternity and a Day is a 1998 Greek film starring Bruno Ganz, and directed by Theo Angelopoulos.-Plot:The film tells the story of a writer with a terminal illness spending his last day getting his affairs in order before checking himself into a hospital. He lives in his old seaside family home near...
(Eternity and a Day) 1998
- Pane e tulipani (Bread and Tulips), 2000
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Faust, 2001 TV
- Epsteins Nacht (Epstein's Night), 2002
- Behind Me - Bruno Ganz, 2002
- Luther
Luther is a 2003 biopic about the life of Martin Luther . It was released by MGM and was partially funded by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans...
, 2003
- The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate is a 2004 American film based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Richard Condon, and a reimagining of the previous 1962 film....
, 2004
- Der Untergang
Downfall is a 2004 German-Austrian drama film, depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's life in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945...
(Downfall), 2004
- Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II
The biopic Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II explains in biographical form the life story of the late head of the Roman Catholic church, Pope John Paul II.- Plot :...
(2005)
- Baruto no Gakuen
is a Japanese film released in 2006 and based on the true story of the Bandō Prisoner of War camp in World War I. It depicts the friendship of the German POWs with the director of the camp and local residents at the stage of Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture in Japan....
(バルトの楽園; Ode an die Freude), 2006
- Vitus
Vitus is a drama film written and directed by Fredi M. Murer. It was released on February 2, 2006, in Switzerland. It stars real-life piano prodigy Teo Gheorghiu, Bruno Ganz, Julika Jenkins, and Urs Jucker.-Plot:...
, 2007
- Youth Without Youth, 2007
- The Reader, 2008
- Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex is a 2008 German film by Uli Edel; written and produced by Bernd Eichinger. It stars Moritz Bleibtreu, Martina Gedeck and Johanna Wokalek. The film is based on the German best selling non-fiction book of the same name by Stefan Aust and retells the early years of the West...
(The Baader Meinhof Complex), 2008
- Dust of Time (Η Σκόνη του Χρόνου), 2009