Otto Sander
91 movies · 13 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jun 30, 1941
- Died
- Sep 12, 2013 (age 72)
- Place of birth
- Hanover, Germany
Biography
Otto Sander (German: [ˈɔtoː ˈzandɐ]; June 30, 1941 – September 12, 2013) was a German film, theater, and voice actor.
Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated in 1961 from the Friedrichgymnasium. After leaving school he spent his military service in 1961/62 with the Bundesmarine and left as reserve fenrik. Sander then studied theatre science, history of art and philosophy. In 1965 he made his acting debut at the Düsseldorfer chamber plays. After his first film work in the same year he abandoned his studies in 1967, and went to Munich to become a full-time actor.
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His career is closely connected with the Schaubühne theatre in Berlin under the direction of Peter Stein. From 1980 onwards Sander appeared on several of Berlin's theatre stages, among others at the Schillertheater in 1981, at the Freie Volksbühne in 1985 and in 1989 at the Komödie am Kurfürstendamm. More recently he starred in Hauptmann von Köpenick at the Schauspielhaus Bochum (2004).
In 1990, he was a member of the Jury at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.
Among his best-known film roles are the angel Cassiel in Wings of Desire and its sequel Faraway, So Close! by Wim Wenders, and a shell-shocked U-boat commander, Kapitänleutnant Philipp Thomsen, in Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot. Sander also appeared in The Tin Drum (1979) as a trumpeter and in Comedian Harmonists, a biopic about the musical group of the same name. He also played a professor in the movie The Promise about the division of Berlin by the wall. In 1999 he played a role in Rosa von Praunheim's movie The Einstein of Sex.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Otto Sander: movies and TV shows
Acting (104)
- 2025
- 2012 Fly Away
as Eckehardt Tiedgen
- 2012 Die Schuld der Erben
as Leonhard Asmussen
- 2010
- 2008 Krabat
as Narrator (voice)
- 2007 The Heart Is a Dark Forest
as Helmut
- 2007 Little King Macius
as Erasmus (voice)
- 2006
- 2005
- 2004 Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
as Narrator (voice)
- 2003
- 2003 The Danube
as Franz
- 2003 Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
as Erzähler (voice)
- 2002 Tödliches Vertrauen
as Bernd Kortens
- 2002 Atlantic Affairs
as Maitre de Plaisir on Stage
- 2002
- 2001 100 Pro
as Narrator
- 2001 Sass
as Vater Sass
- 2000
- 2000 The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
as Professor Steinach
- 2000 Marlene
as Bühnenmanager
- 1999 E-m@il an Gott
as Petrus
- 1999 Majestät brauchen Sonne
as Kaiser Wilhelm II (voice)
- 1999 Girls under investigation
as Staatsanwalt Baldur Meixner
- 1999 Männer sind wie Schokolade
as Vater Lano
- 1999 Der Kuß des Vergessens
as Herr Jelke
- 1998
- 1998 Stan Becker - Auf eigene Faust
as Walker
- 1998 Am I Beautiful?
as David
- 1997
- 1997 Conversation with the Beast
as Adolf Hitler Double
- 1997 Liebe Lügen
as Vater
- 1996
- 1996 The Killer Condom
as Mr. Higgins
- 1995 Matulla und Busch
as Korte
- 1995 Lumière & Company
as Cassiel (segment "Wim Wenders")
- 1995 Nikolaikirche
as kirchlicher Superintendent
- 1995 The Promise
as Professor Lorenz
- 1995 Bauernschach
as Dr. Gerold Stadler
- 1995
- 1995 Das Loch
as Der Mann
- 1994 The White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang
as Prof. Hinzelmann
- 1994
- 1994 Movie Days
as Maður á hesti
- 1994 Three Sisters
as Vershinin
- 1993 The Film Narrator
as Salzmann
- 1993 The Olympic Summer
as Sprecher
- 1993 Faraway, So Close!
as Cassiel
- 1993
- 1993
- 1992
- 1992
- 1992 Bescheiß kein Kind!
as Vater
- 1990 Werner and the Wizard of Booze
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
- 1990
- 1990 Time of Vengeance
as Robert
- 1989 The Break
as Erwin Lubowitz
- 1989 Wie du mir..
as Markus Petarka
- 1988 The Case of Mr. Spalt
as Otto Spalt
- 1987 Wings of Desire
as Cassiel
- 1987 Close Up
as Professor Spalt
- 1986 Boundaries of Time - Caspar David Friedrich
as Gerichtsgehilfe
- 1986 Drei Schwestern
as Alexander Ignatjewitsch Werschinin
- 1986 Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
as Loan officer Grop
- 1986 Wahnfried
as Richard Wagner
- 1986 Rosa Luxemburg
as Karl Liebknecht
- 1986
- 1985
- 1984
- 1984 Der Mord mit der Schere
as Inspector Spalt
- 1983 A Love in Germany
as Narrator
- 1981 Der Mann im Pyjama
as Rudi
- 1981
- 1981 Who's Going Crazy Here, Doctor?
as Nummer Sieben
- 1981 Das Boot
as Phillip Thomsen
- 1981 Strike Back
as Kowalski
- 1981
- 1981
- 1980
- 1980
- 1980 Palermo or Wolfsburg
as Staatsanwalt
- 1979 The Tin Drum
as Meyn
- 1979 Trilogie des Wiedersehens
as Richard
- 1979
- 1979 Plastikfieber
as Wilfried
- 1978
- 1977
- 1976 Four Against the Bank
as Eberhard Winter
- 1976 The Marquise of O
as Brother, Forstmeister
- 1976 Summer Guests
as Pjotr Suslov
- 1975 Lehmanns Erzählungen
as Lehmann
- 1975 Meine Sorgen möcht' ich haben
as Harald Bornemann
- 1974 Die Bakchen
as Tiresias
- 1974 One or the Other of Us
as Rulle Ruhlsdorff
- 1974
- 1973 Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
as Obrist Kottwitz
- 1972
- 1971
- 1971
- 1970 Sonntags am Meer
as Fritzchen
- 1970
- 1970
- 1970
- 1964 Ludwig
as Ludwig
Behind the camera (1)
- 1982 Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
Director
Talk shows and appearances (19)
- 2021
- 2013
- 2004 Leute am Donnerstag
1 episode
- 2003
- 2002 Ein roter Teppich für....
1 episode
- 2002
- 2002 Through the Night with...
1 episode
- 2002 Gero von Boehm begegnet...
1 episode
- 2000 Preußen – Chronik eines deutschen Staates
6 episodes
- 1998 The Johannes B. Kerner Show
1 episode
- 1997 Tietjen und Bommes
1 episode
- 1996 Zimmer frei!
1 episode
- 1995 Die Harald Schmidt Show
1 episode
- 1991 DAS!
1 episode
- 1981 Wetten, dass..?
1 episode
- 1979 NDR Talk Show
1 episode
- 1975
- 1967 Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
1 episode
- 1964 Grimme Award
1 episode