Bruno Ganz

Bruno Ganz was an acclaimed Swiss actor who appeared in dozens of critically-lauded German language films and television shows over the course of his fifty-plus year acting career. Born into a working class family in Zurich, Ganz's interest in acting developed in his teens. Although he always had an interest in screen acting, he initially made a name for himself as a prominent stage actor. He made his stage acting debut in 1961, and would appear in numerous German language plays over the next two decades. Ganz also began appearing in German language films and television shows in the early 60s, including "Chikita" (1961), "Der sanfte Lauf" (1967), and "Lumiere" (1976). By the late 1970s Ganz began making a name for himself internationally, by appearing opposite Dennis Hopper in "The American Friend" (1977), and also nabbing a supporting role alongside Gregory Peck, Laurence Oliver and James Mason in the thriller "The Boys from Brazil" (1978). As the decades ensued, Ganz's profile as an internationally recognized film actor continued to grow. He received widespread praise for his roles in "Wings of Desire" (1987), "Strapless" (1989), "The Absence" (1992), and "Bread and Tulips" (2000). But it was Ganz's riveting portrayal of Adolf Hitler in the closing days of World War II in the Oscar-nominated "Downfall" (2004) that would become the role he would forever be associated with. Ganz was nominated for numerous awards for his role as Hitler, thus making him even more of a global star. In the years that followed "Downfall," Ganz continued earning widespread praise for his work in films like "The Reader" (2008), "The End Is My Beginning" (2010), and "I Witness" (2018). In February 2018 Ganz announced that he had been diagnosed with intestinal cancer. He began chemotherapy shortly after. After a charmed career acting spanning nearly 60 years and over 100 hundred roles, Bruno Ganz succumbed to the disease at his home in Switzerland on February 16, 2019. He was 77.