Overview
- The actor’s children Maxwell and Aline announced his death on Instagram and asked for privacy while grieving.
- His manager told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that Richter "fell asleep peacefully" at home in Cologne and described the death as unexpected.
- Maxwell Richter told media his father had long‑running health problems including COPD, a heart insufficiency, and a malfunctioning vein to the heart but the family has not released an official cause of death.
- Richter rose to national attention in Wolfgang Petersen’s Das Boot (1981) and later achieved cult status as Kalle Grabowski in Peter Thorwarth’s Bang Boom Bang (1999), making him a lasting voice of Ruhrgebiet roles.
- Tributes from fans and colleagues spread on social media and a public appearance Richter had been due to make the day after his death was cancelled, prompting retrospectives of his four‑decade career.