Overview
- He died on December 22, 2025, in a Madrid hospital, according to statements his agency relayed via his wife to news outlets.
- He became a household name as Guido Brunetti in ARD’s Donna Leon films, a role he played from 2003 to 2019 after succeeding Joachim Król.
- He also portrayed Stasi officer Hans Kupfer in the ARD series Weissensee between 2010 and 2018, part of a screen career exceeding 100 productions.
- His honors included the 2008 Adolf Grimme Prize and a 2011 German Television Award recognition connected to the Weissensee ensemble.
- Born in Cottbus in 1944, he was imprisoned after a failed 1961 escape from the GDR, spent two decades at Berlin’s Maxim-Gorki-Theater, and was praised on Wednesday by Hesse’s premier as a major character actor.