Overview
- He died on 22 December in Madrid, with multiple outlets citing lung cancer as the cause.
- Junge Welt first reported the death, which his agency then confirmed to dpa, attributing the information to his wife.
- He was best known for portraying Guido Brunetti in ARD’s Donna Leon films from 2003 to 2019 and for his role as Hans Kupfer in Weissensee (2010–2018).
- Das Erste scheduled an unscripted Donna Leon broadcast (“Reiches Erbe,” 2014) on 25 December at 00:30 in his memory.
- Born in Cottbus in 1944, he attempted to flee the GDR in 1961 and spent about a year in prison before a decades‑long career on stage and screen.