Acting
Otto Sander
DE, EN, XX, FR cinema · 97 credits
Born
30 June 1941
Died
12 September 2013 (aged 72)
Birthplace
Hanover, Germany
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. 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.
Known for
Filmography
Fly Away
as Eckehardt Tiedgen
Die Schuld der Erben
2012
Die Schuld der Erben
as Leonhard Asmussen
Krabat
as Narrator (voice)
Little King Macius
as Erasmus (voice)
Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
as Narrator (voice)
Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
as Erzähler (voice)
The Danube
as Franz
Happy Too
as Himself / Gert Bastian
Sterne, die nie untergehen - Atlantic Affairs
2002
Atlantic Affairs
as Maitre de Plaisir on Stage
Tödliches Vertrauen
2002
Tödliches Vertrauen
as Bernd Kortens
Sass
as Vater Sass
100 Pro
as Narrator
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
as Professor Steinach
Marlene
as Bühnenmanager
Girls under investigation
as Staatsanwalt Baldur Meixner
Männer sind wie Schokolade
as Vater Lano
Majestät brauchen Sonne
1999
Majestät brauchen Sonne
as Kaiser Wilhelm II (voice)
Am I Beautiful?
as David
Conversation with the Beast
as Adolf Hitler Double
Killer Condom
as Mr. Higgins
Bauernschach
as Dr. Gerold Stadler
Nikolaikirche
as kirchlicher Superintendent
The Promise
as Professor Lorenz
Das Loch
as Der Mann
Lumière & Company
as Cassiel (segment "Wim Wenders")
Movie Days
as Maður á hesti
The White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang
as Prof. Hinzelmann
Three Sisters
as Vershinin
The Film Narrator
as Salzmann
Faraway, So Close!
as Cassiel
The Olympic Summer
as Sprecher
Werner and the Wizard of Booze
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Time of Vengeance
as Robert
The Break
as Erwin Lubowitz
Wie du mir..
1989
Wie du mir..
as Markus Petarka
The Case of Mr. Spalt
as Otto Spalt
Wings of Desire
as Cassiel
Close Up
1987
Close Up
as Professor Spalt
Rosa Luxemburg
as Karl Liebknecht
Boundaries of Time - Caspar David Friedrich
as Gerichtsgehilfe
Wahnfried
as Richard Wagner
Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
as Loan officer Grop
Drei Schwestern
1986
Drei Schwestern
as Alexander Ignatjewitsch Werschinin
Der Mord mit der Schere
1984
Der Mord mit der Schere
as Inspector Spalt
A Love in Germany
as Narrator
Gedächtnis: Ein Film für Curt Bois und Bernhard Minetti
1982
Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
as Self, Director
Das Boot
as Phillip Thomsen
Who's Going Crazy Here, Doctor?
as Nummer Sieben
Strike Back
as Kowalski
Palermo or Wolfsburg
as Staatsanwalt
The Tin Drum
as Meyn
Four Against the Bank
as Eberhard Winter
The Marquise of O
as Brother, Forstmeister
Summer Guests
as Pjotr Suslov
Meine Sorgen möcht' ich haben
as Harald Bornemann
One or the Other of Us
as Rulle Ruhlsdorff
Die Bakchen
1974
Die Bakchen
as Tiresias
Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
1973
Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
as Obrist Kottwitz
Ludwig
1964
Ludwig
as Ludwig