72 Notable Alumni of University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch

Marlene Dietrich

Born in: Germany
Years: 1901-1992 (aged 91)
Occupations: entertainersingerstage actoractortelevision actor
Biography: Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich was a German-born American actress and singer whose career spanned nearly seven decades.

Matthias Schweighöfer

Born in: Germany
Years: 1981-.. (age 44)
Occupations: stage actorfilm directorentrepreneurfilm produceractor
Biography: Matthias Schweighöfer is a German actor and filmmaker known for his work in several German and American film productions. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Franz Herber in the 2008 film Valkyrie. In 2021, Schweighöfer appeared in the Netflix film Army of the Dead, directed by Zack Snyder, as Ludwig Dieter. He reprised his role in the prequel film, Army of Thieves, which he also directed.

Karoline Herfurth

Born in: Germany
Years: 1984-.. (age 41)
Occupations: screenwriterfilm directorfilm actor
Biography: Karoline Herfurth is a German actress.

Simone Thomalla

Born in: Germany
Years: 1965-.. (age 60)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Simone Thomalla is a German actress.

Sandra Hüller

Born in: Germany
Years: 1978-.. (age 47)
Occupations: film actorlifting truck operatorstage actoractor
Biography: Sandra Hüller is a German actress. She has appeared in German, Austrian, British, French, and American films. She has received various accolades, including two European Film Awards, a César Award and three German Film Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award and two BAFTA Awards.

Lars Eidinger

Years: 1976-.. (age 49)
Occupations: film actorpresenterstage actoractor
Biography: Lars Eidinger is a German actor and rapper, based in Berlin. He has appeared in German and international film and television productions, including the 2020 film My Little Sister, the German series Babylon Berlin (2017–2022), the 2023 American miniseries All the Light We Cannot See, and the 2024 film Dying.

Jan Josef Liefers

Born in: Germany
Years: 1964-.. (age 61)
Enrolled in the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch: Studied in 1983
Occupations: film actordub actorcomposeractorstage actor
Biography: Jan Josef Liefers is a German actor, producer, director and musician.

Nina Hoss

Born in: Germany
Years: 1975-.. (age 50)
Occupations: film actorvoice actorstage actorsinger
Biography: Nina Hoss is a German stage, film, and television actress. She is known for her collaborations with director Christian Petzold in films such as Barbara (2012) and Phoenix (2014). Roles in other films include The White Masai (2005), Pelican Blood (2020), and Tár (2022). She has also starred in the American TV series Homeland (2014–2017), The Defeated (2020), and Jack Ryan (2022).

August Diehl

Years: 1976-.. (age 49)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actoractor
Biography: August Diehl is a German actor, primarily known to international audiences for playing Gestapo major Dieter Hellstrom in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Michael "Mike" Krause, Evelyn Salt's husband, in the movie Salt. He is also known for his leading roles in the films The Counterfeiters (2007), The Young Karl Marx (2017), and Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life (2019).

Sven Martinek

Born in: Germany
Years: 1964-.. (age 61)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actortelevision actor
Biography: Sven Martinek is a German actor, best known for portraying the main character Max Zander on the German TV series Der Clown.

Alwara Höfels

Born in: Germany
Years: 1982-.. (age 43)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actoractor
Biography: Alwara Höfels is a German actress who works both in front of the camera and on the theater stage.

Manfred Krug

Born in: Germany
Years: 1937-2016 (aged 79)
Occupations: film actorscreenwritertelevision actorstage actoractor
Biography: Manfred Krug was a German actor, singer and author.

Corinna Harfouch

Born in: Germany
Years: 1954-.. (age 71)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actorvoice actor
Biography: Corinna Harfouch is a German actress.

Jasna Fritzi Bauer

Born in: Germany
Years: 1989-.. (age 36)
Enrolled in the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch: Studied in 2008-2012
Occupations: film actordub actorstage actoractor
Biography: Jasna Fritzi Bauer is a Swiss actress. She has appeared in more than fifteen films since 2010.

Sabin Tambrea

Born in: Romania
Years: 1984-.. (age 41)
Enrolled in the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch: Studied in 2006-2010
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Sabin Tambrea is a German actor. He is best known for his role as Ludwig II of Bavaria in Ludwig II.

Claudia Michelsen

Born in: Germany
Years: 1969-.. (age 56)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Claudia Michelsen is a German actress. She was born in Dresden and is based in Berlin. She has appeared in more than eighty films since 1989.

Charly Hübner

Born in: Germany
Years: 1972-.. (age 53)
Occupations: actorfilm actorscreenwriterstage actorfilm director
Biography: Carsten Johannes Marcus Hübner is a German actor. He appeared in more than eighty films since 2003, including Magical Mystery or: The Return of Karl Schmidt (in 2017) and The Good Neighbour (Unter Nachbarn, in 2011). Also known on TV for Transporter (between 2012–2014), Polizeiruf 110 (a detective series, between 2005–2019), crime series Post Mortem in 2007/2008.

F. W. Murnau

Born in: Germany
Years: 1888-1931 (aged 43)
Occupations: screenwriterfilm directordirectorfilm producer
Biography: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era.

Ronald Zehrfeld

Born in: Germany
Years: 1977-.. (age 48)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actoractor
Biography: Ronald Zehrfeld is a German actor. His movie roles include Barbara (2012), Inbetween Worlds (2014), and Phoenix (2014).

Devid Striesow

Born in: Germany
Years: 1973-.. (age 52)
Occupations: voice actoractor
Biography: Devid Striesow is a German actor.

Alexander Fehling

Years: 1981-.. (age 44)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actorscreenwriter
Biography: Alexander Fehling is a German film and stage actor. He is best known for portraying Master Sgt. Wilhelm in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino World War II film Inglourious Basterds, and as Jonas Hollander season 5 in the Showtime original series Homeland as the boyfriend of Claire Danes's character Carrie Mathison.

Maria Simon

Born in: Germany
Years: 1976-.. (age 49)
Enrolled in the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch: Studied in 1999
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Maria Simon is a German actress.

Mark Waschke

Born in: Germany
Years: 1972-.. (age 53)
Occupations: actorfilm actorstage actortelevision actorperforming artist
Biography: Mark Waschke is a German theatre, film and television actor who has been performing since 2005.

Rebecca Immanuel

Born in: Germany
Years: 1970-.. (age 55)
Occupations: film actortelevision actortelevision presenteractor
Biography: Rebecca Immanuel, born Sonja Zimmer is a German actress.

Sylvester Groth

Born in: Germany
Years: 1958-.. (age 67)
Occupations: film actorstage actoractorsinger
Biography: Sylvester Groth is a German theater, television, and film actor. He is best known to international audiences from his appearances in Hollywood movies including Inglourious Basterds and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Furthermore, he has appeared in the Netflix series Sense8, Fargo, and Dark.

Simon Schwarz

Born in: Austria
Years: 1971-.. (age 54)
Occupations: actorfilm actor
Biography: Simon Schwarz is an Austrian actor. He has appeared in more than seventy films since 1996.

Michael Gwisdek

Born in: Germany
Years: 1942-2020 (aged 78)
Occupations: directorscreenwriterfilm actorstage actorfilm director
Biography: Michael Gwisdek was a German actor and film director.

Uwe Kockisch

Born in: Germany
Years: 1944-.. (age 81)
Occupations: film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
Biography: Uwe Kockisch is a German stage, screen and television actor.

Jördis Triebel

Years: 1977-.. (age 48)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actorvoice actor
Biography: Jördis Triebel is a German film and stage actress.

Julia Jentsch

Years: 1978-.. (age 47)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Julia Jentsch is a German actress. She has received awards including the Silver Bear, European Film Award, and Lola. She is best known for Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, The Edukators and I Served the King of England.

Milan Peschel

Years: 1968-.. (age 57)
Occupations: film actorstage actortelevision directortelevision actorvoice actor
Biography: Milan Peschel is a German actor. He appeared in more than fifty films since 1999.

Jenny Gröllmann

Born in: Germany
Years: 1947-2006 (aged 59)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Jenny Gröllmann was a German actress, best known for her work on films I Was Nineteen (1968), Peas at 5:30 (2004) and her recurring role on the show Polizeiruf 110. She won an Ernst Zinna Prize of the city of Berlin in 1974.

Horst Krause

Born in: Poland
Years: 1941-.. (age 84)
Occupations: film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
Biography: Horst Krause is a German actor.

Henry Hübchen

Born in: Germany
Years: 1947-.. (age 78)
Occupations: composeractorvoice actor
Biography: Henry Hübchen is a German actor who played the title character in the award-winning 2004 film Go for Zucker. That performance earned him a Lola, Germany's equivalent of an Oscar, and critical praise at home and abroad. He was raised in East Berlin, in what was then East Germany.

Gerit Kling

Born in: Germany
Years: 1965-.. (age 60)
Occupations: actor
Biography: Gerit Kling is a German film, television and voice actress.

Herbert Köfer

Born in: Germany
Years: 1921-2021 (aged 100)
Occupations: stage actortelevision presenteractorradio personalityfilm actor
Biography: Herbert Köfer was a German actor, voice artist, and television presenter. He was the first German TV news presenter for the East German Deutscher Fernsehfunk, and also presented the station's last news before the reunification of Germany. His first theatre engagement was in 1940, and he kept acting until the age of 100. Köfer played an SS-Hauptsturmführer in the 1963 film Nackt unter Wölfen (Naked Among Wolves). He was known for detective series such as Polizeiruf 110 and for comic roles. He founded his own troupe, Köfers Komödiantenbühne, in 2003, and published memoirs.

Fritzi Haberlandt

Born in: Germany
Years: 1975-.. (age 50)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actoractor
Biography: Fritzi Haberlandt is a German actress.

Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff

Born in: Germany
Years: 1921-1998 (aged 77)
Occupations: film actortelevision presenter
Biography: Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, nickname Kuli was a German actor and TV host, remembered mainly as host of Einer wird gewinnen, a quiz show that ran from 1964 to 1987.

Thomas Thieme

Born in: Germany
Years: 1948-.. (age 77)
Occupations: film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
Biography: Thomas Thieme is a German actor. He is considered to be a prolific stage actor and also appeared in more than 100 film and television productions since 1973.

Dagmar Manzel

Born in: Germany
Years: 1958-.. (age 67)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actoractor
Biography: Dagmar Manzel is a German actress. She has appeared in more than 80 films and television shows since 1979. She starred in the 1986 film So Many Dreams, which was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival.

Friedrich Mücke

Born in: Germany
Years: 1981-.. (age 44)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Friedrich Mücke is a German actor who has appeared in more than twenty films since 2006, many of which have tackled issues relating to the former DDR (the Communist state that was commonly known as East Germany).

Helga Hahnemann

Born in: Germany
Years: 1937-1991 (aged 54)
Occupations: singerstage actorcabaret performercomedianentertainer
Biography: Helga "Big Helga" Hahnemann was an East German multi-faceted stage performer and entertainer. She came to wider prominence through her television and radio appearances after 1962. By the time reunification arrived in 1990 she had become a leading star of the small screen in East Germany. She fell terminally ill and then died shortly afterwards, possibly because of the extent of her addiction to cigarettes: she was 54. Her death left unanswered the question of how successfully her performances might have captivated pan-German television audiences post unification.

Ursula Karusseit

Born in: Poland
Years: 1939-2019 (aged 80)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Ursula Karusseit was a German actress.

Janina Hartwig

Born in: Germany
Years: 1961-.. (age 64)
Occupations: actorfilm actor
Biography: Janina Hartwig is a German actress.

Ulrike Krumbiegel

Born in: Germany
Years: 1961-.. (age 64)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Ulrike Krumbiegel is a German actress. She has performed in more than 100 film and TV productions. In her early career, she performed in East German cinema and theatre. After the re-unification of Germany, her career continued with appearances in crime series such as Tatort, and the ZDF series SOKO München. She has also continued to appear in the theatre, featuring in plays by Berthold Brecht, Henrik Ibsen and William Shakespeare.

Mala Emde

Born in: Germany
Years: 1996-.. (age 29)
Occupations: actor
Biography: Mala Emde is a German actress.

Renate Blume

Born in: Germany
Years: 1944-.. (age 81)
Occupations: actorfilm actor
Biography: Renate Blume is a German actress. She has appeared in more than 70 films and television shows since 1964. She was a member of the jury at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival.

Dieter Mann

Born in: Germany
Years: 1941-2022 (aged 81)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actoruniversity teacher
Biography: Dieter Mann was a German actor, director, university professor, and radio personality. In his career, he acted in several theater productions and in over 140 film and television productions. Between 1984 and 1991, he was director of the Deutsches Theater. In 1986, he became a member of the Berlin Academy of Arts. Internationally, he is best known for having portrayed Wilhelm Keitel in Downfall.

Christine Schorn

Born in: Czech Republic
Years: 1944-.. (age 81)
Occupations: actorfilm actor
Biography: Christine Schorn is a German actress. Schorn has appeared in multiple films and TV shows including Apprehension (1982), According to the Plan (2007) and Das Leben ist nichts für Feiglinge (2012).

Jenny Schily

Born in: Germany
Years: 1967-.. (age 58)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Jenny Rosa Schily is a German actress who primarily works in theater and film. She has also performed in radio plays.

Anton Walbrook

Born in: Austria
Years: 1896-1967 (aged 71)
Occupations: actorfilm actor
Biography: Adolf Anton Wilhelm Wohlbrück was an Austrian actor who settled in the United Kingdom under the name Anton Walbrook. A popular performer in Austria and pre-war Germany, he left Germany in 1936 out of concerns for his own safety and established a career in British cinema. Walbrook is perhaps best known for his roles in the original British film of Gaslight, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes and Victoria the Great (as Prince Albert).

Catherine Flemming

Born in: Germany
Years: 1967-.. (age 58)
Occupations: film produceractorfilm actortelevision produceractivist
Biography: Catherine Flemming is a German film and TV actress. She has performed in more than eighty films and TV roles since 1995, nearly all in German.

Leander Haußmann

Born in: Germany
Years: 1959-.. (age 66)
Occupations: screenwriterfilm directoractor
Biography: Leander Haußmann is a German theatre and film director.

Ludwig Blochberger

Years: 1982-.. (age 43)
Occupations: film actortelevision actorstage actoractor
Biography: Ludwig Blochberger is a German actor. He is best known for his appearance in the coming of age movie Summer Storm dealing with issues around sexual orientation. He also appeared on German TV drama programmes including The Old Fox, Tatort and Brittany Mystery. Furthermore he portrayed the Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, in the TV documentary drama Helmut Schmidt - Lebensfragen.

Franziska Petri

Born in: Germany
Years: 1973-.. (age 52)
Occupations: actorfilm actor
Biography: Franziska Petri is a German actress.

Marianne Hoppe

Born in: Germany
Years: 1909-2002 (aged 93)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Marianne Hoppe was a German theatre and film actress.

Gustav von Wangenheim

Born in: Germany
Years: 1895-1975 (aged 80)
Occupations: film actorpoliticianscreenwriterfilm directordirector
Biography: Gustav von Wangenheim was a German actor, screenwriter and director.

Renate Müller

Born in: Germany
Years: 1906-1937 (aged 31)
Occupations: film actorsingeractor
Biography: Renate Müller was a German singer and actress in both silent films and sound films, as well as on stage.

Ursula Werner

Born in: Germany
Years: 1943-.. (age 82)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Ursula Werner is a German actress.

Thomas Ostermeier

Born in: Germany
Years: 1968-.. (age 57)
Enrolled in the University of Performing Arts Ernst Busch: Studied in 1992-1996
Occupations: directorfilm actortheatrical director
Biography: Thomas Ostermeier is a German theatre director. He currently mainly works for the Schaubühne.

O. E. Hasse

Born in: Poland
Years: 1903-1978 (aged 75)
Occupations: film actorstage actorfilm directortelevision actorvoice actor
Biography: Otto Eduard Hasse was a German film actor and director.

Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss

Years: 1962-.. (age 63)
Occupations: actorfilm actorscreenwriterfilm directortelevision actor
Biography: Pierre Sanoussi-Bliss is a German actor and director. He has appeared in television and films for over 20 years. He played a leading role in Doris Dörrie's 1994 film, Nobody Loves Me. He also plays a leading role in the comedy series Alles wird gut.

Alexander Granach

Born in: Ukraine
Years: 1890-1945 (aged 55)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actor
Biography: Alexander Granach was a German-Austrian actor in the 1920s and 1930s who emigrated to the United States in 1938.

Werner Hinz

Born in: Germany
Years: 1903-1985 (aged 82)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actorvoice actor
Biography: Werner Hinz was a German film actor who appeared in 70 films between 1935 and 1984.

Jürgen Hentsch

Born in: Germany
Years: 1936-2011 (aged 75)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actortelevision actor
Biography: Jürgen Hentsch was a German actor. He was known for several movies and TV shows such as The Deathmaker (1995), In the Shadow of Power (2003) and Der Mann mit der Maske (1994). He was married to Wassilka Hentsch.

Doris Abeßer

Born in: Germany
Years: 1935-2016 (aged 81)
Occupations: film actoraudio drama actordub actorstage actortelevision actor
Biography: Doris Abeßer was a German actress and radio personality. She was born in Berlin and appeared in television and films from 1952 onwards. She was awarded an Erich Weinert Medal by Free German Youth in 1961. She married Günter Stahnka, a German film director in 1963.

Mathias Wieman

Born in: Germany
Years: 1902-1969 (aged 67)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actorscreenwriter
Biography: Mathias Wieman was a German stage-performer, silent-and-sound motion picture actor.

Alfred Braun

Born in: Germany
Years: 1888-1978 (aged 90)
Occupations: film directorjournaliststage actoractordirector
Biography: Alfred Braun was a pioneer of German radio. He became famous as a radio reporter and radio play director, among other things. He was also an actor, stage and film director, and screenwriter.

Jens Hoffmann

Born in: Costa Rica
Years: 1974-.. (age 51)
Occupations: art historiancuratorwriterexhibition curator
Biography: Jens Hoffmann Mesén is a writer, editor, educator, and exhibition maker. His work has attempted to expand the definition and context of exhibition making. From 2003 to 2007 Hoffmann was director of exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts London. He is the former director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art from 2007 to 2016 and deputy director for exhibitions and programs at The Jewish Museum from 2012 to 2017, a role from which he was terminated following an investigation into sexual harassment allegations brought forth by staff members. Hoffmann has held several teaching positions including California College of the Arts, the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti and Goldsmiths, University of London, as well as others.

Lothar Müthel

Born in: Germany
Years: 1896-1964 (aged 68)
Occupations: film actorstage actordirectoractor
Biography: Lothar Müthel was a German stage and film actor and director.

Gerda Müller

Years: 1894-1951 (aged 57)
Occupations: stage actorfilm actoractor
Biography: Gerda Müller was a German stage actress.

Gergana Dimitrova

Born in: Bulgaria
Years: 1975-.. (age 50)
Occupations: translatorplaywright
Biography: Gergana Dimitrova is a Bulgarian theatre director, playwright and translator.