Otto Sander
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1941-06-30
Day of Death
2013-09-12 (72 years old)
Place of Birth
Hanover, Germany
Otto Sander
Biography
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.
Acting
(2021)
(2013)
(2012)
Fly Away
as Eckehardt Tiedgen
(2012)
Die Schuld der Erben
as Leonhard Asmussen
(2010)
(2008)
Krabat
as Narrator (voice)
(2007)
Little King Macius
as Erasmus (voice)
(2007)
The Heart Is a Dark Forest
as Helmut
(2004)
Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
as Narrator (voice)
(2003)
(2003)
The Danube
as Franz
(2003)
Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
as Erzähler (voice)
(2003)
(2002)
Atlantic Affairs
as Maitre de Plaisir on Stage
(2002)
Tödliches Vertrauen
as Bernd Kortens
(2002)
Happy Too
as Himself / Gert Bastian
(2001)
Sass
as Vater Sass
(2001)
100 Pro
as Narrator
(2000)
Marlene
as Bühnenmanager
(2000)
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
as Professor Steinach
(1999)
Girls under investigation
as Staatsanwalt Baldur Meixner
(1999)
Männer sind wie Schokolade
as Vater Lano
(1999)
E-m@il an Gott
as Petrus
(1999)
Der Kuß des Vergessens
as Herr Jelke
(1998)
Am I Beautiful?
as David
(1998)
Stan Becker - Auf eigene Faust
as Walker
(1997)
(1997)
Conversation with the Beast
as Adolf Hitler Double
(1997)
Liebe Lügen
as Vater
(1996)
The Killer Condom
as Mr. Higgins
(1995)
Lumière & Company
as Cassiel (segment "Wim Wenders")
(1995)
The Promise
as Professor Lorenz
(1995)
Nikolaikirche
as kirchlicher Superintendent
(1995)
Bauernschach
as Dr. Gerold Stadler
(1995)
Das Loch
as Der Mann
(1995)
Matulla und Busch
as Korte
(1994)
Three Sisters
as Vershinin
(1994)
(1994)
Movie Days
as Maður á hesti
(1994)
The White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang
as Prof. Hinzelmann
(1993)
Faraway, So Close!
as Cassiel
(1993)
(1993)
The Film Narrator
as Salzmann
(1993)
(1993)
The Olympic Summer
as Sprecher
(1992)
(1992)
Bescheiß kein Kind!
as Vater
(1990)
Werner and the Wizard of Booze
as Erzähler (voice)
(1990)
(1990)
Time of Vengeance
as Robert
(1989)
The Break
as Erwin Lubowitz
(1989)
Wie du mir..
as Markus Petarka
(1988)
The Case of Mr. Spalt
as Otto Spalt
(1987)
Wings of Desire
as Cassiel
(1987)
Close Up
as Professor Spalt
(1986)
Rosa Luxemburg
as Karl Liebknecht
(1986)
Wahnfried
as Richard Wagner
(1986)
Drei Schwestern
as Alexander Ignatjewitsch Werschinin
(1986)
Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
as Loan officer Grop
(1986)
Boundaries of Time - Caspar David Friedrich
as Gerichtsgehilfe
(1986)
(1984)
Der Mord mit der Schere
as Inspector Spalt
(1983)
A Love in Germany
as Narrator
(1982)
(1981)
Das Boot
as Phillip Thomsen
(1981)
Strike Back
as Kowalski
(1981)
Who's Going Crazy Here, Doctor?
as Nummer Sieben
(1981)
(1981)
Der Mann im Pyjama
as Rudi
(1981)
(1980)
Palermo or Wolfsburg
as Staatsanwalt
(1980)
(1980)
(1979)
The Tin Drum
as Meyn
(1979)
Trilogie des Wiedersehens
as Richard
(1979)
Plastikfieber
as Wilfried
(1979)
(1978)
(1977)
(1976)
The Marquise of O
as Brother, Forstmeister
(1976)
Summer Guests
as Pjotr Suslov
(1976)
Four Against the Bank
as Eberhard Winter
(1975)
(1975)
Lehmanns Erzählungen
as Lehmann
(1975)
Meine Sorgen möcht' ich haben
as Harald Bornemann
(1975)
(1974)
One or the Other of Us
as Rulle Ruhlsdorff
(1974)
(1974)
Die Bakchen
as Tiresias
(1973)
Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
as Obrist Kottwitz
(1972)
(1971)
(1970)
Sonntags am Meer
as Fritzchen
(1970)
(1970)
(1964)
Ludwig
as Ludwig
Crew
(1982)
Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
Director