Acting
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.
Movies with Otto Sander
Das Boot
1981
The Tin Drum
1979
Wings of Desire
1987
Krabat
2008
Werner and the Wizard of Booze
1990
Wahnfried
1986
The Killer Condom
1996
Faraway, So Close!
1993
About Narration
2025
Die Bakchen
1974
Hölderlin-Comics
1994
Rosa Luxemburg
1986
Lumière & Company
1995
Am I Beautiful?
1998
Die Mutter
1971
The Marquise of O
1976
Summer Guests
1976
Liebe Lügen
1997
Conversation with the Beast
1997
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
2000
Vorwärts
1990
Fly Away
2012
The Harmonists
1997
Strike Back
1981
Marlene
2000
The Film Narrator
1993
The Promise
1995
A Love in Germany
1983
Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us
2003
Das Boot Revisited: An Underwater Success Story
2021
Nikolaikirche
1995
One or the Other of Us
1974
Life Is Too Long
2010
Movie Days
1994
Time of Vengeance
1990
Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
1973
Majestät brauchen Sonne
1999
Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
2003
The Heart Is a Dark Forest
2007
Girls under investigation
1999
E-m@il an Gott
1999
Das Loch
1995
Close Up
1987
The Break
1989
Schlusschor
1993
Der Kuß des Vergessens
1999
100 Pro
2001
Trilogie des Wiedersehens
1979
Sonntags am Meer
1970
Palermo or Wolfsburg
1980
Matulla und Busch
1995
The Olympic Summer
1993
The Case of Mr. Spalt
1988
Der Mond scheint auf Kylenamoe
1980
Die Ursache
1980
Sass
2001
Meine Sorgen möcht' ich haben
1975
Roland Klick: The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter
2013
Three Sisters
1994
Phantom
1979
Bauernschach
1995
Der Mann im Pyjama
1981
Heinrich Zille
1977
Die Schuld der Erben
2012
Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
1986
Lyrische Suite. Das untergehende Vaterland
1992
Sonnabend, der 1.
1970
The Ignoramus and the Madman
1972
Stan Becker - Auf eigene Faust
1998
Drei Schwestern
1986
Gesucht wird... Drei Geschichten um nicht ganz ehrenwerte Herren
1981
Plastikfieber
1979
Who's Going Crazy Here, Doctor?
1981
Wie du mir..
1989
The White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang
1994
Ermittlungen gegen Unbekannt
1974
Four Against the Bank
1976
No Pawing, Darling
1970
Inge, April und Mai
1993
Berlin 10. 11. 74 - 28. 1. 75: Exercises in 9 Pieces
1975
Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
1982
Atlantic Affairs
2002
Die Ängste des Dr. Schenk
1978
Im Schlaraffenland. Ein Roman unter feinen Leuten
1981
The Danube
2003
Aus Liebe zu Deutschland - Eine Spendenaffäre
2003
Bescheiß kein Kind!
1992
Little King Macius
2007
Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
2004
Männer sind wie Schokolade
1999
Boundaries of Time - Caspar David Friedrich
1986
Lehmanns Erzählungen
1975
Happy Too
2002
Der Mord mit der Schere
1984
Ludwig
1964
Tödliches Vertrauen
2002
Eine Reise wert… Der Dichter Günter Kunert (be)sucht Berlin
1986
TV Shows with Otto Sander
Scene of the Crime
1970
Polizeiruf 110
1971
Wetten, dass..?
1981
DAS!
1991
NDR Talk Show
1979
Vienna Crime Squad
2005
Wolffs Revier
1992
Die Harald Schmidt Show
1995
Das Traumschiff
1981
Kulturzeit
1995
The Johannes B. Kerner Show
1998
Zimmer frei!
1996
Tietjen und Bommes
1997
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
1967
Grimme Award
1964
Der Fahnder
1984
Les Misérables
2000
Through the Night with...
2002
Gero von Boehm begegnet...
2002
Das Boot
1985
A.S. Gefahr ist sein Geschäft
1995
Leute am Donnerstag
2004
Ein roter Teppich für....
2002
Das Jahrhundert des Theaters
2002
Friedemann Brix - Eine Schwäche für Mord
1996
The Shop
1998
Preußen – Chronik eines deutschen Staates
2000
Unter kaiserlicher Flagge
2006