Bruno Ganz
ALL ABOUT BRUNO GANZ
Full Name: Bruno Ganz
Nickname: Gano Brunz
Date of Birth: 22 March 1941
Place of Birth: Zürich-Seebach, Switzerland
Spouse: Sabine Ganz (1965 - present) (separated) 1 child
Bio:
Ganz had decided to pursue an acting career by the time he entered university. He was equally drawn to stage and screen but initially enjoyed greater success in the theater. In 1960, at the age of 19, he landed his first film role, in Der Herr mit der schwarzen Melone (The Man in the Black Derby). Despite the support of lead actor Gustav Knuth, his cinematic debut was not particularly successful and it was only many years later that his career in film got off the ground. Ganz made his theatrical debut the following year and devoted himself primarily to the stage for almost two decades thereafter. In 1970, he helped found the Berliner Schaubühne ensemble and two years later performed in the Salzburg Festival premier of Thomas Bernhard’s Der Ignorant und der Wahnsinnige, under the direction of Claus Peymann. The German magazine Theater heute (Theater Today) solidified Ganz’s reputation as a stage actor by pronouncing him Schauspieler des Jahres (Actor of the Year) in 1973. Perhaps his most breathtaking role was to perform for 13 hours straight as the lead in Peter Stein’s 2000 production of Goethe’s Faust (Parts I and II).
Ganz’s breakthrough in cinema came with a major part in the 1976 film Sommergäste. His performance launched a distinguished career that has included important roles in both European and American films, for which he has received several of Europe’s most prized accolades. He has worked with the directors Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Éric Rohmer, and Francis Ford Coppola, among others. In 1979 he starred opposite Klaus Kinski in Herzog’s Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night). More recently, in Bernd Eichinger’s much acclaimed film Der Untergang [2004] (The Downfall), Ganz may be the second native German speaker after Albin Skoda (in Georg Wilhelm Pabst’s 1955 film Der letzte Akt) to play Adolf Hitler on screen, a role that most German directors had tended to relegate to very brief scenes or bit parts, often shot from behind.
Alcide Nikopol, the protagonist of the “Nikopol trilogy” of graphic novels by Enki Bilal, is clearly modelled after the likeness of a young Bruno Ganz.
Ganz was born in Zürich to a Swiss mechanic father and a northern Italian mother. He is separated from his wife Sabine, whom he married in 1965, and with whom he had his only son Daniel (b.1972). When not in his hometown of Zürich, he resides in Venice and Berlin.
Trivia:
Bruno is married since 1965 and has a son called Daniel, born 1972 and blind since 1976.
Bruno was honored by Austrian President Heinz Fischer with the highest honor for performances in culture and science in 2006.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival honored Bruno with the Special Jury award for his role as Adolf Hitler in 2004.
Bruno got elected Actor of the Year in 1973 by the magazine Theater Today.
In 1980 he received the Chaplin Shoe from the German Actors Association.
In 1976 Bruno got the state movie award of West-Germany.
In 1991 Bruno received the Hans Reinhart-Ring of the Swiss comittee of Arts in Theaters.
He won a Bambi award in 2004 for his role as Adolf Hitler.
He received the Berlin movie award in 2001
He was honored with the David di Donatello Award in 2000.
In 1998 he received the highest cultural honor of France: He was named Officier dans l’ordre des arts et des lettres
Bruno got honored with the European Movie Award in 2000.
Bruno received the Adolf-Grimme award in 1999.
In 1996 Bruno received the Iffland-Ring with goes to most important German speaking actor since over 200 years. The owner keeps it until he thinks somebody is now better than him. Bruno got the Ring from Josef Meinrad who kept it for almost 20 years.
Bruno is only 5′ 6″ (1.68 m) tall. That fact helped him to get some of his most famous roles in movies and on stage.
Bruno turned down a offer by Steven Spielberg to play in the movie Schindler’s List (1993). In 2005 he told the press that was the biggest mistake in his life.
Bruno was on the cover of a special by the Los Angeles Times, February 27th 2005, for his role as Adolf Hitler.
Although Bruno always lived in Switzerland, he made most of his career in Germany and till 1990 in West-Germany.
Filmography:
Bruno Ganz Filmography as an Actor:
2008 Baader-Meinhof Komplex, Der
2007 The Dust of Time
2007 Youth Without Youth
2006 Vitus
2005 Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II
2004 The Manchurian Candidate
2004 Downfall
2003 Luther
2002 Under Strange Skies
2002 The Power of the Past
2001 Epstein’s Night
2000 Bread and Tulips
2000 WerAngstWolf
1998 Gegen Ende Der Nacht
1998 Eternity and a Day
1996 Ein Richter in Angst
1996 Saint-Ex
1993 Faraway, So Close!
1992 Die Abwesenheit
1992 The Last Days of Chez Nous
1992 Prague
1992 Brandnacht
1991 La Domenica Specialmente
1991 Boern Natturunnar
1990 Erfolg
1989 Bankomatt
1989 The Architecture of Doom
1989 Strapless
1989 Noch Ein Wunsch
1988 Vaeter und Soehne
1988 Un Amore Di Donna
1987 Wings of Desire
1986 Rio De Oro
1986 Der Pendler
1985 De Ijssalon
1983 System Ohne Schatten
1983 Killer Aus Florida
1983 Dans la Ville Blanche
1983 Krieg und Frieden
1982 Logik Des Gefuehls
1982 Etwas Wird Sichtbar
1981 Circle of Deceit
1981 La Vera Storia Della Signora Delle Camelie
1980 Der Erfinder
1980 5% de Risque
1980 La Provinciale
1980 Cinq Pour Cent De Risque
1980 Polenta
1980 Oggetti Smarriti
1979 Retour à la Bien-Aimée
1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre
1978 The Boys From Brazil
1978 Messer im Kopf
1978 Schwarz und Weiss wie Tage und Naechte
1977 The American Friend
1977 Die Linkshändige Frau
1976 Die Wildente
1976 Lumière
1976 The Marquise of O
1967 Rece do Góry
1963 Black and White as Day and Night
1962 Es Dach Ueberem Chopf
1961 Chikita
Bruno Ganz Filmography as an Editor:
1983 Gedaechtnis
Bruno Ganz Filmography as a Producer:
1983 Gedaechtnis
Bruno Ganz Awards:
London Film Critics Association
2005 Best Actor Downfall
Leave a comment