Bruno Ganz (March 22, 1941 – February 16, 2019) was a Swiss actor from Zurich.
One of the most prominent and revered figures in German-language theatre, film and television for about fifty years (in Germany, Austria and Switzerland alike), he received much critical acclaim and awards during his career, and he worked with such renowned filmmakers as Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, Éric Rohmer, Théo Angelopoulos, Francis Ford Coppola and Ridley Scott, to name a few.
He had a great enough range as an actor to play both an angel (in Wings of Desire) and Adolf Hitler in Downfall (Der Untergang). The latter role was perhaps how he was best known to most contemporary audiences, and especially since his epic mental breakdowns in that film spawned the hugely memetic Hitler Rants Gag Sub videos.
He passed away from intestinal cancer on 16 February 2019, over a month shy of his 78th birthday.
Works on TV Tropes:
- The American Friend (1977) as Jonathan Zimmerman
- The Boys from Brazil (1978) as Dr. Bruckner
- Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) as Jonathan Harker
- Wings of Desire (1987) as Damiel
- Children of Nature (1991), cameo
- Tatort (episode "Schattenwelt", 1996) as Dr. Thomas Berg ("Tom Bombadil")
- Eternity and a Day (1998) as Alexandros
- Luther (2003) as Dr. Johann von Staupitz.
- The Manchurian Candidate (2004) as Delp
- Downfall (2004) as Adolf Hitler
- The Reader (2008) as Professor Rohl
- The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008) as Horst Herold
- Unknown (2011) as Ernst Jürgen
- Night Train to Lisbon (2013) as Jorge O'Kelly
- The Counselor (2013) as the diamond dealer
- In Order of Disappearance (2014) as "Papa" Popović
- Re;member (2015) as Rudy Kurlander #1
- Heidi (2015) as "Alpöhi" (Heidi's Grandfather)
- The House That Jack Built (2018) as Verge note
- A Hidden Life (2019) as Judge Lueben note
Tropes and Trivia applying to his roles:
- Fake Nationality: He has played more German characters than anything else due to often being cast in German productions, and he hailed from Switzerland. He was easily able to adapt to the required accents.
- What Could Have Been: He turned down the role of Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List.
