Bruno Ganz

Born: March 22 1941
Where: Zurich-Seebach, Switzerland

The veteran actor attracted critical plaudits for his haunting portrayal of Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall.

The leading man of New German Wave of movies, Ganz began his career on the stage and by the 1960s was well established on the Berlin theatre.

His performance in Eric Rohmer's The Marquis of O brought him to international prominence.

In 1977, he starred opposite Dennis Hopper in Wim Wenders' The American Friend and went on to star alongside Gregory Peck in the Nazi-hunting drama The Boys from Brazil.

He was next seen by British audiences as Jonathan Harker in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampryre in 1979.

Ganz spent the 1980s dividing his time between European state and screen roles.

He began the decade with Volker Schlondorf's Circle of Deceipt and in 1987 reunited with Wenders to play Damiel, the lovelorn angel in Wings of Desire.

Numerous international successes include Gillian Armstrong's Australian drama The Last Days of Chez Nous and Silvio Soldini's Bread and Tulips.

In 2003, he starred in the religious drama Luther and played a rogue scientist in Jonathan Demme's The Manchurian Candidate.

In 2005, he played Hitler during his final days in the Berlin bunker in the German-made drama Downfall.