Christian Berkel
Encyclopedia
Christian Berkel is a German actor
.
Berkel was born in Berlin
, Germany
. His father was a military doctor.
From the age of 14 he lived in Paris
where he took drama lessons with Jean-Louis Barrault
and Pierre Berlin. He then trained at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin and appeared on stage in Augsburg
, Düsseldorf
, Munich
, Vienna
and at the Schiller Theatre, Berlin.
He has appeared in many German television productions and secured a major role in the Academy Award-nominated film Downfall
as Doctor Ernst-Günther Schenck
. He has followed this with significant roles in the Paul Verhoeven directed Dutch movie Black Book and the big budget United States movies Flightplan
, Valkyrie
(in which he portrayed Colonel Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim
) and the Academy Award-nominated Inglourious Basterds.
He lives in Berlin with the actress Andrea Sawatzki
, with whom he has two sons. He is also fluent in French and English
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Berkel was born in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. His father was a military doctor.
From the age of 14 he lived in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where he took drama lessons with Jean-Louis Barrault
Jean-Louis Barrault
Jean-Louis Barrault was a French actor, director and mime artist, training that served him well when he portrayed the 19th-century mime Jean-Gaspard Deburau in Marcel Carné's 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis .Jean-Louis Barrault studied with Charles Dullin in whose troupe he acted...
and Pierre Berlin. He then trained at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin and appeared on stage in Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and at the Schiller Theatre, Berlin.
He has appeared in many German television productions and secured a major role in the Academy Award-nominated film Downfall
Downfall (film)
Downfall is a 2004 German/Italian/Austrian epic war film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's life in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945....
as Doctor Ernst-Günther Schenck
Ernst-Günther Schenck
Prof. Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck was a German Standartenführer and doctor who joined the SS in 1933. Because of a chance encounter with Adolf Hitler during the closing days of World War II, his memoirs proved historically valuable. His accounts of this period influenced the accounts of Joachim...
. He has followed this with significant roles in the Paul Verhoeven directed Dutch movie Black Book and the big budget United States movies Flightplan
Flightplan
Flightplan is a 2005 thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan, Greta Scacchi, and Sean Bean. It was released in North America on September 23, 2005...
, Valkyrie
Valkyrie (film)
Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country...
(in which he portrayed Colonel Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim
Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim
Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim was a German officer and a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany involved in the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler.-Biography:...
) and the Academy Award-nominated Inglourious Basterds.
He lives in Berlin with the actress Andrea Sawatzki
Andrea Sawatzki
Andrea Sawatzki is a German actress. Since 2002 she has starred in the Hessischer Rundfunk version of the popular television crime series Tatort as police inspector Charlotte Sänger....
, with whom he has two sons. He is also fluent in French and English
Filmography
- 1977: The Serpent's EggThe Serpent's Egg (film)The Serpent's Egg is a 1977 United States / West German co-produced film directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring David Carradine as Abel Rosenberg, which is set in 1920s Berlin. This was Bergman's one and only Hollywood film...
- 1977: Der Mädchenkrieg (Maiden's War)
- 1978: TatortTatortTatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss , crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF 2 in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland...
- Rot, rot, tot (TV) - 1981: Frau Jenny TreibelFrau Jenny TreibelFrau Jenny Treibel is a German novel published in 1892 by Theodor Fontane.- Plot :The primary subject of the novel revolves around two Berlin families. One is the upper-class Treibel family consisting of the Councillor of commerce and his wife, Frau Jenny, as well as their sons Otto and Leopold....
(TV) - 1983: DerrickDerrick (TV series)Derrick is a German TV series produced by Telenova Film und Fernsehproduktion in association with ZDF, ORF and SRG between 1974 and 1998 about Detective Chief Inspector Stephan Derrick and his loyal assistant Inspector Harry Klein , who solve murder cases in Munich and surroundings Derrick is a...
- Season 10, Episode 06: "Tödliches Rendezvous" - 1989: Der Bastard (TV series)
- 1993: Ein unvergeßliches Wochenende... in Salzburg (TV)
- 1995: Das Schicksal der Lilian H. (TV)
- 1996: Lautlose Schritte (TV)
- 1997: Umarmung mit dem Tod (TV)
- 1998: Tod auf Amrum (TV)
- 1999: Sweet Little Sixteen (TV)
- 2000: Blondine sucht Millionär fürs Leben (TV)
- 2001: Das ExperimentDas ExperimentDas Experiment is a 2001 German film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, about a social experiment, based on Mario Giordano's novel Black Box, which resembles Philip Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment of 1971.-Plot:...
(The Experiment) - 2002: Safe ConductSafe Conduct (film)Safe Conduct is a 2002 French historical drama film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and written by Tavernier and Jean Cosmos.-Plot:The film is about the French film industry from 1942 to 1944 during the Nazi occupation. The film focuses on assistant director and resistance fighter Jean Devaivre and...
- 2002: Die Affäre Semmeling (TV series)
- 2003: Erste Liebe (TV)
- 2004: Der Untergang (Downfall)
- 2004: Männer wie wir (Guys and Balls)
- 2004: Der Vater meiner Schwester (TV)
- 2005: TatortTatortTatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss , crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF 2 in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland...
- Leerstand (TV) - 2005: FlightplanFlightplanFlightplan is a 2005 thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke and starring Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan, Greta Scacchi, and Sean Bean. It was released in North America on September 23, 2005...
(film) - 2006: Die Sturmflut (TV)
- 2006: Eine Frage des Gewissens (A Question Of The Conscience) (TV)
- 2006: Black Book
- 2006: Der Kriminalist (TV)
- 2008: Flame & CitronFlame & CitronFlame & Citron is a 2008 Danish drama/action co-written and directed by Ole Christian Madsen. The film, a fictionalized account based on fact, is about two Danish resistance movement fighters during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.- Plot :...
(film) - 2008: Miracle at St. AnnaMiracle at St. AnnaMiracle at St. Anna is a 2008 war film, directed by Spike Lee and written by James McBride, based on McBride's novel of the same name. The film was released on September 26, 2008, and is set during World War II, in fall of 1944 in Tuscany and in the winter of 1983 in New York City and Rome...
(film) - 2008: HaberHaber (film)Haber is a 2008 short-film directed by Daniel Ragussis. The film is based around the work of Fritz Haber in developing chemical weaponry for the German army during World War I....
(film) - 2008: ValkyrieValkyrie (film)Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country...
(film) - 2009: Inglourious Basterds (film)
- 2009: Attack on LeningradAttack on LeningradAttack on Leningrad, or just Leningrad, is a 2009 war film written and directed by Aleksandr Buravsky, set during the Siege of Leningrad.- Plot :...
(film)