Otto Sander
Acting
Born: June 30, 1941 · Hanover, Germany
Died: September 12, 2013 (aged 72)
Highest Rated
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.
Photos (1)
Movies (55)
Das Boot
Phillip Thomsen
Wings of Desire
Cassiel
The Tin Drum
Meyn
The Killer Condom
Mr. Higgins
Faraway, So Close!
Cassiel
Krabat
Narrator (voice)
The Marquise of O
Brother, Forstmeister
Conversation with the Beast
Adolf Hitler Double
Wahnfried
Richard Wagner
A Love in Germany
Narrator
The Harmonists
1997
About Narration
2025
Lumière & Company
Cassiel (segment "Wim Wenders")
Summer Guests
Pjotr Suslov
Rosa Luxemburg
Karl Liebknecht
Werner and the Wizard of Booze
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Life Is Too Long
2010
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
Professor Steinach
Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
Erzähler (voice)
Four Against the Bank
Eberhard Winter
The Heart Is a Dark Forest
Helmut
The Case of Mr. Spalt
Otto Spalt
Fly Away
Eckehardt Tiedgen
Am I Beautiful?
David
Marlene
Bühnenmanager
Männer sind wie Schokolade
Vater Lano
One or the Other of Us
Rulle Ruhlsdorff
Boundaries of Time - Caspar David Friedrich
Gerichtsgehilfe
Little King Macius
Erasmus (voice)
The White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang
Prof. Hinzelmann
The Film Narrator
Salzmann
Der Mann im Pyjama
Rudi
Das Loch
Der Mann
Inge, April und Mai
1993
Palermo or Wolfsburg
Staatsanwalt
E-m@il an Gott
Petrus
The Promise
Professor Lorenz
Girls under investigation
Staatsanwalt Baldur Meixner
The Danube
Franz
Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
Narrator (voice)
Sass
Vater Sass
100 Pro
Narrator
Movie Days
Maður á hesti
Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
Loan officer Grop
Meine Sorgen möcht' ich haben
Harald Bornemann
Time of Vengeance
Robert
Who's Going Crazy Here, Doctor?
Nummer Sieben
Strike Back
Kowalski
Three Sisters
Vershinin
Nikolaikirche
kirchlicher Superintendent
The Olympic Summer
Sprecher
The Break
Erwin Lubowitz
Lyrische Suite. Das untergehende Vaterland
1992
No Pawing, Darling
1970
Bauernschach
Dr. Gerold Stadler
TV Shows (17)
Scene of the Crime
Manfred Enders · 1 eps
Scene of the Crime
Otto Androsch · 1 eps
Polizeiruf 110
Ludwig Stolze · 1 eps
Polizeiruf 110
Lansky · 2 eps
Polizeiruf 110
Richard Lansky · 1 eps
Das Traumschiff
James Korthals · 1 eps
Das Traumschiff
Johannes Lippelt · 1 eps
Wolffs Revier
Schenk · 1 eps
Vienna Crime Squad
Conrad Ribarski · 1 eps
Der Fahnder
Bähr · 1 eps
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
Kunsträuber · 1 eps
A.S. Gefahr ist sein Geschäft
Freddy Klinke · 1 eps
Das Boot
Kapitänleutnant Philipp · 6 eps
Les Misérables
Monseigneur Bienvenu · 4 eps
Das Jahrhundert des Theaters
Narrator · 6 eps
The Shop
3 eps
Unter kaiserlicher Flagge
Erzähler / Narrator · 2 eps
Self / Appearances (12)
Die Harald Schmidt Show
Self · 1 eps
DAS!
Self · 1 eps
NDR Talk Show
Self · 1 eps
Wetten, dass..?
Self · 1 eps
Zimmer frei!
Self · 1 eps
Through the Night with...
Self · 1 eps
Das Boot Revisited: An Underwater Success Story
Self
Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us
Self
Roland Klick: The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter
Himself
Berlin 10. 11. 74 - 28. 1. 75: Exercises in 9 Pieces
Himself
Preußen – Chronik eines deutschen Staates
Self (Narrator) · 6 eps
Happy Too
Himself / Gert Bastian