Otto Sander
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.
Filmography (126 Appearances)
About Narration
Das Boot Revisited: An Underwater Success Story
Roland Klick: The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter
Fly Away
Die Schuld der Erben
Life Is Too Long
Krabat
The Heart Is a Dark Forest
Little King Macius
Unter kaiserlicher Flagge
Vienna Crime Squad
Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
Leute am Donnerstag
Aus Liebe zu Deutschland - Eine Spendenaffäre
The Danube
Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us
Tödliches Vertrauen
Atlantic Affairs
Ein roter Teppich für....
Happy Too
Through the Night with...
Gero von Boehm begegnet...
Das Jahrhundert des Theaters
100 Pro
Sass
Preußen – Chronik eines deutschen Staates
Les Misérables
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
Marlene
E-m@il an Gott
Majestät brauchen Sonne
Girls under investigation
Männer sind wie Schokolade
Der Kuß des Vergessens
The Shop
Stan Becker - Auf eigene Faust
Am I Beautiful?
The Johannes B. Kerner Show
The Harmonists
Tietjen und Bommes
Conversation with the Beast
Liebe Lügen
Friedemann Brix - Eine Schwäche für Mord
The Killer Condom
Zimmer frei!
Lumière & Company
Matulla und Busch
Die Harald Schmidt Show
Nikolaikirche
Kulturzeit
The Promise
Bauernschach
A.S. Gefahr ist sein Geschäft
Das Loch
The White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang
Hölderlin-Comics
Movie Days
Three Sisters
The Film Narrator
The Olympic Summer
Faraway, So Close!
Inge, April und Mai
Schlusschor
Wolffs Revier
Lyrische Suite. Das untergehende Vaterland
Bescheiß kein Kind!
DAS!
Werner and the Wizard of Booze
Time of Vengeance
Vorwärts
The Break
Wie du mir..
The Case of Mr. Spalt
Wings of Desire
Close Up
Boundaries of Time - Caspar David Friedrich
Drei Schwestern
Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
Wahnfried
Rosa Luxemburg
Eine Reise wert… Der Dichter Günter Kunert (be)sucht Berlin
Das Boot
Der Fahnder
Der Mord mit der Schere
A Love in Germany
Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
Der Mann im Pyjama
Das Traumschiff
Who's Going Crazy Here, Doctor?
Das Boot
Strike Back
Gesucht wird... Drei Geschichten um nicht ganz ehrenwerte Herren
Wetten, dass..?
Im Schlaraffenland. Ein Roman unter feinen Leuten
Die Ursache
Der Mond scheint auf Kylenamoe
Palermo or Wolfsburg
The Tin Drum
Trilogie des Wiedersehens
Phantom
NDR Talk Show
Plastikfieber
Die Ängste des Dr. Schenk
Heinrich Zille
Four Against the Bank
The Marquise of O
Summer Guests
Lehmanns Erzählungen
Berlin 10. 11. 74 - 28. 1. 75: Exercises in 9 Pieces
Meine Sorgen möcht' ich haben
Die Bakchen
One or the Other of Us
Ermittlungen gegen Unbekannt
Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
The Ignoramus and the Madman
Polizeiruf 110
Die Mutter
Sonntags am Meer
Scene of the Crime
No Pawing, Darling
Sonnabend, der 1.
Titel, Thesen, Temperamente
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
Ludwig
Grimme Award