Christian Berkel (born 28 October 1957) is a German actor. He is known for his appearances in '' Downfall'' (2004), ''

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ("chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become (Old Norse "single (or once) fighters"Orchard (1997: ...

'' (2008), ''

Inglourious Basterds ''Inglourious Basterds'' is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger and Mélanie Laurent. The film tells an altern ...

'' (2009) and ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

'' (2015).

Life and career

Berkel was born on 28 October 1957 in Berlin. His father had been a military doctor in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. His Jewish mother fled to Argentina and returned to Germany after the end of the war. From the age of 14 Berkel lived in Paris where he took drama lessons with

Jean-Louis Barrault Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundia ...

and Pierre Berlin. He then trained at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin and appeared on stage in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Vienna and at the

Schiller Theater The Schiller Theater is a theatre building in Berlin, Germany. It is located in the central Charlottenburg district at Bismarckstraße 110, near Ernst-Reuter-Platz. Opened in 1907, the building served as a second venue for the Prussian State ...

. Berkel has appeared in many German television productions before starring in the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated film '' Downfall'' (2004) as Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck. He has followed this with roles in

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

's film '' Black Book'' (2006) and the American films ''

Flightplan ''Flightplan'' is a 2005 mystery psychological thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke from a screenplay written by Peter A. Dowling and Billy Ray. It stars Jodie Foster as Kyle Pratt, a recently-widowed American aircraft engineer living ...

'' (2005), ''

'' (2008) and ''

'' (2009).

Personal life

In addition to his native German, Berkel speaks English and French. Berkel met actress

Andrea Sawatzki Andrea Sawatzki (; born 23 February 1963) is a German actress. From 2002 to 2010 she starred in the Hessischer Rundfunk version of the popular television crime series ''Tatort'' as police inspector ''Charlotte Sänger''. She also gained some in ...

in 1998. They were married in 2011. The couple have two sons. The family live in Berlin.

Filmography

*1977: ' - Karol Djudko *1977: '' The Serpent's Egg'' - Student *1978: ''

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed b ...

- Rot, rot, tot'' (TV) - Doc Decker / Dr. Alfred Waller / Erik Steinbeck / Rainer Wenisch / Uwe Pfandler *1982: '' Frau Jenny Treibel'' (TV) - Leopold Treibel *1983: ''

Derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower, and ...

'' - Season 10, Episode 06: "Tödliches Rendezvous" - Manfred Kessler *1989: ''Der Bastard'' (TV series) - Felix Dennison *1991: ' - Man #2 (voice) *1993: ''Das Schicksal der Lilian H.'' (TV) - Josef *1993: ''Ein unvergeßliches Wochenende ... in Salzburg'' (TV) *1996: '' Der Mann ohne Schatten'' (TV series) - Bruno Kuhlin *1996: ''Lautlose Schritte'' (TV) - Simon Sundermann *1997: ' - Weich *1997: ''Umarmung mit dem Tod'' (TV) - Lefevre *1998: ''Tod auf Amrum'' (TV) - Rolf Spiekermann *1999: ''Sweet Little Sixteen'' (TV) - Thomas Reiner *2000: ''Verzweiflung'' *2000: ''Blondine sucht Millionär fürs Leben'' (TV) - Dietrich *2001: '' Das Experiment (The Experiment)'' - Robert Steinhoff Nr. 38 *2002: '' Safe Conduct'' - Dr. Greven *2002: ''

Die Affäre Semmeling ''Die Affäre Semmeling'' was a 2002 German miniseries, broadcast on ZDF, directed by Dieter Wedel. It starred Mario Adorf as Walter 'Beton-Walter' Wegener, Robert Atzorn as Dr. Klaus Hennig, Heinz Hoenig as Axel Ropert, Stefan Kurt as Sigi ...

'' (TV series) - Fred Kiefer *2002: ''Der Unbestechliche'' - Harald Kittler *2003: ''Erste Liebe'' (TV) *2004: '' Soundless'' - Lang *2004: ''

Der Untergang ''Downfall'' (german: Der Untergang, it, La caduta – Gli ultimi giorni di Hitler) is a 2004 German-language historical drama, historical war film, war drama film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a screenplay by its producer, Bernd Eichin ...

(Downfall)'' - Prof. Ernst-Günther Schenck *2004: '' Männer wie wir (Guys and Balls)'' - Rudolf *2005: ''Der Vater meiner Schwester'' (TV) - Dr. Klaus Merbold *2005: ''

- Leerstand'' (TV) - Doc Decker *2005: ''

'' (film) - Mortuary Director *2006: ' (TV) - Innensenator

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Ch ...

*2006: ''Eine Frage des Gewissens (A Question Of The Conscience)'' (TV) - Martin Beltz *2006: '' Black Book'' - General Käutner *2006: ''

Der Kriminalist ' is a German television series produced by Monaco Film Hamburg, subsidiary of Odeon Film. Directors during the first season were Sherry Hormann Sherry Hormann (born 20 April 1960) is a German-American film director. Hormann is best known for ...

'' (TV) - Kriminalhauptkommissar Bruno Schumann *2007: ''Der andere Junge'' - Jakob Wagner *2008: ''

Flame & Citron ''Flame & Citron'' ( da, Flammen & Citronen) is a 2008 historical drama film co-written and directed by the Danish director Ole Christian Madsen. The film, a fictionalized account based on historical events, stars Thure Lindhardt and Mads Mikkelse ...

'' (film) - Hoffmann *2008: '' Mogadischu'' (film) - Chancellor

*2008: '' Haber'' (film) - Fritz Shimon Haber *2008: '' Miracle at St. Anna'' (film) - Captain Eichholz *2008: ''

'' (film) - Colonel

Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim (25 March 1905 – 21 July 1944) was a German Army colonel and a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany involved in the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler. Early life Quirnheim was born in Munich, the son of Herma ...

*2009: ''

'' (film) - Proprietor Eric *2009: '' Attack on Leningrad'' (film) - Vinkelmayer *2010: ''Der letzte Angestellte'' - David *2011: ' - Heinrich Bockelmann *2013: ' (film) - Martin *2014: ' (TV) - Ernst Udet *2015: ''

Traumfrauen ''Traumfrauen'' is a 2015 German comedy film directed by Anika Decker. It sold 1.7 million tickets making it one of the most successful German films of 2015. Cast * Hannah Herzsprung - Leni Reimann * Karoline Herfurth - Hannah Reimann * Palina ...

'' - Herr Hegemann *2015: '' Anti-Social'' - Philip *2015: ''

'' (film) - Dr. Udo Teller *2015: '' Trumbo'' (film) -

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

*2016: ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' (film) - Robert *2016: ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...

'' -

King Louie King Louie is a fictional character introduced in Walt Disney's 1967 animated musical film '' The Jungle Book''. He is an Orangutan who leads other jungle primates and wants to become more human-like by gaining knowledge of fire from Mowgli. L ...

(German

dubbing Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sou ...

, originally performed by Christopher Walken) *2020: ''

Enfant Terrible ''Enfant terrible'' (; ; "terrible child") is a French expression, traditionally referring to a child who is terrifyingly candid by saying embarrassing things to parents or others. However, the expression has drawn multiple usage in careers of ...

References

External links

*
Carola Studlar Agency Munich
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkel, Christian 1957 births Living people 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors 21st-century German male writers 21st-century German novelists Französisches Gymnasium Berlin alumni German male film actors German male novelists German male television actors German people of Jewish descent Male actors from Berlin Writers from Berlin