Otto Sander
Acting • Born 1941-06-30 – Died 2013-09-12
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.
Filmography
130 credits
Wings of Desire
Movie • 1987
Cassiel
The Tin Drum
Movie • 1979
Meyn
A Love in Germany
Movie • 1983
Narrator
The Film Narrator
Movie • 1993
Salzmann
Conversation with the Beast
Movie • 1997
Adolf Hitler Double
Faraway, So Close!
Movie • 1993
Cassiel
Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
Movie • 2003
Erzähler (voice)
The Heart Is a Dark Forest
Movie • 2007
Helmut
Sass
Movie • 2001
Vater Sass
Werner and the Wizard of Booze
Movie • 1990
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
Movie • 1982
Self
Happy Too
Movie • 2002
Himself / Gert Bastian
The Ignoramus and the Madman
Movie • 1972
Little King Macius
Movie • 2007
Erasmus (voice)
No Pawing, Darling
Movie • 1970
Movie Days
Movie • 1994
Maður á hesti
Girls under investigation
Movie • 1999
Staatsanwalt Baldur Meixner
Rosa Luxemburg
Movie • 1986
Karl Liebknecht
Fly Away
Movie • 2012
Eckehardt Tiedgen
Bauernschach
Movie • 1995
Dr. Gerold Stadler
Die Schuld der Erben
Movie • 2012
Leonhard Asmussen
Roland Klick: The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter
Movie • 2013
Himself
The Break
Movie • 1989
Erwin Lubowitz
The Case of Mr. Spalt
Movie • 1988
Otto Spalt
Eine Reise wert… Der Dichter Günter Kunert (be)sucht Berlin
Movie • 1986
Rezitation
Atlantic Affairs
Movie • 2002
Maitre de Plaisir on Stage
Das Boot
Movie • 1981
Phillip Thomsen
Das Boot Revisited: An Underwater Success Story
Movie • 2021
Self
Boundaries of Time - Caspar David Friedrich
Movie • 1986
Gerichtsgehilfe
One or the Other of Us
Movie • 1974
Rulle Ruhlsdorff
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
Movie • 2000
Professor Steinach
The Killer Condom
Movie • 1996
Mr. Higgins
Marlene
Movie • 2000
Bühnenmanager
Matulla und Busch
Movie • 1995
Korte
Nikolaikirche
Movie • 1995
kirchlicher Superintendent
Palermo or Wolfsburg
Movie • 1980
Staatsanwalt
The Promise
Movie • 1995
Professor Lorenz
Four Against the Bank
Movie • 1976
Eberhard Winter
100 Pro
Movie • 2001
Narrator
Heinrich Zille
Movie • 1977
Der Mann im Pyjama
Movie • 1981
Rudi
The Marquise of O
Movie • 1976
Brother, Forstmeister
Der Mond scheint auf Kylenamoe
Movie • 1980
Inge, April und Mai
Movie • 1993
Who's Going Crazy Here, Doctor?
Movie • 1981
Nummer Sieben
Phantom
Movie • 1979
Strike Back
Movie • 1981
Kowalski
Summer Guests
Movie • 1976
Pjotr Suslov
Das Loch
Movie • 1995
Der Mann
Männer sind wie Schokolade
Movie • 1999
Vater Lano
Die Ängste des Dr. Schenk
Movie • 1978
Im Schlaraffenland. Ein Roman unter feinen Leuten
Movie • 1981
Kalfisch
Ludwig
Movie • 1964
Ludwig
E-m@il an Gott
Movie • 1999
Petrus
Trilogie des Wiedersehens
Movie • 1979
Richard
Stan Becker - Auf eigene Faust
Movie • 1998
Walker
Die Bakchen
Movie • 1974
Tiresias
Die Mutter
Movie • 1971
Plastikfieber
Movie • 1979
Wilfried
Wie du mir..
Movie • 1989
Markus Petarka
Lumière & Company
Movie • 1995
Cassiel (segment "Wim Wenders")
Lehmanns Erzählungen
Movie • 1975
Lehmann
Wahnfried
Movie • 1986
Richard Wagner
The White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang
Movie • 1994
Prof. Hinzelmann
Schlusschor
Movie • 1993
Tödliches Vertrauen
Movie • 2002
Bernd Kortens
Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us
Movie • 2003
Self
Krabat
Movie • 2008
Narrator (voice)
Liebe Lügen
Movie • 1997
Vater
Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
Movie • 1973
Obrist Kottwitz
Gesucht wird... Drei Geschichten um nicht ganz ehrenwerte Herren
Movie • 1981
The Danube
Movie • 2003
Franz
Der Mord mit der Schere
Movie • 1984
Inspector Spalt
Die Ursache
Movie • 1980
Sonntags am Meer
Movie • 1970
Fritzchen
Der Kuß des Vergessens
Movie • 1999
Herr Jelke
Aus Liebe zu Deutschland - Eine Spendenaffäre
Movie • 2003
Voice
Am I Beautiful?
Movie • 1998
David
Berlin 10. 11. 74 - 28. 1. 75: Exercises in 9 Pieces
Movie • 1975
Himself
Vorwärts
Movie • 1990
Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
Movie • 1986
Loan officer Grop
Ermittlungen gegen Unbekannt
Movie • 1974
Life Is Too Long
Movie • 2010
Meine Sorgen möcht' ich haben
Movie • 1975
Harald Bornemann
Sonnabend, der 1.
Movie • 1970
About Narration
Movie • 2025
Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
Movie • 2004
Narrator (voice)
The Harmonists
Movie • 1997
The Olympic Summer
Movie • 1993
Sprecher
Time of Vengeance
Movie • 1990
Robert
Bescheiß kein Kind!
Movie • 1992
Vater
Three Sisters
Movie • 1994
Vershinin
Lyrische Suite. Das untergehende Vaterland
Movie • 1992
Close Up
Movie • 1987
Professor Spalt
Hölderlin-Comics
Movie • 1994
Drei Schwestern
Movie • 1986
Alexander Ignatjewitsch Werschinin
Majestät brauchen Sonne
Movie • 1999
Kaiser Wilhelm II (voice)
Ein roter Teppich für....
TV • 2002
Self
Scene of the Crime
TV • 1970
Manfred Enders
Polizeiruf 110
TV • 1971
Ludwig Stolze
Polizeiruf 110
TV • 1971
Lansky
Wolffs Revier
TV • 1992
Schenk
Der Fahnder
TV • 1984
Bähr
A.S. Gefahr ist sein Geschäft
TV • 1995
Freddy Klinke
Polizeiruf 110
TV • 1971
Richard Lansky
Die Harald Schmidt Show
TV • 1995
Self
Wetten, dass..?
TV • 1981
Self
Friedemann Brix - Eine Schwäche für Mord
TV • 1996
Rainer Kleinhundert
Das Boot
TV • 1985
Kapitänleutnant Philipp
Vienna Crime Squad
TV • 2005
Conrad Ribarski
Through the Night with...
TV • 2002
Self
Scene of the Crime
TV • 1970
Otto Androsch
Les Misérables
TV • 2000
Monseigneur Bienvenu
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
TV • 1967
Kunsträuber
Preußen – Chronik eines deutschen Staates
TV • 2000
Self (Narrator)
Grimme Award
TV • 1964
Self
The Shop
TV • 1998
Zimmer frei!
TV • 1996
Self
The Johannes B. Kerner Show
TV • 1998
Self
Tietjen und Bommes
TV • 1997
Self
Das Jahrhundert des Theaters
TV • 2002
Narrator
DAS!
TV • 1991
Self
NDR Talk Show
TV • 1979
Self
Gero von Boehm begegnet...
TV • 2002
Self
Leute am Donnerstag
TV • 2004
himself
Titel, Thesen, Temperamente
TV • 1967
Self
Unter kaiserlicher Flagge
TV • 2006
Erzähler / Narrator
Das Traumschiff
TV • 1981
James Korthals
Kulturzeit
TV • 1995
self
Das Traumschiff
TV • 1981
Johannes Lippelt