German actor (born 1930)
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Mueller-Stahl in October 2007
Born (1930-12-17 ) 17 December 1930 (age 93) Occupation(s) Actor, writer, director Years active 1956–2015
Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in
Shine . In 2011, he was awarded the
Honorary Golden Bear .
Early life
The birthplace of Armin Mueller-Stahl in Tilsit (now Sovetsk), which has been a listed building since 2010
Mueller-Stahl was born in
Tilsit ,
East Prussia (now
Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast ,
Russia ). His mother, Editta, was from an upper-class family and became a university professor in
Leipzig . His father, Alfred Müller, was a bank teller who changed the family's surname to "Mueller-Stahl".
[1]
[2] The rest of the family moved to Berlin while his father fought on the
Eastern Front in
World War II .
[1] Mueller-Stahl was a concert violinist while he was a teenager and enrolled at an
East Berlin acting school in 1952.
[1]
Career
Mueller-Stahl was a film and stage actor in
East Germany , performing in such films as
Her Third and
Jacob the Liar . For that country's television, he played the main character of the popular series
Das unsichtbare Visier from 1973 to 1979, a spy thriller program designed, in co-operation with the
Stasi , as a counterpart to the
James Bond films. After protesting against
Wolf Biermann 's
denaturalization in 1976 he was
blacklisted by the government. Emigrating in 1980 to West Germany,
[1] he found regular work in films. These included
Rainer Werner Fassbinder 's
Lola (1981) and
Veronika Voss (1982),
Andrzej Wajda 's
A Love in Germany (1984),
Angry Harvest and the
Academy Award nominated
Hungarian -West German film
Colonel Redl (both 1985), the latter about the scandal surrounding
Austro-Hungarian Army Colonel
Alfred Redl .
Mueller-Stahl played the
Soviet general in charge of the occupied United States in the 1987
ABC television miniseries
Amerika . He made his American feature film debut as
Jessica Lange 's character's father in
Music Box (1989). His performance as a Jewish immigrant to the United States in the 1990 film
Avalon was widely praised. He subsequently took
character roles in
Kafka by
Steven Soderbergh and
Night on Earth by
Jim Jarmusch (both 1991).
Armin Mueller-Stahl in Hamburg in 2022 in front of the poster for the film
Utz (1992), his favorite film.
Mueller-Stahl won the
Silver Bear for Best Actor at the
42nd Berlin International Film Festival for his performance in
Utz (1992).
[3] Mueller-Stahl was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the abusive father of pianist
David Helfgott in the 1996 film
Shine . Mueller-Stahl was also in
A Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995) and the 1997 remake of the film
12 Angry Men .
Conversation with the Beast (1996) was his first film as director. In 1998, he played the German scientist and syndicate member,
Conrad Strughold , in the feature film
The X-Files . In 1999 he played the mastermind of a criminal gang opposite
Ray Liotta and
Gloria Reuben in
Pilgrim , also distributed under the title Inferno .
In the early 2000s, Mueller-Stahl received a positive response for his portrayal of
Thomas Mann in a German miniseries about the Mann family called
Die Manns - Ein Jahrhundertroman . In 2004, Mueller-Stahl made a foray into American television, guest-starring in four episodes on the television drama series
The West Wing as the
Prime Minister of Israel . In 2006, he played the role of reclusive Russian artist Nikolai Seroff in
Local Color . He had a villainous role in
David Cronenberg 's crime drama
Eastern Promises (2007) and the thriller
The International (2009), both of which co-starred British-Australian actress
Naomi Watts . In 2008, he won the
Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Eastern Promises . Mueller-Stahl played the role of Cardinal Strauss, Dean of the College of Cardinals and the Papal conclave, in
Angels & Demons (2009).
In 2011, he was awarded the
Honorary Golden Bear at the
61st Berlin International Film Festival .
[4]
Since the creation of the
Freya von Moltke Stiftung , working out of Berlin and Krzyżowa, he has been a supporter and linked with their work.
[5]
Filmography
Heimliche Ehen (1956), as Norbert
Die Flucht aus der Hölle (1960), as Hans Röder
Five Cartridges (1960), as Pierre Gireau
Star-Crossed Lovers (1962), as Michael
… und deine Liebe auch (1962), as Ullrich Settich
Naked among Wolves (1963), as André Höfel
Christine (1963)
Preludio 11 (1964), as Quintana
Alaskafüchse (1964), as Sowjetischer Arzt
Wolf Among Wolves (1965, TV series), as Wolfgang Pagel
Ein Lord am Alexanderplatz (1967), as Dr. Achim Engelhardt
Ways across the Country (1968), as Jürgen Leßtorff
Tödlicher Irrtum (1970), as Chris Howard
Her Third (1972), as The Blind Man
Januskopf (1972), as Dr. Brock
Die Hosen des Ritters von Bredow (1973), as Dechant von Krummensee
Kit & Co [
de ] (1974), as Mr. Slavovitz
Jacob the Liar (1974), as Roman Schtamm
Nelken in Aspik (1976), as Wolfgang Schmidt
Das unsichtbare Visier (1973–1976, TV series), as Werner Bredebusch
Die Flucht (1977), as Schmidt
Lola (1981), as Von Bohm
Collin [
de ] (1981, TV film), as Andreas Roth
Veronika Voss (1982), as Max Rehbein
God Does Not Believe in Us Anymore [
fr ] (1982), as 'Gandhi'
The Lite Trap [
de ] (1982), as Harald Liebe
Wings of Night (1982), as Goedel
Embers (1983), as François Korb / Andres Korb
The Train Killer [
hu ] (1983), as Tetzlav
Un dimanche de flic [
fr ] (1983), as The Lawyer
The Wounded Man (1983), as Henri's Father
A Love in Germany (1983), as Mayer
Trauma [
fr ] (1984), as Sam
Rita Ritter (1984)
Thousand Eyes [
de ] (1984), as Arnold
Crooks in Paradise (1985, TV film), as Otto Flamm
Colonel Redl (1985), as
Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Angry Harvest (1985), as Leon Wolny
Die Mitläufer (1985)
Forget Mozart (1985), as Graf Pergen
The Assault of the Present on the Rest of Time (1985), as Blind Director
Close-Up (1985, TV film), as Dold
Momo (1986), as Leader of the Men in Grey
Franza (1986, TV film), as Jordan
Amerika (1987, TV miniseries), as General Petya Samanov
Our Man in the Jungle [
de ] (1987), as Lutz Kehlmann
Jokehnen (1987, TV miniseries), as Karl Steputat
Lethal Obsession (1987), as Axel Baumgartner
A Touch of Danger [
de ] (1988, TV film), as Max Telligan
Midnight Cop
a.k.a. Killing Blue (1988), as Inspector Alex Glass
Spider's Web (1989), as Baron von Rastchuk
C*A*S*H: A Political Fairy Tale [
de ] (1989), as Maxwell
A hecc (1989), as Marnó, kabinos, Tamás barátja
Music Box (1989), as Mike Laszlo
Avalon (1990), as Sam Krichinsky
Night on Earth (1991), as Helmut Grokenberger
Kafka (1991), as Grubach
Bronstein's Children [
de ] (1991), as Aaron
Utz (1992), as Baron Kaspar Joachim von Utz
The Power of One (1992), as Doc
Far from Berlin (1992), as Otto Lindner
Red Hot (1993), as Dimitri
The Movie Teller [
de ;
cy ] (1993), as Movie Teller
The House of the Spirits (1993), as Severo
Taxandria (1994), as Karol / Virgilus
Holy Matrimony (1994), as Wilhelm
The Last Good Time (1994), as Joseph Kopple
A Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995), as Mr. Linzer
Theodore Rex (1995), as Elizar Kane
Shine (1996), as Peter
Conversation with the Beast (1996), as
Adolf Hitler
The Ogre (1996), as Count von Kaltenborn
In the Presence of Mine Enemies (1997, TV Movie), as Rabbi Adam Heller
12 Angry Men (1997, TV Movie), as Juror #4
The Game (1997), as Anson Baer
The Assistant (1997), as Mr. Morris Bober
The Peacemaker (1997), as Dimitri Vertikoff
The Commissioner (1998), as Hans Koenig
The X-Files (1998), as Strughold
The Thirteenth Floor (1999), as Hannon Fuller / Grierson
The Third Miracle (1999), as Werner
Jakob the Liar (1999), as Kirschbaum
Jesus (1999, TV film), as Joseph
Mission to Mars (2000), as Ray Beck (uncredited)
Pilgrim (2000), as Mac
The Long Run (2001), as Bertold 'Barry' Bohmer
Die Manns – Ein Jahrhundertroman (2001, TV miniseries), as
Thomas Mann
The Story of an African Farm (2004), as Otto
The West Wing (2004, TV series, 4 episodes), as Israeli Prime Minister Efraim 'Eli' Zahavy
The Dust Factory (2004), as Grandpa Randolph
Local Color (2006), as Nicholi Seroff
I Am the Other Woman [
de ] (2006), as Karl Winter
Eastern Promises (2007), as Semyon
Buddenbrooks (2008), as Johann 'Jean' Buddenbrook
The International (2009), as Wilhelm Wexler
Angels & Demons (2009), as Cardinal Strauss
Attack on Leningrad (2009), as
Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
Knight of Cups (2015), as Fr. Zeitlinger
Awards
See also
References
External links
Awards for Armin Mueller-Stahl
Drama (1996–2005) Musical or Comedy (1996–2005) Motion Picture (2006–present)
1956–1975 1976–2000 2001–2020
International National Academics Artists People Other