Acting credits
82
Prolific
Very extensive acting filmography.
Actor
Otto Sander
Acting
Career Snapshot
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TMDB popularity
0.4
Low visibility
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Movies: 61Series: 21
TMDB ID: 2311
IMDb ID: nm0761420
Known for: Acting
Born: June 30, 1941
Died: September 12, 2013
Age: 72
Place of birth: Hanover, Germany
Gender: Male
Adult content flag: No
Career span: 1967 - 2025
Years active: 59
Average TMDB rating: 6.71
Wikidata: Q68468
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
Movies
Movies
Movie credits linked with Otto Sander.
About Narration
2025 Movie
7.2
Das Boot Revisited: An Underwater Success Story
as Self
2021 Movie
6.4
Roland Klick: The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter
as Himself
2013 Movie
5.7
Fly Away
as Eckehardt Tiedgen
2012 Movie
5.0
Life Is Too Long
2010 Movie
5.9
Krabat
as Narrator (voice)
2008 Movie
5.5
The Heart Is a Dark Forest
as Helmut
2007 Movie
4.0
Little King Macius
as Erasmus (voice)
2007 Movie
Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
as Narrator (voice)
2004 Movie
5.0
The Danube
as Franz
2003 Movie
5.9
Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
as Erzähler (voice)
2003 Movie
8.3
Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us
as Self
2003 Movie
Happy Too
as Himself / Gert Bastian
2002 Movie
3.5
100 Pro
as Narrator
2001 Movie
5.2
Sass
as Vater Sass
2001 Movie
5.3
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
as Professor Steinach
2000 Movie
5.5
Marlene
as Bühnenmanager
2000 Movie
E-m@il an Gott
as Petrus
1999 Movie
Majestät brauchen Sonne
as Kaiser Wilhelm II (voice)
1999 Movie
Girls under investigation
as Staatsanwalt Baldur Meixner
1999 Movie
5.0
Männer sind wie Schokolade
as Vater Lano
1999 Movie
6.7
Am I Beautiful?
as David
1998 Movie
6.7
The Harmonists
1997 Movie
Conversation with the Beast
as Adolf Hitler Double
1997 Movie
Series
Series
Series credits linked with Otto Sander.
Unter kaiserlicher Flagge
as Erzähler / Narrator • 2 eps
2006 Series
4.6
Vienna Crime Squad
as Conrad Ribarski • 1 eps
2005 Series
8.0
Through the Night with...
as Self • 1 eps
2002 Series
Das Jahrhundert des Theaters
as Narrator • 6 eps
2002 Series
Preußen – Chronik eines deutschen Staates
as Self (Narrator) • 6 eps
2000 Series
6.9
Les Misérables
as Monseigneur Bienvenu • 4 eps
2000 Series
3.7
The Shop
3 eps
1998 Series
6.3
Zimmer frei!
as Self • 1 eps
1996 Series
7.1
Die Harald Schmidt Show
as Self • 1 eps
1995 Series
3.5
Kulturzeit
as self • 1 eps
1995 Series
A.S. Gefahr ist sein Geschäft
as Freddy Klinke • 1 eps
1995 Series
3.0
Wolffs Revier
as Schenk • 1 eps
1992 Series
4.2
DAS!
as Self • 1 eps
1991 Series
8.6
Das Boot
as Kapitänleutnant Philipp • 6 eps
1985 Series
6.9
Der Fahnder
as Bähr • 1 eps
1984 Series
4.8
Das Traumschiff
as James Korthals • 1 eps
1981 Series
5.3
Wetten, dass..?
as Self • 1 eps
1981 Series
6.5
NDR Talk Show
as Self • 1 eps
1979 Series
6.3
Polizeiruf 110
as Ludwig Stolze • 1 eps
1971 Series
6.2
Scene of the Crime
as Manfred Enders • 1 eps
1970 Series
8.1
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
as Kunsträuber • 1 eps
1967 Series