Sylvester Groth

Last updated

Sylvester Groth
Sylvester Groth KVIFF (cropped 2).jpg
Groth in 2009
Born (1958-03-31) 31 March 1958 (age 66)
OccupationActor
Years active1980–present

Sylvester Groth (born 31 March 1958) is a German theater, television, and film actor. He is best known to international audiences from his appearances in Hollywood movies including Inglourious Basterds and The Man from U.N.C.L.E . Furthermore, he has appeared in the Netflix series Sense8 , Fargo , and Dark .

Contents

Biography

Groth is the youngest of five siblings from Jerichow (Bezirk Magdeburg) in the former German Democratic Republic, where he also spent his childhood. His family is from Upper Silesia. Groth's father died while he was still young, and his mother married a second time. When he was 14 years old, the family moved to Leipzig. In 1986, he escaped from East Germany to West Germany.

He studied acting and singing at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. This was followed by engagements in Schwerin, Dresden, and Berlin, where he worked as a guest actor at the Deutsches Theater and from 1986 to 1989 at the Schaubühne. He also worked at the Residenz Theater, the Munich Kammerspiele, the Berliner Ensemble, the Burgtheater in Vienna, and the Salzburg Festival. [1]

In addition to an extensive theater career, Groth has also acted in numerous television productions and feature films. His first major film role was in 1983 in the East German film The Turning Point , based on a novel by Hermann Kant. In 1986, he appeared in Johannes Schaaf's adaptation of Michael Ende's story Momo . In 1992, he acted in the war drama Stalingrad and in 2006 he took on the role of Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels in Dani Levy's My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler .

Groth is known to English-language audiences for appearing in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film, Inglourious Basterds , in which he again portrayed Goebbels. [2] More recently, he held a leading role in the Netflix series Dark as Clausen, a police investigator, as well as appearing in the first episode of the third season of Fargo .

In January 2013, the Film Museum in Potsdam honoured Groth with a retrospective. [3] On 1 December 2017, he received an award from the DEFA Foundation for his outstanding achievements in German film.

Selected filmography

Film

List of film appearances, with year, title, and role shown
YearTitleRoleNotes
1983 The Turning Point Mark Niebuhr
1986 The House on the River Heinz Hüsgen
1986 Momo Agent BLW/553 X
1992 The Last U-Boat Funker Maschke
1993 Stalingrad Otto
2003 The Third Wave Dauphin
2006 Nevermore Pfarrer Ekdahl
2007 My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler Joseph Goebbels
2008 The Reader Prosecutor
Buddenbrooks Kesselmayer
2009 Hilde Boleslaw Barlog
Inglourious Basterds Joseph Goebbels
2010 Aghet – Ein Völkermord Martin NiepageDocumentary
2015 Naked Among Wolves Helmut Krämer
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Uncle Rudi
2017 In Times of Fading Light Kurt Umnitzer
2019 Berlin, I Love You Frosch
2022 The 355 Jonas Muller

Television

List of television appearances, with year, title, and role shown
YearTitleRoleNotes
1990 Rote Erde Fritz Rewandowski
2003 Tatort: Stiller TodJustus Fürmann, public prosecutor
2004 Mein Leben & Ich 4 episodes
2005Tatort: Rache-EngelChief of police
2007 Rosa Roth Michael Katzmann
2007, 2013 Der Kriminalist 2 episodes
2010 KDD – Kriminaldauerdienst Richard Plötz1 episode
2011Tatort: Das DorfMedical examiner
2012, 2014 The Old Fox 2 episodes
2012Tatort: Die schöne Mona ist totChristian Seitz
2010 Generation War Sturmbannführer/Standartenführer Hiemer2 episodes
Tatort: Schwarzer AfghaneNorbert Müller
Tatort: Wer das Schweigen brichtRainer Vaske
2013–2015 Polizeiruf 110 Jochen Drexler4 parts
2015 Sense8 Sergei Bogdanow4 episodes
Deutschland 83 Walter Schweppenstette8 episodes
2016 NSU German History X: The Investigators  [ de ]Walter Ahler
2017Tatort: Wacht am RheinDieter Gottschalk
Fargo Colonel Horst Lagerfeld1 episode
2018 Deutschland 86 Walter Schweppenstette10 episodes
2019 Dark Clausen
Criminal: Germany Detective Chief Inspector Karl Schultz3 episodes
2020 Deutschland 89 Walter Schweppenstette8 episodes

Awards and honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gedeon Burkhard</span> German actor

Gedeon Burkhard is a German film and television actor. Although he has appeared in numerous films and TV series in both Europe and the US, he is probably best recognised for his role as Alexander Brandtner in the Austrian/German television series Kommissar Rex (1998–2001), or as Corporal Wilhelm Wicki in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds. He is also well recognised for his role as Chris Ritter in the long-running series Alarm für Cobra 11.

<i>Inglourious Basterds</i> 2009 film by Quentin Tarantino

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 alternate history story of two converging plots to assassinate Nazi Germany's leadership at a Paris cinema—one through a British operation largely carried out by a team of Jewish American soldiers led by First Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt), and another by French Jewish cinema proprietor Shosanna Dreyfus (Laurent) who seeks to avenge her murdered family. Both are faced against Hans Landa (Waltz), an SS colonel with a fearsome reputation for hunting Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magda Goebbels</span> Wife of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels (1901–1945)

Johanna Maria Magdalena "Magda" Goebbels was the wife of Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. A prominent member of the Nazi Party, she was a close ally, companion, and political supporter of Adolf Hitler. Some historians refer to her as the unofficial "first lady" of Nazi Germany, while others give that title to Emmy Göring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolf Hitler in popular culture</span>

Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, has been represented in popular culture ever since he became a well-known politician in Germany. His distinctive image was often parodied by his opponents. Parodies became much more prominent outside Germany during his period in power. Since the end of World War II representations of Hitler, both serious and satirical, have continued to be prominent in popular culture, sometimes generating significant controversy. In many periodicals, books, and movies, Hitler and Nazism fulfill the role of archetypal evil. This treatment is not confined to fiction but is widespread amongst nonfiction writers who have discussed him in this vein. Hitler has retained a fascination from other perspectives; among many comparable examples is an exhibition at the German Historical Museum which was widely attended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dani Levy</span> Swiss filmmaker

Dani Levy is a Swiss filmmaker, theatrical director, screenwriter and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulrich Mühe</span> German actor (1953–2007)

Friedrich Hans Ulrich Mühe was a German film, television and theatre actor. He played the role of Hauptmann (Captain) Gerd Wiesler in the Oscar-winning film Das Leben der Anderen, for which he received the gold award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, at the Deutscher Filmpreis ; and the Best Actor Award at the 2006 European Film Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilian Harvey</span> British-born German actress and singer

Lilian Harvey was a British-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film Der Kongreß tanzt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babelsberg Studio</span> German film studio

Babelsberg Film Studio, located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world, producing films since 1912. With a total area of about 460,000 square metres (5,000,000 sq ft) and a studio area of about 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft) it is one of Europe's large film studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willy Fritsch</span> German actor (1901-1973)

Willy Fritsch was a German theater and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s.

Heinz Schubert was a German actor, drama teacher and photographer, best known for playing the role of Alfred Tetzlaff in the German television sitcom Ein Herz und eine Seele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winfried Glatzeder</span> German actor

Winfried Glatzeder is a German television actor and playwright. He began his acting career in East Germany in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, he made his breakthrough by starring in films such as Zeit der Störche and The Legend of Paul and Paula. From 1996 to 1998, Glatzeder played the role of Commissioner Ernst Roiter in the television series Tatort. Since then, he has mainly worked in theatre and television.

<i>My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler</i> 2007 German comedy-drama film

My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler is a 2007 German comedy-drama film directed by Dani Levy.

<i>The Turning Point</i> (1983 film) 1983 East Germany film

The Turning Point is a 1983 East German film directed by Frank Beyer and starring Sylvester Groth, Fred Düren and Klaus Piontek. The film is based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Hermann Kant, which was based on Kant's own experience as a prisoner of war in Poland. The film tells the story of a German prisoner of war at the end of World War II who is wrongly accused of being a war criminal. The film was controversial upon release as Polish commentators criticized that the film showed the Polish army wrongly accusing someone of war crimes. Nevertheless, the film was successful and won several awards and was the East German official submission to the 56th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulrich Noethen</span> German actor (born 1959)

Ulrich Noethen is a German actor who has appeared in many movies and TV films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Wuttke</span> German actor and director (born 1962)

Martin Wuttke is a German actor and director who achieved international recognition for his portrayal of Adolf Hitler in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Landa</span> Inglourious Basterds character

Standartenführer Hans Landa is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 2009 Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds. He is portrayed by Austrian actor Christoph Waltz. For his performance, Waltz received widespread acclaim and won numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday</span> National holiday in Nazi Germany

Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday was celebrated as a national holiday throughout Nazi Germany on 20 April 1939. Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels made sure the events organised in Berlin were a lavish spectacle focusing on Hitler himself. The festivities included a military parade with some 40,000 to 50,000 German troops taking part, along with 162 Luftwaffe airplanes flying overhead. The parade was intended in part as a warning to the Allied powers of Nazi Germany's military capabilities. The parade lasted for more than four hours, with 20,000 official guests, along with several hundred thousand spectators being present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fritz Diez</span>

Fritz Diez was a German actor, producer, director and theater manager.

<i>Lucky Kids</i> 1936 film

Lucky Kids is a 1936 German romantic comedy film directed by Paul Martin and starring Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, and Paul Kemp. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art director Erich Kettelhut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolf Hitler's cult of personality</span>

Adolf Hitler's cult of personality was a prominent feature of Nazi Germany (1933–1945), which began in the 1920s during the early days of the Nazi Party. Based on the Führerprinzip ideology, that the leader is always right, spread by incessant Nazi propaganda, and reinforced by Adolf Hitler's success in fixing Germany's economic and unemployment problems by remilitarising during the global Great Depression, his bloodless triumphs in foreign policy prior to World War II, and the rapid military defeat of the Second Polish Republic and the Third French Republic in the early part of the war, it eventually became a central aspect of the Nazi control over the German people.

References

  1. "Wer ist Sylvester Groth?" [Who is Sylvester Groth?]. bild.de (in German). 18 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  2. Inglourious Basterds credits
  3. "Filmmuseum Potsdam: Ausstellungen: Retrospektive Sylvester Groth" [Filmmuseum Potsdam: Exhibitions: Retrospective Sylvester Groth]. filmmuseum-potsdam.de (in German). 8 January 2014. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2020.