The Most Famous

ACTORS from Germany

This page contains a list of the greatest German Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 265 of which were born in Germany. This makes Germany the birth place of the 8th most number of Actors behind South Korea, and Japan.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary German Actors of all time. This list of famous German Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of German Actors.

1. Marlene Dietrich (1901 - 1992)

With an HPI of 79.34, Marlene Dietrich is the most famous German Actor. Her biography has been translated into 158 different languages on wikipedia.

Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich (, German: [maʁˈleːnə ˈdiːtʁɪç] ; 27 December 1901 – 6 May 1992) was a German and American actress and singer whose career spanned from the 1910s to the 1980s. In 1920s Berlin, Dietrich performed on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola Lola in Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930) brought her international acclaim and a contract with Paramount Pictures. She starred in many Hollywood films, including six iconic roles directed by Sternberg: Morocco (1930) (her only Academy Award nomination), Dishonored (1931), Shanghai Express and Blonde Venus (both 1932), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil Is a Woman (1935). She successfully traded on her glamorous persona and exotic looks, and became one of the era's highest-paid actresses. Throughout World War II, she was a high-profile entertainer in the United States. Although she delivered notable performances in several post-war films, including Billy Wilder's A Foreign Affair (1948), Alfred Hitchcock's Stage Fright (1950), Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (1958), and Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), she spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a marquee live-show performer. Dietrich was known for her humanitarian efforts during World War II, housing German and French exiles, providing financial support and even advocating their American citizenship. For her work on improving morale on the front lines during the war, she received several honors from the United States, France, Belgium, and Israel. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich the ninth greatest female screen legend of classic Hollywood cinema.

2. Bruce Willis (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 74.43, Bruce Willis is the 2nd most famous German Actor. His biography has been translated into 104 different languages.

Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is an American retired actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989) and has appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero for his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013). Willis's other notable credits include The Last Boy Scout (1991), Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable, The Whole Nine Yards (both 2000), Tears of the Sun (2003), Sin City (2005), The Expendables, Red (both 2010), Looper (2012) and Glass (2019). In the last few years of his career, he starred in many low-budget direct-to-video films, which were poorly received. Willis retired from acting in 2022 due to aphasia. He was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023. As a singer, Willis released his debut album, The Return of Bruno, in 1987, followed by two more albums in 1989 and 2001. He made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Misery in 2015. Willis has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two People's Choice Awards. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. Films featuring Willis have grossed between US$2.64 billion and US$3.05 billion at North American box offices, making him in 2010 the eighth-highest-grossing leading actor.

3. Simone Signoret (1921 - 1985)

With an HPI of 70.52, Simone Signoret is the 3rd most famous German Actor. Her biography has been translated into 65 different languages.

Simone Signoret (French: [simɔn siɲɔʁɛ]; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Golden Globe Awards.

4. Curd Jürgens (1915 - 1982)

With an HPI of 64.99, Curd Jürgens is the 4th most famous German Actor. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 1915 – 18 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in Des Teufels General. His English-language roles include James Bond villain Karl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Éric Carradine in And God Created Woman (1956), and Professor Immanuel Rath in The Blue Angel (1959).

5. Magda Schneider (1909 - 1996)

With an HPI of 64.41, Magda Schneider is the 5th most famous German Actor. Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Magdalena Maria Schneider (17 May 1909 – 30 July 1996) was a German actress and singer. She was the mother of the actress Romy Schneider.

6. Udo Kier (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 63.17, Udo Kier is the 6th most famous German Actor. His biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, Kier has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He has collaborated with acclaimed filmmakers such as Lars von Trier, Gus Van Sant, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Walerian Borowczyk, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Dario Argento, Charles Matton, Guy Maddin, Alexander Payne, and Paul Morrissey.

7. Jürgen Prochnow (b. 1941)

With an HPI of 63.08, Jürgen Prochnow is the 7th most famous German Actor. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Jürgen Prochnow (German pronunciation: [ˈjʏʁɡn̩ ˈpʁɔxnoː] ; born 10 June 1941) is a German actor. His international breakthrough was his portrayal of the good-hearted and sympathetic U-boat Commander "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the 1981 war film Das Boot. He is also known for his roles in The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (1975), Dune (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), The English Patient (1996), Air Force One (1997), The Da Vinci Code (2006), and played Sergei Bazhaev on the eighth season of 24 (2010). He is a Goldene Kamera, Bavarian Film Awards, and Bambi Award winner.

8. Karlheinz Böhm (1928 - 2014)

With an HPI of 62.72, Karlheinz Böhm is the 8th most famous German Actor. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Karlheinz Böhm (16 March 1928 – 29 May 2014) was a German-born Austrian actor and philanthropist. He took part in 45 films and became well known in Austria and Germany for his role as Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria in the Sissi film trilogy and internationally for his role as Mark, the psychopathic protagonist of Peeping Tom, directed by Michael Powell. He was the founder of the trust Menschen für Menschen (“Humans for Humans”), which helps people in need in Ethiopia. He also received honorary Ethiopian citizenship in 2003.

9. Nastassja Kinski (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 62.57, Nastassja Kinski is the 9th most famous German Actor. Her biography has been translated into 53 different languages.

Nastassja Aglaia Kinski (German: [nasˈtasi̯a ˈkɪnskiː] ; née Nakszynski, Polish: [nakˈʂɨj̃skʲi]; born 24 January 1961) is a German actress and former model who has appeared in more than 60 films in Europe and the United States. Her worldwide breakthrough was with Stay as You Are (1978). She then came to global prominence with her Golden Globe Award-winning performance as the title character in the Roman Polanski-directed film Tess (1979). Other films in which she acted include the Francis Ford Coppola musical romance film One from the Heart (1982), erotic horror film Cat People (1982) from Paul Schrader, and the Wim Wenders drama films Paris, Texas (1984) and Faraway, So Close! (1993). She also appeared in the biographical drama film An American Rhapsody (2001). She is the daughter of German actor Klaus Kinski.

10. Hildegard Knef (1925 - 2002)

With an HPI of 62.49, Hildegard Knef is the 10th most famous German Actor. Her biography has been translated into 38 different languages.

Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (German: [ˈhɪl.də.ɡaʁt ˈkneːf] ; 28 December 1925 – 1 February 2002) was a German actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English-language films as Hildegard Neff or Hildegarde Neff.

People

Pantheon has 351 people classified as German actors born between 1712 and 2008. Of these 351, 206 (58.69%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living German actors include Bruce Willis, Udo Kier, and Jürgen Prochnow. The most famous deceased German actors include Marlene Dietrich, Simone Signoret, and Curd Jürgens. As of April 2024, 86 new German actors have been added to Pantheon including Wolfgang Preiss, Elmar Wepper, and Carola Neher.