Gerald Alexander Held (born 19 October 1958) is a German actor. He is internationally best known for his historical depictions, as Walther Hewel in the 2004 film '' Der Untergang'', Robert Mohr in the 2005 film '' Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage'' and as state prosecutor Siegfried Buback in the 2008 film '' Der Baader Meinhof Komplex''.

Life

During his school years, Held was a solo singer of the

Regensburger Domspatzen The Regensburger Domspatzen (literally: Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows) is the cathedral choir at the Regensburg Cathedral in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. The boys' choir dates back to 975, and consists of boys and young men only. They perform in ...

, and played football for TSV 1860 München, winning five youth championships. He finished his acting training at the Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts in Munich, and then joined the

Munich Kammerspiele The Munich Kammerspiele (German: Münchner Kammerspiele) is a state-funded German-language theater company based at the ''Schauspielhaus'' on Maximilianstraße (Munich), Maximilianstrasse in the Bavarian capital. The company currently has three ...

. Further engagements at the Staatsschauspiel Hannover, the Freien Volksbühne Berlin, the Theater Basel, and the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

followed. In 1993, Held was cast by director Klaus Emmerich in ''Morlock'' in his first

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

role. Since then he has appeared in numerous cinema and TV productions, including

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

's '' Schindler's List'', Marc Rothemund's ''Sophie Scholl – The Last Days'', and Oliver Hirschbiegel's ''Downfall''. In the Sat.1 series '' Der Bulle von Tölz'' with Ottfried Fischer, he played a

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

Bundestag member, who mostly has to look after his opponents in the "Bavarian Unity Party". In 2007, he starred alongside

Iris Berben Iris Renate Dorothea Berben (, born 12 August 1950) is a German actress. Biography Berben was born in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia. She grew up in Hamburg, where her parents ran a restaurant. Berben has appeared in about 150 film and televi ...

as the greedy villain Heinrich von Strahlberg in the two-part TV film '' Afrika, mon amour''. In 2008, he played Alois Kugler, the opponent of Brandner Kaspar, in the film of the same name, directed by

Joseph Vilsmaier Joseph Vilsmaier (, 24 January 1939 – 11 February 2020) was a German film director who began his career as a technician and cameraman. He is internationally known for films such as ''Comedian Harmonists (film), Comedian Harmonists''. Life Bo ...

. In 2009, he played the politically tactical abbot Kuno in the Margarethe von Trottas film ''

Vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

'' alongside Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, and Hannah Herzsprung, and in the same year, he was seen in Sönke Wortmann's '' Pope Joan'' as the Frankish Emperor

Lothar I Lothair I (9th. C. Frankish language, Frankish: ''Ludher'' and Medieval Latin: ''Lodharius''; Dutch language, Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German language, German: ''Lothar''; French language, French: ''Lothaire''; Italian language, ...

. In 2010, he played the Attorney General Dr. Sasse alongside

Ulrich Tukur Ulrich Tukur (born Ulrich Gerhard Scheurlen; 29 July 1957) is a German actor and musician. He is known for his roles in Michael Haneke, Michael Haneke's ''The White Ribbon'', Steven Soderbergh, Steven Soderbergh's ''Solaris (2002 film), Solaris' ...

in Dieter Wedel's two-part TV film '. Since 2010, he has starred in the crime series ''Stralsund'' as the head commissioner Karl Hidde. Since 2014, he has played the lead role of head commissioner Ludwig Schaller in the crime series ''München Mord''. Held's father was actor José Held, who died in 1974. From December 2005, Held was married to German actress Patricia Gräfin Fugger von Babenhausen (1961–2014).

Selected filmography

*1993: '' Schindler's List'' – SS Bureaucrat *1993: ''Morlock'' (TV Series) – Dr. Hagenberg *1996: ' – Kripomann *1997: ' – Wempe *1998: '' Der Fahnder'' (TV Series) – Mackenrath *2000: ''

Anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

'' – Polizist *2001: '' The Shoe of Manitou'' – Karl May (cameo) *2001: ' – Betrunkener *2001: '' Leo & Claire'' – Gauleiter *2002: ''Bibi Blocksberg'' – Dr. Buttkock *2003: '' Strange Gardens'' – Officier SS *2003: ''Getting a Life'' *2003–2009: '' Der Bulle von Tölz'' (TV Series) – Hans Meidenbauer *2004: '' Before the Fall'' – Friedrich's father *2004: '' Downfall'' – Walther Hewel *2005: '' Sophie Scholl – The Final Days'' – Robert Mohr *2005: ' – Carsten *2006: '' Wholetrain'' – Officer Steinbauer *2006: ' – Happy Krüger *2007: ''Afrika, mon amour'' (TV Mini-Series) – Heinrich von Strahlberg *2008: '' The Wave'' – Tim's Father *2008: '' The Baader Meinhof Complex'' – Siegfried Buback *2008: ' – Kugler Alois *2009: ''Zwischen heute und morgen'' – Zimmerkellner *2009: ''

'' – Kuno *2009: '' Pope Joan'' –

*2010: ' (TV Series) – Dr. Saase *2010: '' Augustine: The Decline of the Roman Empire'' (TV Movie) – Older Valerius *2010: '' Nanga Parbat'' – Dr. Franz Burda (cameo) *2010: ''Stralsund'' – Karl Hidde *2011: '' 4 Days in May'' – Colonel Wald *2013: '' The Girl with Nine Wigs'' – Dr. Friedrich Leonhard *since 2014: ''München Mord'' (TV series, 17 episodes) – Ludwig Schaller *2014: ' (TV movie) – Bishop Friedrich Förner *2015: ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

'' – Hausvater Brockmann *2015: '' Tannbach'' (TV Series) – Franz Schober *2017: '' My Blind Date with Life'' – Fried

Awards

* 2014: Bavarian TV Awards as best actor in the category ''Series and Film Series'' for his role in ''München Mord'' (ZDF)

External links

*
Short Biography and Film Overview at Prisma-Online
(in German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Held, Alexander Living people 1958 births German male stage actors Male actors from Munich German male film actors German male television actors