Richard Sammel (born 13 October 1960) is a German actor. He is best known to United States audiences for his roles as Sergeant Werner Rachtman in ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009) and as Thomas Eichhorst in ''

The Strain ''The Strain'' is a 2009 vampire literature, vampire horror fiction, horror novel by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. It is the first installment in ''The Strain Trilogy'', and was followed by ''The Fall (del Toro and Hogan novel), The Fal ...

'' (2014–2017). He has appeared in more than 100 films and television series since 1991.

Personal life and career

Sammel was born in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, Germany. In addition to his native

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, he is also fluent in English, French and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and proficient in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. In 2009, Sammel played

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Sergeant Werner Rachtman in

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

's ''Inglourious Basterds'' (2009). In 2015, he was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor on Television at the 41st Saturn Awards, for his role as Thomas Eichhorst in the FX

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

horror television series ''

'' (2014–2017), created by

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

and Chuck Hogan. in 2021, he appeared as Bernhardt Mueller in French thriller miniseries '' The Rope'', alongside Suzanne Clément and Jakob Cedergren. In 2025, Sammel appeared in a prominent supporting role in the second season of the ''Star Wars'' series ''Andor'', playing Carro Rylanz, the leader of a resistance group on the planet Ghorman. He resides in Paris and Berlin with his girlfriend and his son. He also has two daughters.Biography
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Selected filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* 1960 births 20th-century German male actors 21st-century German male actors Living people German male film actors German male television actors Male actors from Heidelberg {{Germany-screen-actor-stub