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
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series ''
Sense8'', ''
Fargo'', and ''
Dark''.
Biography
Groth is the youngest of five siblings from
Jerichow
Jerichow () is a town on the east side of the river Elbe, in the District of Jerichower Land, of the state of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. With about , the municipality of Jerichow is one of the largest municipalities in area size in Germany.
Geog ...
(
Bezirk Magdeburg) in the former
German Democratic Republic
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, where he also spent his childhood. His family is from
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
. 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
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. In 1986, he escaped from
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
to
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
.
He studied acting and singing at the
Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. This was followed by engagements in
Schwerin
Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...
,
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, and
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, 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 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 ...
, the
Berliner Ensemble, the
Burgtheater in Vienna, 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 ...
.
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
Johannes Schaaf (7 April 1933 – 1 November 2019) was a German film, theatre and opera director and actor. Several of his films have been internationally recognized. His focus shifted to opera in the 1980s and he worked with many of the leading i ...
's adaptation of
Michael Ende
Michael Andreas Helmuth Ende (12 November 1929 – 28 August 1995) was a German writer of fantasy and children's fiction. He is known for his epic fantasy '' The Neverending Story'' (with its 1980s film adaptation and a 1995 animated television ...
's story ''
Momo''. In 1992, he acted in the war drama ''
Stalingrad
Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...
'' and in 2006 he took on the role of Nazi Minister of Propaganda
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
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
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 2009 film, ''
Inglourious Basterds'', in which he again portrayed Goebbels.
[''Inglourious Basterds'' credits](_blank)
/ref> 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. On 1 December 2017, he received an award from the DEFA Foundation for his outstanding achievements in German film.
Selected filmography
Film
Television
Awards and honours
* Heinrich Greif Prize
The Heinrich Greif Prize (German: ''Heinrich-Greif-Preis'') was an East German state award bestowed on individuals for contribution to the state's cinema and television industry.
History
The prize was awarded by the East German Ministry of Cultu ...
for '' The Turning Point'' (1984)
* Television and film award from the German Academy of Performing Arts for ''Romeo'' (2001)
* Grimme-Preis for ''Romeo'' (2002)
* Deutscher Kritikerpreis for the portrayal of Joseph Goebbels in '' My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler'' (2007)
* DEFA Foundation Prize for outstanding achievements in German film (2017)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groth, Sylvester
1958 births
Living people
People from Jerichower Land
German male film actors
German male television actors
German tenors
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
20th-century German male actors
21st-century German male actors
German male actors
Male actors from Saxony-Anhalt