From Hitler to Heidi: actor Bruno Ganz dies aged 77
BRUNO GANZ, the actor who portrayed Adolf Hitler in the Oscar-nominated film Downfall and the kindly grandfather in Heidi, has died aged 77.
Ganz was widely praised for his performance in 2004’s Downfall, which dramatised the Nazi dictator’s last days in his Berlin bunker.
He portrayed Hitler as a delusional madman, but also as a fatherly figure suffering from Parkinson’s disease who fussed about the welfare of his secretaries. His ravings went on to feature in many internet parodies.
Immersing himself in the role affected the Swiss actor, who said he was haunted by his portrayal for a long time.
‘I tend to identify with my roles to such an extent that I appear to be totally convinced about certain statements that, in real life, I would never believe in,’ Ganz said.
Born to a Swiss mechanic father and an Italian mother, Ganz grew up in Zurich.
In the early 1960s, he left to work in theatre in Germany, and soon branched out into cinema, where he worked with renowned directors such as Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog. Ganz narrowly missed out on several plum Hollywood parts, including as Julia Roberts’s love interest in the acclaimed movie Pretty Woman – a role that eventually went to Richard Gere.
He was also overlooked by Steven Spielberg for the main role in Schindler’s List.
More recently, Ganz played Heidi’s grandfather in a 2015 Swiss film about the national heroine.
German foreign minister Heiko Maas said yesterday: ‘One of the most important actors of our times goes, his brilliant work remains.’