Senta Berger began to take dance training at the age of six years. She left secondary school to attend actor"s training at the Reinhardt-Seminar but was dismissed after two semesters because of several film appearances, for example in Anatole Litvak"s "The Journey". Berger then became a trainee at Theater in der Josefstadt and made her stage debut in 1958. In 1960, she was granted a five-year contract with producer Artur Brauner and mainly played in comedies and music films. In 1962, Berger starred in the Disney production "The Waltz King" by Steve Previn and in the following years was seen in US productions alongside Charlton Heston, Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, and Dean Martin as well as in TV series such as the "Bob Hope Show", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", and the "Danny Kaye-Show".

In 1965, Senta Berger and her husband Michael Verhoeven founded the production company Sentana Film GmbH. During the 1970s, Berger was often seen in Italian and French sex comedies and spy thrillers. In Germany, Berger established a good reputation as an actress in Verhoeven"s films as well as the producer of politically involved films. In 1983, Berger won the German film prize for the production of "Die weiße Rose" (The White Rose) which was directed by Michael Verhoeven. Moreover, Berger starred in the title role of Volker Schlöndorff"s " Die Moral der Ruth Halbfass" (Morals of Ruth Halbfass) and as Hester Prynne in Wim Wenders" "Der scharlachrote Buchstabe" (The Scarlet Letter).

Highlights of Berger"s versatile TV work in Germany include leading roles in the TV series "Kir Royal" by Helmut Dietl which won her the "Chaplin-Schuh" in 1987, the title role of a Munich taxi driver in Michael Verhoeven"s TV series "Die schnelle Gerdi" and the female leading part in Frank Beyer"s two-part movie "Sie und Er". In 1995, Berger starred as Teresa, who on her 50th birthday runs away from her bourgeois marriage to take a trip into the underworld, in Xaver Schwarzenberger"s "Die Nacht der Nächte" (Night of Nights).

During the past couple of years, Berger was mainly seen on TV and, for example, investigated criminal colleagues as police chief inspector Dr. Eva-Maria Prohacek in the TV series "Unter Verdacht" (2002 to 2004). During the 1970s, Berger did literary readings and also played on stage. From 1974 to 1982, she performed as Buhlschaft in "Jedermann" at Salzburger Festspiele.

In 2005, Senta Berger was given the Hessian Television Award as part of theensemble of the film "Die Konferenz". In 2009, she won the German Television Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Schlaflos". The following year, she received a Grimme Award and the Bavarian Television Award for her turn in the drama "Frau Böhm sagt Nein". Also in 2009, she returned to the big screen with Ben Verbong"s "Ob ihr wollt oder nicht!". The next year, she appeared opposite Bruno Ganz in the drama "Satte Farben vor Schwarz".