Sylvester Groth, born 1958 in Jerichow (Saxony-Anhalt), attended drama school at Staatliche Schauspielschule Berlin (now called "Ernst Busch" Schauspielschule). Groth, a trained tenor singer, started his acting career on stage. He performed in classic plays such as "Nathan der Weise" and "Macbeth" at the most renowned German and Austrian theatres such as Munich"s Kammerspiele, Berlin"s Schaubühne, Salzburg"s Festspiele, and Vienna"s Burgtheater .

Besides his theatre work, Groth starred in numerous movie and TV productions from the early 1980s on. Groth made his breakthrough performance as an innocently persecuted prisoner of war in Frank Beyer"s drama "Der Aufenthalt" ("The Turning Point", 1982). During his career, Groth has proven to be a versatile and intense actor: He starred as a Stasi spy in Hermine Huntgeburth"s TV-Drama "Romeo", as poet Clemens Brentano in "Requiem für eine romantische Frau" ("Requiem for a Romantic Woman"), as sex education revolutionary Oswald Kolle in "Kolle – Ein Leben für Liebe und Sex", or as Joseph Goebbels in Dani Levy"s comedy "Mein Führer".

Two years later, Groth played the same role in Quentin Tarantino"s film "Inglorious Basterds" – and pushed his satirical performance even further. Groth"s next role was a bit more realistic: Alongside Henry Hübchen, he played a fairly snobby film director who has an affair with the ex-girlfriend of his ageing star in Andreas Dresen"s film "Whisky mit Wodka" ("Whisky with Vodka", 2009).