Jan Josef Liefers, born August 8, 1964 in Dresden, started out as a carpenter but then attended actor"s training at Hochschule Ernst Busch in Berlin from 1983 to 1987. He performed at Deutsches Theater in Berlin until 1990 before he became a cast member at Hamburg"s Thalia Theater. Liefers made his TV debut as Alexander von Humboldt in "Die Besteigung des Chimborazo" (1989). In 1997, Liefers starred in two enormously successful comedies, as a shy cancer patient in "Knockin" on Heaven"s Door", and as a romancing society man in "Rossini".

After several other movies like the underrated horror thriller "Sieben Monde" ("Night Time") or the frivolous comedy "666 – Traue keinem mit dem du schläfst" ("666: In Bed with the Devil") flopped at the box office, Liefers made a successful return to television and starred in TV movies such as "Die Sturmflut" or "Der Untergang der Pamir". In 2004, Liefers won a Grimme award for his portrayal of a miner in "Das Wunder von Lengede". Since 2002, Liefers also appears regularly as Professor Boerne in the Münster branch of the "Tatort" crime film series. Liefers also directed several TV films: the romantic comedy "Jacks Baby" (1999) which won the Bavarian film award, and the comedy "Frauenversteher – Männer unter sich". In 2007, Liefers returned to the cinema and starred in two eagerly awaited films: the highly praised children"s book adaptation "Max Minsky und ich" ("Max Minsky and Me") and the star-studded comedy "Bis zum Ellenbogen".