Iris Berben, born August 12, 1950, in Detmold, grew up in Hamburg but left school shortly before her final exams and traveled to Israel. In 1968, she was an active member of the protest movement. Her movie career began with short films at Hamburg"s Kunsthochschule, and her first feature film was "Detektive", directed by Rudolf Thome. Iris Berben took dancing and motion classes in London and studied language and voice with Hoffmann de Boer in Berlin. During the following years, Berben appeared in numerous film and TV productions, including Klaus Lemke"s "Brandstifter" or the TV series "Himmlische Töchter" (1976), that made Berben widely known.

During the 1980s, Berben starred in comedies, including "Ach du lieber Harry" ("Oh My Dearest Harry") with Dieter Hallervorden, and "Siggi, der Straßenfeger" with Harald Juhnke, and in Michael Pfleghar"s TV comedy series "Sketchup" alongside Diether Krebs. From the mid-1990s on, Berben played inspector Rosa Roth in the ZDF TV series of the same name. On the movie screen, Berben was seen in Peter Timm"s "Rennschwein Rudi Rüssel" ("Rudy, The Racin Pig", 1995), in Doris Dörrie"s "Bin ich schön?" ("Am I Beautiful?", 1998), and in Markus Imboden"s "Frau Rettich, die Czerni und ich" ("Mrs. Rettich, Czerny And Me", 1998), among others. Besides her continually successful TV crime series "Rosa Roth", Berben appeared only in TV productions between 2000 and 2008. She won the German TV award in 2005 and in 2006 for her performances in the family drama "Die Patriarchin" and in Matti Geschonneck"s tragicomedy "Die Silberhochzeit", that was written by Daniel Nocke.

Berben, who is involved in several social issues, for instance in the fight against right wing extremism, or as a member of the board of trustees of the German Aids foundation, did not return to the movie screen until late 2008: In Heinrich Breloer"s Thomas Mann adaptation "Die Buddenbrooks" ("Buddenbrooks – The Decline of a Family"), Berben played Elisabeth Buddenbrook.

Apart from acting, Iris Berben has worked continuously for several charitable causes dedicated to reconciliation and the fostering of relations between Germany and Israel. For her efforts, she was awarded the Bundeverdienstkreuz (First Class), Women’s World Award for Tolerance and the renowned Leo Beck Award. In 2008, she was presented with a lifetime award for her career and humanitarian work by the Deutschen Volkshochschul-Verband at the annual Adolf Grimme Awards.

She also remained busy as an actress: In 2009, she co-starred alongside Katharina Schüttler in "Es kommt der Tag", in which Berben plays a woman who is confronted with her long gone past as a terrorist by her daughter. That she can play comedy just as brilliant as drama, was proven again by her hilarious, over-the-top performance as the super villain "Q" in the kid adventure romp "Tiger Team".