After graduating from drama school at Zürich's Bühnenstudio, Bruno Ganz made his movie debut in 1960 in a minor role in Karl Suter's "Der Herr mit der schwarzen Melone" ("The Man in the Black Derby"). Ganz then went to Germany to perform at Junges Theater Göttingen from 1962 on. In 1964, he went to Bremen's Theater am Goetheplatz to work with Peter Zadek.

Ganz made his first appearance in a film of the "New German Cinema" in Haro Senft's "Der sanfte Lauf" (1966/67). At the end of 1967, he played in his first production under director Peter Stein and continued to work with him in the following years in Munich, Bremen, Zürich, and West Berlin. Ganz then became one of the key actors at Berlin's Schaubühne under directors Stein and Klaus Michael Gruber. From 1975 on and starting with "Sommergäste" ("Summer Guests"), Ganz and Stein regularly worked on film productions. Ganz periodically worked with no other director than Stein.

Bruno Ganz became internationally known for his part of art framer Jonathan in "Der amerikanische Freund" ("The American Friend") by Wim Wenders. In 1976, Ganz won the German film prize for the leading role in Eric Rohmer's "Die Marquise von O" ("The Marquise of O").

In 1982, Ganz and Otto Sander directed "Gedächtnis", a double portrait of Curt Bois and Bernhard Minetti. From 1989 to 1990, Ganz was seen as meditative detective "Tassilo" in a TV series by Hajo Gies based on Martin Walser's radio plays. Together with Otto Sander, Ganz starred as a (former) angel in "Der Himmel über Berlin" ("Wings of Desire") and also in "In weiter Ferne, so nah!" ("Faraway, So Close!"), both directed by Wim Wenders.

In 2000, Bruno Ganz played the title role in Stein's 22-hour long production of "Faust" that was also seen in parts on TV. When the Austrian Burgtheater actor Josef Meinrad died in 1996, Ganz testamentarily received the Iffland ring that Meinrad had worn since 1959 and that is considered to be one of the most important awards for German-speaking actors.

In 2003/04, Ganz caused a stir with his portrait of Adolf Hitler in Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Der Untergang" ("Downfall").

Furthermore, Bruno Ganz was seen in several top-class international co-productions in 2008: He, for instance, played a professor in "Der Vorleser" ("The Reader") alongside Kate Winslet and David Kross, or the German Jew Jacob in "The Dust of Time", directed by directorial doyen Theo Angelopoulos. In 2009, Ganz celebrated a huge popular success with the Swiss production "Giulias Verschwinden" ("Julia's Disappearance"). The romantic comedy starring Corinna Harfouch in the role of the leading actress became the highest-grossing Swiss film of 2009.

In 2010, he starred in "Das Ende ist mein Anfang" and in the political drama "Der große Kater". In the same year, Bruno Ganz was awarded the Life Achievement Award by the European Film Aceademy. The next two important productions opened in cinemas in the beginning of 2011: "Satte Farben vor Schwarz" ("Colours in the Dark") by young director Sophie Heldman, where he played alongside Senta Berger, and the international co-production "Unknown Identity" ("Unknown"). He played a former horse riding champion who mentors a young newcomer in the French sports drama "Sport de filles" (2011).

In 2013, Ganz appeared in prolific supporting roles in Bille August's "Nachtzug nach Lissabon" ("Night Train to Lisbon"), the history epic "Michael Kohlhaas" ("Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas"), as well as in the TV production "The Vatican" and in "The Counselor", both directed by Ridley Scott. He next played the head of a Mafia clan in "Kraftidioten" ("In Order of Disappearance", NO/SE/DK), which premiered at the 2014 IFF Berlin, and the grandfather of a young DJ in Barbet Schroeder's "Amnesia" (CH/FR 2014). Following a supporting role in Atom Egoyan's "Remember" (CN/DE 2015), Ganz starred in a new adaptation of the classic children's book "Heidi" (DE/CH 2015). This role garnered him a nomination for the 2016 Swiss Film Award. He eventually won the award in the following year for his performance in "Un Juif pour l'exemple" (2016), plus a lifetime achievement award. Also in 2017, he received another lifetime award at the Bavarian Film Awards.

He then had leading roles in Sally Potter's "The Party" and Matti Geschonneck's "In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts" ("In Times of Fading Light") – for which Ganz received a nomination for the 2017 German Film Awards.

The award-winning refugee and adolescence drama "Fortuna" (CH/BE 2018), which premiered at the Berlinale, showed him as a clergy man, who looks after a refugee from Ethiopia. Lars von Trier cast Ganz in his controversial serial killer film "The House That Jack Built" (2018) for the role of a mysterious ally of the main character. In Nikolaus Leytner’s "Der Trafikant" ("The Tobacconist", DE/AT 2018), an adaptation of the novel of the same name, Bruno Ganz portrayed 82-year-old Sigmund Freud.

Ganz had his last roles in the drama "The Witness" (CH/MK/IE 2018), as a key witness in the trial of a Serbian war criminal, and in Terrence Malick's eagerly awaited Second World War drama "Radegund" (US/DE, released in 2019).

Bruno Ganz passed away in Zurich on 16 February 2019.