Rüdiger Vogler was born May 14, 1942, in Warthausen. After taking actor's training at Heidelberger Schauspielschule from 1963 to 1965, Vogler was a cast member of Frankfurt's "Theater am Turm – TAT" and appeared in several of Peter Handke's plays. Handke also gave him his first part in a TV movie called "Chronik der laufenden Ereignisse". Shortly after that, Vogler played his first movie part in Wim Wenders' "Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter" ("The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty Kick"), an adaptation of Peter Handke's novel of the same name.

From then on until the 1990s, Vogler was one of Wim Wenders' favourite actors. He portrayed the awkward, but amiable private investigator Phillip Winter in "Bis ans Ende der Welt" ("Until the End of the World", 1991), "In weiter Ferne, so nah!" ("Faraway, So Close!", 1993) and "Lisbon Story" (1994) but did not rise to international stardom despite such prestigious roles. In addition to his numerous TV appearances in series like "Tatort" ("Crime Scene") or movies like "Verführung in sechs Gängen", Vogler, who often portrays sensitive characters or demure outsiders, played striking minor parts in major productions like "Anatomie" ("Anatomy"), "Sass", or "Leo und Claire" ("Leo & Claire" / "One Kiss").

Over the next decade, Vogler predominately worked in television: between 2000 and 2010, he appeared in roundabout 60 TV productions. Among those were popular genre entries like "Liebe ist die beste Medizin" (2004), the crime caper "Die Nonne und der Kommissar" (2006) and the comedy "Zum Kuckuck mit der Liebe" (2012). Yet he also frequently starred in ambitious dramas like "Aus Liebe zu Deutschland – Eine Spendenaffäre" (2003), "Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht…Das Leben des Heinrich Heine" (2006), or, in a significant guest role, in Dominik Graf's acclaimed thriller "Dreileben – Komm mir nicht nach" (2011).

In recent years, Vogler also was cast in several international co-productions. He played a father and husband in Luc Bondy's family drama "Ne fais pas ça" (F/D, 2004) and a German officer in the British war movie "Colditz – Flucht in die Freiheit". He also starred in the Dutch period piece "De brief voor de koning" ("Der Brief für den König", 2008) and appeared as a grotesque Nazi in the popular French spy movie spoof "OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus" ("OSS 117 – Er selbst ist sich genug", 2009).

In Germany, he played memorable roles in Max Fäberböck's post-war drama "Anonyma – Eine Frau in Berlin" (2008), Hermine Huntegburths's adaptation of Fontane's novel "Effi Briest" (2007 –2009) and Hans Steinbichler's intimate drama "Das Blaue vom Himmel" (2010/2011).