Marie Gruber, born 1955 in Wuppertal, studied acting at Berlin's Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch" from 1979 to 1982. Frank Castorf then made her a member of the cast of Theater Anklam. Since that time, Gruber has played in countless theatre plays and performed at renowned theatres, for instance at Berlin's Friedrichstadtpalast, Dresden's Staatsschauspiel, and Berlin's Volksbühne.

Although Gruber made her movie debut already in 1982 in "...schwierig, sich zu verloben", she did not appear regularly in film and (mainly) TV productions besides her theatre work before the 1990s. She became known to a larger audience with her roles in popular TV series such as "Stubbe – Von Fall zu Fall" (1995 to 1997),"Bei Krömers" (2005 to 2006) oder "Polizeiruf 110" (since 2000).

Gruber's best-known films include both "Go Trabi Go" movies (1991 and 1992), the black comedy "Eierdiebe" ("The Family Jewels", 2003) and the multiple award-winning drama "Das Leben der Anderen" ("The Lives of Others", 2006). In 2008, Marie Gruber played a leading role in the relationship story "AlleAlle" alongside Milan Peschel and Eberhard Kirchberg.