Monica Bleibtreu was born on May 4, 1944, in Vienna. Being one of the most distinguished German stage actresses, she worked at some of the most important German-speaking theaters, including the Burgtheater in Vienna, the Freie Volksbühne and the Schillertheater in Berlin, as well as the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg.

In 1972, she made her movie debut in Syberberg's "Ludwig – Requiem für einen jungfräulichen König" ("Ludwig - Requiem for a Virgin King"). During the 80s, she played small parts in movies by directors such as Helke Sander and Peter Patzak. Since the mid-90s, Bleibtreu achieved great popularity as a TV and movie actress. In Jan Schütte's "Abschied. Brechts letzter Sommer" ("The Farewell") she played Helene Weigel. She was also praised by the critics for her portrayal of Thomas Mann’s wife Katia in Heinrich Breloer's startling TV mini-series "Die Manns" ("The Manns - Novel of a Century").

In 2002, Monica Bleibtreu – who was also a successful reciter and narrator of audio books – won the Rita-Tanck-Glaser Prize awarded by the Hamburg Endowment for Culture. In 2005, her and the other leading actors of the TV movie "Marias letzte Reise" won the Special Prize at the Bavarian Film Award. Furthermore she won the German Television Award as best actress. She also won awards at both the 2006 Bavarian Film Award and the 2007 German Film Awards for her performance in the drama "Vier Minuten" ("Four Minutes").

Afterwards the versatile actress starred in the children film "Max Minsky und ich" ("Max Minsky and Me"), the family drama "Das Herz ist ein dunkler Wald" ("The Heart is a Dark Forest"), directed by Nicolette Krebitz, the biopic "Hilde" ("The Gift Horse") about the life of Hildegard Knef as well as the crime movie "Tannöd" ("The Murder Farm"), based on the bestseller of the same title by novelist Andrea Maria Schenkel.

Monica Bleibtreu died on May 14, 2009 in Hamburg after having suffered from a long lasting cancer. Monica Bleibtreu and the actor Hans Brenner are the parents of Moritz Bleibtreu (born in 1971) who is very successful as a movie actor.