Josef Ostendorf, born 1956 in Cloppenburg, graduated from Bochum"s drama school. From 1981 on, he was seen in several minor roles in TV and movie productions such as Rainer Kirberg"s "Die letzte Rache" and Stefan Dähnert"s "Das letzte Siegel" ("The Last Seal"). But despite numerous parts in several TV series such as "Wolffs Revier" and "Die Männer vom K3" Ostendorf did not make his breakthrough. Instead he became a star in the theatre. From 1992 on, he played at theatres in Wuppertal and Basel. Ostendorf then became a cast member at Hamburg"s Deutsches Schauspielhaus, at Zürich"s Schauspielhaus and at Berlin"s Volksbühne where he proved to be a versatile and remarkable character actor.

He for instance worked with director Christoph Marthaler in productions of "Dantons Tod" und "Die Fruchtfliege". In 2006, Ostendorf played his first leading role in a movie in Michael Hofmann"s idiosyncratic romantic comedy "Eden" alongside the former VIVA presenter Charlotte Roche.