Hanns Zischler, born June 18, 1947, in Nuremberg, studied philosophy, ethnology, music and German literature in Munich and Berlin. He worked as a lector and translator, played his first movie roles (for example in early films by Wim Wenders) but then went to Schaubühne Berlin where he worked as a dramatic advisor from 1973 to 1975. Zischler then directed plays in Karlsruhe, Basel and Berlin.

His breakthrough as an actor came with the leading role in Wim Wenders' acclaimed "Im Lauf der Zeit" ("Kings of the Road", 1976). This was followed by prolific parts in Peter Handke's "Die linkshändige Frau" (1977), Chantal Akerman's "Rendez-vous d'Anna" (1978) und Peter Lilienthal's "David" (1979), which established Zischler as one of the most prominent male protagonists of New German Cinema: Intellectual and self-reflective, yet also displaying a charming effortlessness.

"Berlin Chamissoplatz" (1980) marked his first collaboration with director Rudolf Thome, who would eventually direct him in seven more feature films: the thriller "System ohne Schatten" (1983), the romance "Tarot" (1986), "Paradiso - Sieben Tage mit sieben Frauen" ("Paradiso -Seven Days With Seven Women", 2000), " venus.de - Die bewegte Frau" ("Venus Talking", 2001), "Rot und Blau" ("Red and Blue", 2003), "Frau fährt, Mann schläft" ("Woman Driving, Man Sleeping", 2004) and "Das rote Zimmer" ("The Red Room", 2010).

In the 1980s, Zischler also worked with director Robert van Ackeren on the erotic feature films "Die flambierte Frau" ("A Woman in Flames", 1983) and "Die Venusfalle" ("The Venus Trap", 1988). Moreover, he had memorable roles in Franz Seitz' "Doktor Faustus" (1982), Peter Lilienthal's Thriller "Das Autogramm" ("The Autograph", 1984) and Adolf Winkelmann's political thriller "Der Leibwächter" (1989).

At the brink of the Nineties, he appeared opposite Mickey Rourke in Liliana Cavani's "Francesco" (IT/DE 1989) and played a Nazi officer in Agnieszka Holland's "Hitlerjunge Salomon" ("Europa, Europa", DE/FR 1990). Moreover, he collaborated with two famous artists of the French Novuelle Vague: Claude Chabrol cast him in "Dr. M" (DE/FR/IT 1990), while Jean-Luc Godard directed Zischler in "Allemagne 90 neuf zéro" ("Deutschland Neu(n) Null", FR 1991). Reteaming with Wenders, Zischler joined the all-star ensemble of "In weiter Ferne, so nah!" (DE/US 1993), a sequel to Wenders' international success "Der Himmel über Berlin" ("Wings of Desire", 1987).

Never afraid to also appear in lighter entertainment fare, Hanns Zischler appeared in the children's film "Charlie & Louise - Das doppelte Lottchen" (1994) and took on guest-starring roles in popular TV shows like "Tatort", "Derrick" and "Der Fahnder". Other notable TV credits include the action film "Der Clown" (1996), the comedy "Viel Spaß mit meiner Frau" (1997), the biopic "Die Bubi Scholz Story" (1998) and the thriller "Der Handymörder" (1998). On the big screen, Zischler played a crucial supporting role in Hans-Christian Schmid's critically acclaimed drama "23" (1998) and appeared as a Hungarian nobleman in István Szabó's sweeping period piece "Sunshine - Ein Hauch von Sonnenschein" (1999).

Zischler kept a busy schedule in the new millennium, and in addition to a slew of TV appearances – including a recurring role in the popular TV series "Kommissar Beck" (2002) – he starred in the theatrical releases "Taking Sides - Der Fall Furtwängler" (2001) by István Szabó, "Väter" ("I'm the Father", 2002) by Dani Levy, "666 Traue keinem mit dem du schläfst" (2002) by Rainer Matsutani. Moreover, Steven Spielberg cast Zischler as a Mossad agent in the box office hit "Munich" (US, 2005).

In the following years, Hanns Zischler remained in high demand starring in a wide range of films, including Caroline Link's "Im Winter ein Jahr" ("A Year Ago in Winter", 2008), Thomas Arslan's "Im Schatten" ("In the Shadows", 2010), Olivier Assayas' "Die Wolken von Sils Maria" ("Clouds of Sils Maria", DE/CH/FR 2014) and Asli Özge's "Auf einmal" ("All of a Sudden", DE/NL/FR 2016).

Also in the following years, Zischler remained extremely active as an actor. He was part of the ensemble in the highly acclaimed series "Babylon Berlin" (2017), played an investor in the Rudolph Mooshammer film biography "Der große Rudolph" ("Rudolph, the Great", DE/CZ 2018, TV), and portrayed a corrupt mayor in the "Polizeiruf 110" episode "Heimatliebe" (2019). In cinema, he had roles as the father of the main character in the romantic drama "Mein Ende, Dein Anfang" ("Relativity", 2019), as a politician in the cult drama "Servus Papa, See You in Hell" ("So Long, Daddy, See You in Hell", 2022), and as the doctoral supervisor of a young physicist in the mystery thriller "Die Theorie von Allem" ("The Theory of Everything", DE/AT/CH 2023) – just to name a few examples. In total, Zischler's filmography comprises well over 250 titles.

In addition to his prolific acting career, Hanns Zischler is also revered voice talent for audio books. As a writer, he has penned numerous essays and books, including his acclaimed study "Kafka geht ins Kino" (1996) which portrays the famous author through his love for cinema. In 2002, Zischler also made a TV documentary based on the book. In 2006, he founded his own publishing house Alpheus Verlag in Berlin. Other books by Zischler include "Nase für Neuigkeiten: Vermischte Nachrichten von James Joyce" (2008), "Das Mädchen mit den Orangenpapieren" (2014) and the novel "Der zerrissene Brief" (2020).

Over the years, Hanns Zischler received numerous accolades for his work, including the 2009 Heinrich-Mann-Preis, the 2010 Deutsche Hörbuchpreis and the Federal Cross of Merit. Hanns Zischler lives in Berlin.