Cast & creator
Otto Sander
Best known for Scene of the Crime, Scene of the Crime, DAS!
Otto Sander (German: [ˈɔtoː ˈzandɐ]; June 30, 1941 – September 12, 2013) was a German film, theater, and voice actor. Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated in 1961 from the Friedrichgymnasium. After leaving school he spent his military service in 1961/62 with the Bundesmarine and left as reserve fenrik. Sander then studied theatre science, history of art and philosophy. In 1965 he made his acting debut at the Düsseldorfer chamber plays. After his first film work in the same year he abandoned his studies in 1967, and went to Munich to become a full-time actor. His career is closely connected with the Schaubühne theatre in Berlin under the direction of Peter Stein. From 1980 onwards Sander appeared on several of Berlin's theatre stages, among others at the Schillertheater in 1981, at the Freie Volksbühne in 1985 and in 1989 at the Komödie am Kurfürstendamm. More recently he starred in Hauptmann von Köpenick at the Schauspielhaus Bochum (2004). In 1990, he was a member of the Jury at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. Among his best-known film roles are the angel Cassiel in Wings of Desire and its sequel Faraway, So Close! by Wim Wenders, and a shell-shocked U-boat commander, Kapitänleutnant Philipp Thomsen, in Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot. Sander also appeared in The Tin Drum (1979) as a trumpeter and in Comedian Harmonists, a biopic about the musical group of the same name. He also played a professor in the movie The Promise about the division of Berlin by the wall. In 1999 he played a role in Rosa von Praunheim's movie The Einstein of Sex.
98
film credits
31
television credits
128
1964–2025 · acting roles
6.9
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (129)
Showing 129 of 129 credits
Scene of the Crime
Manfred Enders
1970Scene of the Crime
Otto Androsch
1970
DAS!
Self
1991
Die Harald Schmidt Show
Self
1995
NDR Talk Show
Self
1979The Johannes B. Kerner Show
Self
1998
Polizeiruf 110
Ludwig Stolze
1971Polizeiruf 110
Lansky
1971Polizeiruf 110
Richard Lansky
1971
Wetten, dass..?
Self
1981
Zimmer frei!
Self
1996
Vienna Crime Squad
Conrad Ribarski
2005
Das Traumschiff
James Korthals
1981Das Traumschiff
Johannes Lippelt
1981
Wolffs Revier
Schenk
1992
Der Fahnder
Bähr
1984Tietjen und Bommes
Self
1997
Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst
Kunsträuber
1967Grimme Award
Self
1964
Through the Night with...
Self
2002
Wings of Desire
Cassiel
1987
Das Boot
Phillip Thomsen
1981Gero von Boehm begegnet...
Self
2002Leute am Donnerstag
himself
2004
The Tin Drum
Meyn
1979
A.S. Gefahr ist sein Geschäft
Freddy Klinke
1995
Les Misérables
Monseigneur Bienvenu
2000
Das Boot
Kapitänleutnant Philipp
1985Ein roter Teppich für....
Self
2002
Das Jahrhundert des Theaters
Narrator
2002Friedemann Brix - Eine Schwäche für Mord
Rainer Kleinhundert
1996
Faraway, So Close!
Cassiel
1993
Krabat
Narrator (voice)
2008
The Marquise of O
Brother, Forstmeister
1976
The Shop
1998
The Killer Condom
Mr. Higgins
1996
Conversation with the Beast
Adolf Hitler Double
1997
Am I Beautiful?
David
1998
The Einstein of Sex: Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld
Professor Steinach
2000
Lumière & Company
Cassiel (segment "Wim Wenders")
1995
Four Against the Bank
Eberhard Winter
1976
About Narration
2025
The Harmonists
1997
Summer Guests
Pjotr Suslov
1976Die Mutter
1971
Werner - Gekotzt wird später!
Erzähler (voice)
2003
Werner and the Wizard of Booze
Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
1990
Das Boot Revisited: An Underwater Success Story
Self
2021
A Love in Germany
Narrator
1983
Inge, April und Mai
1993
Männer sind wie Schokolade
Vater Lano
1999
Palermo or Wolfsburg
Staatsanwalt
1980
Rosa Luxemburg
Karl Liebknecht
1986
The Promise
Professor Lorenz
1995
Wahnfried
Richard Wagner
1986
The White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang
Prof. Hinzelmann
1994Die Bakchen
Tiresias
1974
The Heart Is a Dark Forest
Helmut
2007
One or the Other of Us
Rulle Ruhlsdorff
1974Liebe Lügen
Vater
1997
Roland Klick: The Heart Is a Hungry Hunter
Himself
2013
Der Mann im Pyjama
Rudi
1981Die Ängste des Dr. Schenk
1978E-m@il an Gott
Petrus
1999
Kaluoka'hina: The Enchanted Reef
Narrator (voice)
2004
Wings of Desire: The Angels Among Us
Self
2003Hölderlin-Comics
1994
Miko: From the Gutter to the Stars
Loan officer Grop
1986
Life Is Too Long
2010Prinz Friedrich von Homburg
Obrist Kottwitz
1973Atlantic Affairs
Maitre de Plaisir on Stage
2002
100 Pro
Narrator
2001The Ignoramus and the Madman
1972Vorwärts
1990Der Mond scheint auf Kylenamoe
1980Schlusschor
1993Aus Liebe zu Deutschland - Eine Spendenaffäre
Voice
2003Plastikfieber
Wilfried
1979Im Schlaraffenland. Ein Roman unter feinen Leuten
Kalfisch
1981
The Case of Mr. Spalt
Otto Spalt
1988
Little King Macius
Erasmus (voice)
2007Die Schuld der Erben
Leonhard Asmussen
2012
Fly Away
Eckehardt Tiedgen
2012
Marlene
Bühnenmanager
2000Majestät brauchen Sonne
Kaiser Wilhelm II (voice)
1999
The Danube
Franz
2003
Girls under investigation
Staatsanwalt Baldur Meixner
1999
Berlin 10. 11. 74 - 28. 1. 75: Exercises in 9 Pieces
Himself
1975
Preußen – Chronik eines deutschen Staates
Self (Narrator)
2000
Meine Sorgen möcht' ich haben
Harald Bornemann
1975
Das Loch
Der Mann
1995Phantom
1979Gesucht wird... Drei Geschichten um nicht ganz ehrenwerte Herren
1981Close Up
Professor Spalt
1987Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
Self
1982Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois
Director
1982Der Mord mit der Schere
Inspector Spalt
1984
Boundaries of Time - Caspar David Friedrich
Gerichtsgehilfe
1986Stan Becker - Auf eigene Faust
Walker
1998
Who's Going Crazy Here, Doctor?
Nummer Sieben
1981
The Film Narrator
Salzmann
1993
Movie Days
Maður á hesti
1994
Sass
Vater Sass
2001
The Olympic Summer
Sprecher
1993
Time of Vengeance
Robert
1990Matulla und Busch
Korte
1995Der Kuß des Vergessens
Herr Jelke
1999Tödliches Vertrauen
Bernd Kortens
2002
Strike Back
Kowalski
1981
Nikolaikirche
kirchlicher Superintendent
1995Trilogie des Wiedersehens
Richard
1979
Lyrische Suite. Das untergehende Vaterland
1992
The Break
Erwin Lubowitz
1989Sonntags am Meer
Fritzchen
1970
No Pawing, Darling
1970Wie du mir..
Markus Petarka
1989Lehmanns Erzählungen
Lehmann
1975
Three Sisters
Vershinin
1994Heinrich Zille
1977Die Ursache
1980Sonnabend, der 1.
1970Eine Reise wert… Der Dichter Günter Kunert (be)sucht Berlin
Rezitation
1986Drei Schwestern
Alexander Ignatjewitsch Werschinin
1986Bescheiß kein Kind!
Vater
1992
Happy Too
Himself / Gert Bastian
2002Ermittlungen gegen Unbekannt
1974
Bauernschach
Dr. Gerold Stadler
1995Ludwig
Ludwig
1964
Unter kaiserlicher Flagge
Erzähler / Narrator
2006