The quintessential European actor, Bruno Ganz has crafted a large and impressive body of work in productions that span the continent. Born to a Swiss father and an Italian mother, Ganz made a name for himself early in his career working in the German theater, and became a familiar face on German television throughout the 1960s. His performance in Eric Rohmer's Marquise of O established him as a major international screen presence. Working with such directors of the new German cinema as Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, and Volker Schlöndorff, as well as acclaimed European directors Alain Tanner and Theo Angelopoulos, Ganz quickly became one of the most sought after performers in European cinema. If there is a consistent strand that follows Ganz through these various collaborations, it is the examination of mortality in worlds whose inhabitants don't possess the idealized qualities of more conventional narrative films, but rather struggle with very human limitations. Whether portraying an angel in doubt, a dictator in decline, or simply himself, Ganz strikes a delicate balance revealing the pain of these struggles and his empathic wit and warmth.