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Michael Gwisdek

Prolific German actor Michael Gwisdek has been a regular player in film and television productions for over 40 years, though he is best-known to American audiences for his performance in the award-winning comedy "Good Bye, Lenin!." Born in Berlin, Gwisdek studied drama at the Ernst Busch Academy for Performing Arts before taking to the stage at the Deutchses Theater. He soon broke into film, with a debut in the East German Western "Trail of the Falcon" in 1968. After working steadily in both film and television, he wrote and directed a feature, the historical drama "Treffen in Travers," which played at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section in 1989 and earned critical acclaim for its lead actress, Corinna Harfouch (Gwisdek's wife at the time). As an actor, Gwisdek won accolades for his performances in "Der Tangospieler," as a historian who was imprisoned for defamation of the state, and "Night Shapes," a drama about the effect of the Pope's visit on lowly citizens of Berlin. As a doctor in the German smash hit and crossover success "Good Bye Lenin!," he reached a broader international audience. In a smaller part, he again reached American viewers, in the Oscar-nominated docudrama "The Baader Meinhof Complex."