Thomas Kretschmann Movies and Career Information

Thomas Kretschmann (born 8 September 1962) is a German actor best known for playing Leutnant Hans Von Witzland in the 1993 film Stalingrad, Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in The Pianist, Hermann Fegelein in Der Untergang, and Captain Englehorn in the 2005 remake of King Kong. Kretschmann was born in Dessau, former German Democratic Republic. Before he became an actor, Kretschmann trained to become an Olympic swimmer. At the age of 19 he left East Germany and began a month-long trek to West Germany to escape the East German state. During this trek he lost part of a finger, but it was surgically reattached. Kretschmann crossed four borders with nothing other than his passport and the equivalent of $100 in his possession. At the age of 25, he began acting, starring in numerous European films and television series. In 1991, Kretschmann was awarded the Wobbly Max Ophüls Prize for best young actor for his role in Der Mitwisser. He went on to star in the 1993 film Stalingrad. He achieved international recognition for his role as a rapist/murderer in Dario Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome. Although quite popular in his homeland, Kretschmann did not achieve notice in Hollywood until his role as