Biography
Christian Berkel is a German actor. He was born on 28 October 1957 in Berlin. From the age of 14 he lived in Paris, where he took drama lessons with Jean-Louis Barrault and Pierre Berlin. He trained at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin and appeared on stage in Augsburg, Düsseldorf, Munich, Vienna and at the Schiller Theatre.
Berkel has appeared in many German television productions. He is known for his role as Prof. Dr. Ernst-Günter Schenck in Downfall (2004). Other film roles include The Experiment (2001), Black Book (2006), Valkyrie (2008), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015). Since 2006 he has starred as chief inspector Bruno Schumann in the series Der Kriminalist.
He lives in Berlin with actress Andrea Sawatzki, with whom he has two sons. He speaks English and French.
