Biography:

Winfried Glatzeder was born in Zoppot (now Sopot, Poland) on April 26, 1945. While apprenticing for a career in mechanical engineering, he started performing in cabarets. From 1965 to1969 he studied acting at the Academy for Film and Television in Potsdam-Babelsberg, obtaining his first acting engagement at the Hans Otto Theater Potsdam in 1969. In 2007-08, Glatzeder returned to the theater in Filumena, in which he played with Angelica Domröse, his co-star in the box-office hit Die Legende von Paul und Paula.

Glatzeder played many important roles in the 1970s. Particularly memorable were his performances in Der Mann, der nach der Oma kam. In 1974 Rainer Simon offered Glatzeder the lead role in Till Eulenspiegel. To prepare for the physically demanding part, he attended a school for acrobats. He starred in many film and television productions before leaving the GDR in 1982.

In West Germany Glatzeder acted at the Schiller Theater in Berlin, in addition to playing parts in film and television productions, directed by among others Margarethe von Trotta, István Szabó and Miloslav Luther.

He became an audience favorite in his role as Police Commissioner Ernst Roiter in the television series Tatort. He also made TV appearances in the Der Alte and Liebling Kreuzberg series. In 1999, he played in the internationally acclaimed film Sonnenallee. Glatzeder remains a familiar face on German television and Berlin stages.