Biography:

Uwe Kockisch was born in Cottbus on January 31, 1944. After studying at the Ernst Busch Academy for Performing Arts in East Berlin, he acted on-stage at important theaters. He was a member of the ensemble at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin for over twenty years, after which he was engaged for two years at the Schaubühne in Berlin. He played numerous leading roles under directors including Thomas Langhoff, Luc Bondy, Robert Wilson and Victor Contreras.

Kockisch became known to a wider audience through his leading roles in movies and television productions. The critical success of Dein unbekannter Bruder brought him a lot of attention; commenting on his interpretation of the leading role, director Ulrich Weiß remarked, “Uwe Kockisch’s acting is like the acting of all amazing actors—surprising, unpredictable and incalculable.”

In television productions, Kockisch often took on roles of bad guys or broken men, seeing the development of such characters as a challenge. His best-known television role was as Commissario Brunetti in the TV series of the same name, based on the popular crime stories of US-born author Donna Leon.