Theater From 1985 to 1987 he was a member of the ensemble of the
Theater Freiburg. He then worked at the Zelt-Ensemble Birach until 1988 and then moved to the
Schauspiel Köln for two years, where he worked under the direction of
Frank Castorf and
Max Färberböck, among others. He then moved to the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin. There he drew attention to himself through his performances in productions of
Faust,
Death and Devil and ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream''. When the Staatliche Schauspielbühnen Berlin closed, he switched to film acting.
Film , 2018 In 1995, he was able to see him for the first time in the TV series
Die Partner. He appeared in
Dominik Graf's Tatort episode '
(1995) and in ' (1997). He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in
The Scorpion. In 1997, Ulrich Noethen was the year of his breakthrough as a film actor with the role of the acappella singer and arranger Harry Frommermann in the successful movie
Comedian Harmonists. For his role, he was awarded the German Film Award for Best Actor in 1998 and, together with
Ben Becker,
Heino Ferch, ,
Max Tidof and
Kai Wiesinger, with the
Bavarian Film Award. In 1997 he won the
Bavarian Television Award for Best Actor in
Der Ausbruch und Busenfreunde. In 2000 he played the theatre critic and feuilletonist
Kurt Tucholsky in the literary film
Gripsholm, along with Heike Makatsch, Rudolf Wessely and Jasmin Tabatabai. In 2001, Noethen played the role of Mr. Taschenbier in Paul Maar's film
The Sams. In the following years he remained true to the genre of cinema-family comedy with roles in
Bibi Blocksberg (2002), ''
after Erich Kästner as teacher Dr. Johann "Justus" Bökh (2003) and in the Das Sams
sequel Sams in Danger'' (2003). In 2004 he appeared in
Oliver Hirschbiegel's film
Downfall in the role of Heinrich Himmler, a role he played in 2007 in
Dani Levy's black comedy
My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler alongside Helge Schneider, Sylvester Groth and Ulrich Mühe in complete other interpretation. Also in 2004 he was seen in the TV drama
The Boxer and the Hairdresser as gay star hairdresser Fränki Laue. In 2005 he impersonated the character of the father in the tragicomedy '''', alongside Matthias Schweighöfer and Meret Becker. In the same year he received a nomination for the German Television Award for his acting creation of the opaquely cool Bent Peerson in Carlo Rola's ZDF multi-parter
The Patriarch with
Iris Berben in the leading role. In 2005 he was seen in ''
as returnee Dr. Alexander Kielberg, again alongside Heino Ferch and Ulrich Tukur. For his role he received the German Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. On February 2, 2006 he was awarded the Golden Camera for his role interpretations in The Airlift
, The Boxer and the Friseuse
, and Silver Wedding'' as Best German Actor. In 2007 he impersonated the role of the husband Helmut Halm in
Rainer Kaufmann's film
Runaway Horse, which was adapted by
Martin Walser alongside
Ulrich Tukur and
Katja Riemann. He was nominated for the German Film Award 2008 in the category of Best Actor. In 2009, Ulrich Noethen appeared as Commissioner Tabor Süd in two ZDF films based on Friedrich Ani's crime novels. For
Commissioner Süd and the air guitarist, Noethen received the Adolf Grimme Prize as well as before for his leading role in Hermine Huntgeburth's TV two-part ''Devil's Roast''. He was nominated for the German Film Award for his portrayal of the French monarch Charles IX in Jo Baier's historical film
Henri 4 (2009). In
Hannah Arendt (2012), Noethen portrayed the philosopher Hans Jonas. Since 2014 he plays the psychiatrist Dr. Jessen in the TV series
Neben der Spur. Noethen plays Anne's father Otto Heinrich Frank in the literary film
Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank, which was shot in spring 2015 and was released in cinemas on 3 March 2016. Noethen is a member of the German Acting Association (BFFS). Noethen was originally supposed to play the role of Professor Boerne in the Münster
Tatort from 2002, but was unable to maintain his original promise due to other interesting role offers that would have clashed with the long-term format
Tatort. ==Selected filmography==