Ben Becker (born 19 December 1964) is a German film, theatre and voice actor.
Biography Becker was born in Bremen, the son of actress Monika Hansen and actor Rolf Becker. He is the brother of actress Meret Becker and the stepson of Otto Sander. His grandmother was the comedian Claire Schlichting. Becker is Jewish through his maternal grandmother Claire Schlichting's father who was a Jewish merchant from Wuppertal.
As a child, Becker participated in radio dramas and had several small roles in films. Between 1985 and 1987, he trained as an actor in the Berliner Schaubühne theatre. His first contract was with Ernst Deutsch Theater in Hamburg. Later, he joined the Staatstheater Stuttgart (Stuttgart State Theatre), where he was mostly remembered for his role (1991–1992) as Ferdinand in Schiller's Intrigue and Love. Later, he worked with the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and played the role of Tybalt in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in the Deutschen Schauspielhaus in Hamburg.
His first memorable role in cinema was in 1991, in the film , where he played the role of the arrogant German boyfriend of the pregnant Serbian heroine. His big break was in 1995 as Peter, who fell in love with a man, in Joseph Vilsmaier's Schlafes Bruder. In the film Comedian Harmonists he played the singer .
In 1995, he created his own production of Sid & Nancy with his sister Meret in the main role. Becker appeared in Rosa von Praunheim's film The Einstein of Sex (1999). In 1999, he played the main role in the Maxim-Gorki-Theater's production of Alfred Döblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz. In 2005, he played in the unique film, , which consisted of a monologue.
Becker is also involved in music and owns a pub, the Trompete, in Berlin/Tiergarten. He has one daughter, Lilith (born in 2000).
In 2008, Becker worked with the German band Schiller (thus following in the footsteps of his stepfather Otto Sander), where Ben did spoken lyrics for the album Sehnsucht. One song is called "Nacht", a video of which can be seen on YouTube. The lyrics are a shortened version of a poem in German called Die Seele that is attributed to Lord Byron. It appears to be a translation of the Byron poem, "When coldness wraps this suffering clay" from the collection Hebrew Melodies. The identity of the translator/author of Die Seele is unknown although the text may be from "Lord Byrons Werke In sechs Bänden" translated by Otto Gildemeister, 3rd Volume, Fifth Edition, Berlin 1903 (pages 134-135).
Selected filmography Year Title Role Director Notes1991 Hans1992 Rising to the BaitFunkeVadim Glowna RicBernd BöhlichTV film1995 Brother of SleepMartinJoseph Vilsmaier1996 Life Is a BluffHarry Butzbach Samson and DelilahPrince SidqaNicolas RoegTV film1997 Code RedJohannes StanekTV film Comedian HarmonistsJoseph Vilsmaier Spiel um dein LebenNickTV film1999 Our Island in the South PacificDr. Helmut KupertThomas Bahmann Gloomy SundayHans WieckRolf Schübel The Einstein of SexAdolf BrandRosa von Praunheim2001Female 2 Seeks Happy EndGregor ReutherEdward BergerFranz Sass2002 Friedrich von der TrenckGernot RollTV film2005 Emanuel GoldfarbOliver Hirschbiegel2009 TigerTV film2010 HabermannKoslowskiJuraj Herz2012 Andreas Borchert2014 Ruby's Father2015 CHIX – Back on StageRoyTV film2018 Never Look AwayForeman OttoFlorian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Awards 1997 Bavarian Film Award, Special Prize
References
External links