Ursula Werner

Ursula Werner was born in Eberswalde on 28 September 1943 and began studying acting at the Staatliche Schauspielschule Berlin-Schöneweide (today: Hochschule für Schauspielkunst "Ernst Busch") in 1965, graduating three years later. She then had her first engagements at the Landestheater Halle/Saale and at the Berlin GDR cabaret Die Distel. In 1979 she was appointed to the ensemble of the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin, where she is still one of the most important actresses. Werner made her cinema debut in 1967, while still a student, in Ralf Kirsten's adventure comedy Frau Venus und ihr Teufel alongside Manfred Krug. In the 1970s and 80s, in addition to her theatre work, she appeared in a number of popular DEFA cinema films, including the cult comedy Ein irrer Duft von frischem Heu, in which she portrayed an SED party secretary with the telling name Unglaube, and the drama Bürgschaft für ein Jahr, which won an award at the 1982 Berlinale. In addition, Werner plays numerous television roles in series such as Polizeiruf 110 or TV films such as Ich liebe Victor (1984) by Karola Hattop. Since the 1990s, Ursula Werner has only rarely appeared in film and television. Her most important works here include the psychodrama Scheusal (1991), Bodo Fürneisen's German entry for the 1991 Prix Italia, and the three films she made with director Andreas Dresen: Die Polizistin (2000), Willenbrock (2004) and Wolke 9 (2008), in which she stars as a woman who one day cheats on her husband of many years. At the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, Wolke 9 is awarded the Jury Prize in the Un certain regard section. In 2009 Ursula Werner is awarded the German Film Prize for her performance in Wolke 9. In addition, the family film Wintertochter by Johannes Schmid, starring Ursula Werner, received the award for best children's film. In 2012, Werner starred in the award-winning thriller Zwei Leben by Georg Maas and Judith Kaufmann, which was nominated as a German Oscar® entry and won the German Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bronze and Best Editing in Gold, among others. At the 33rd Max Ophüls Preis Film Festival in 2012, Ursula Werner was honoured with a short film programme. This was followed by a feature film including the cinema comedy Lucky Loser - Ein Sommer in der Bredouille by Nico Sommer. Also in one of the leading roles (2018) Der Junge muss an die frische Luft in the role of his grandma Bertha directed by Caroline Link as well as ( 2019) as Hitler stole the pink canary. In 2019 Ursula Werner received the German Acting Award as an actress in a comedic role in Der Junge muss an die frische Luft.