Actor Michael Mendl Dies at 82

Michael Mendl, the German actor known for playing demanding and often dark characters, has died at 82. His agent announced his death, after the Süddeutsche Zeitung had reported it. His family said he had “fallen asleep peacefully.”

Mendl appeared in films including “The Downfall” and “Barefoot,” in ARD and ZDF television films, and in the Netflix series “Dark.” He frequently played historical figures. His portrayal of former Chancellor Willy Brandt in the two-part production “In the Shadow of Power” earned him a Goldene Kamera. He also played Pope John Paul II in the docudrama “Karol Wojtyla” and a captain in the drama “The Gustloff.”

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I am a character hero.

Born Michael Sandrock in Lünen, Westphalia, in 1944, he was the child of a priest and a medical student who were not married. He moved to Ludwigshafen with his mother and stepfather in 1949 and took his stepfather’s surname, Mendl.

He began acting while still at school, appearing as an extra at the Mannheim State Theatre at 14. After briefly studying theatre studies and art history in Vienna, he trained at the Folkwang School in Essen and spent years on stage. He turned to film only later, in the early 1990s. “I am a character hero,” Mendl said in a 2019 interview. “I play the difficult roles, including the evil ones.”

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I play the difficult roles, including the evil ones.