Sylvester Groth


Sylvester Groth is a German theatre, television, and film actor. He has had an extensive career and is known to German as well as international audiences.

Biography

Groth is the youngest of five siblings from Jerichow in the former German Democratic Republic, where he also spent his childhood. His family is from Upper Silesia. Groth's father died while he was still young, and his mother married a second time. When he was 14 years old, the family moved to Leipzig. In 1986, he escaped from East Germany to West Germany.
He studied acting and singing at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. This was followed by engagements in Schwerin, Dresden, and Berlin, where he worked as a guest actor at the Deutsches Theater and from 1986 to 1989 at the Schaubühne. He also worked at the Residenz Theatre, the Munich Kammerspiele, the Berliner Ensemble, the Burgtheater in Vienna, and the Salzburg Festival.
In addition to an extensive theatre career, Groth has also acted in numerous television productions and feature films.
His first major film role was in 1983 in the East German film The Turning Point, based on a novel by Hermann Kant. In 1986, he appeared in Johannes Schaaf's adaptation of Michael Ende's story Momo. In 1992, he acted in the war drama Stalingrad and in 2006 he took on the role of Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels in Dani Levy's My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler.
Groth is known to English-language audiences for appearing in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, in which he also portrayed Goebbels. Most recently, he has held a leading role in the Netflix series Dark as Clausen, a police investigator, as well as appearing in the first episode of the third season of Fargo.
In January 2013, the Film Museum in Potsdam honoured Groth with a retrospective. On 1 December 2017, he received an award from the DEFA Foundation for his outstanding achievements in German film.

Selected filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1980Meines Vaters StraßenbahnJanker
1983The Turning PointMark Niebuhr
1984Der SchimmelreiterHauke Haien
1985Junge Leute in der StadtReinhardt
1986The House on the RiverHeinz Hüsgen
1986MomoAgent BLW/553 X
1992The Last U-BoatFunker Maschke
1993StalingradOtto
1999Requiem für eine romantische FrauClemens Brentano
2001Romeo
2003The Third WaveDauphin
2006NevermorePfarrer Ekdahl
2007My Führer – The Really Truest Truth about Adolf HitlerJoseph Goebbels
2008The ReaderProsecutor
2008BuddenbrooksKesselmayer
2009HildeBoleslaw Barlog
2009Inglourious BasterdsJoseph Goebbels
2010Aghet – Ein VölkermordMartin NiepageDocumentary
2012Wir wollten aufs MeerRoman
2015Naked Among WolvesHelmut Krämer
2015The Man from U.N.C.L.E.Uncle Rudi
2017In Times of Fading LightKurt Umnitzer
2019Berlin, I Love YouFrosch

YearTitleRoleNotes
1990Rote ErdeFritz Rewandowski
2003Tatort: Stiller TodJustus Fürmann, public prosecutor
2004Mein Leben & Ich4 episodes
2005Tatort: Rache-EngelChief of police
2007Rosa RothMichael Katzmann
2007, 2013Der Kriminalist2 episodes
2010KDD – KriminaldauerdienstRichard Plötz1 episode
2011Tatort: Das DorfMedical examiner
2012, 2014The Old Fox2 episodes
2012Tatort: Die schöne Mona ist totChristian Seitz
2010Generation WarSturmbannführer/Standartenführer Hiemer2 episodes
2010Tatort: Schwarzer AfghaneNorbert Müller
2010Tatort: Wer das Schweigen brichtRainer Vaske
2013-2015Polizeiruf 110Jochen Drexler4 parts
2015Sense8Sergei Bogdanow4 episodes
2015Deutschland 83Walter Schweppenstette8 episodes
2017Tatort: Wacht am RheinDieter Gottschalk
2017FargoColonel Horst Lagerfeld1 episode
2018Deutschland 86Walter Schweppenstette10 episodes
2019DarkClausen
2019Detective Chief Inspector Karl Schultz3 episodes

Awards and Honours