Mario Adorf

Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival in 2007.

Ranked #2 in a survey by Unsere Besten (2003) searching Germany's all-time favorite actors (24 November 2006).

Mario Adorf was attached to play Ashriel in Grigorij Richters's Dean's Life in 2004. He dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

Started a singing career with his solo program "Al Dente" (1994).

Wrote several bestselling books like "Der Mäusetöter" (The Mice Killer, 1992) or "Der Dieb von Trastevere" (The Thief of Trastevere, 1995). In 2005, he published "Mit Einer Nadel Bloß" (With just one needle), which focuses on his mother's life.

Lived together with Monique since 1968, before marrying her in 1985.

Refused to play parts in One, Two, Three (1961) and The Godfather (1972), which he regrets to this day.

These flicks - made in the 1960s - were mostly just commercial and Adorf hammed his parts but he did it so brilliantly that he alone made them watchable.

It earned him his first prize (the German Film Award of the outstanding young actor of 1958). After this Mario Adorf's career turned international. His Mediterranean looks, his rugged face, his dark oily frizzy hair and his volubility made him an ideal villain in European-made westerns, spy or mafia films.

It was a small part but it didn't go unnoticed and got him new roles in German films, the most remarkable of which being that of Bruno Lüdke, the mentally retarded serial killer in Robert Siodmak's 1957 masterpiece "Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam".

Studied acting at the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in Munich from 1953 to 1955.

Mario Adorf, a tell-tale name indeed. Mario calls to mind the actor's Italian roots (his father was a Calabrian surgeon) whereas Adorf reveals his German origins (his mother was a radiologist from the German region Eifel). As for the full name Mario Adorf it echoes to perfection the international character of this living legend's long career. Born in 1930, Mario Adorf was still studying drama at the famous Otto Falkenberg School in Munich when he landed his first role in the first installment of the "O8/15" series in 1954.