During his school years, Held was a solo singer of the Regensburger Domspatzen, and played football for TSV 1860 München, winning five youth championships.[citation needed] He finished his acting training at the Otto Falckenberg School of the Performing Arts in Munich, and then joined the Munich Kammerspiele. Further engagements at the Staatsschauspiel Hannover, the Freien Volksbühne Berlin, the Theater Basel, and the Salzburg Festival followed.
In 1993, Held was cast by director Klaus Emmerich in Morlock in his first television film role. Since then he has appeared in numerous cinema and TV productions, including Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, Marc Rothemund's Sophie Scholl – The Last Days, and Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall. In the Sat.1 series Der Bulle von Tölz with Ottfried Fischer, he played a Social Democratic Party of Germany Bundestag member, who mostly has to look after his opponents in the "Bavarian Unity Party".[citation needed][clarification needed]
In 2007, he starred alongside Iris Berben as the greedy villain Heinrich von Strahlberg in the two-part TV film Afrika, mon amour. In 2008, he played Alois Kugler, the opponent of Brandner Kaspar, in the film of the same name, directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. In 2009, he played the politically tactical abbot Kuno in the Margarethe von Trottas film Vision alongside Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, and Hannah Herzsprung, and in the same year, he was seen in Sönke Wortmann's Pope Joan as the Frankish Emperor Lothar I. In 2010, he played the Attorney General Dr. Sasse alongside Ulrich Tukur in Dieter Wedel's two-part TV film Greed [de]. Since 2010, he has starred in the crime series Stralsund as the head commissioner Karl Hidde. Since 2014, he has played the lead role of head commissioner Ludwig Schaller in the crime series München Mord.

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