Martina Gedeck

Martina Gedeck (German: [maʁ.ˈtiː.na ˈɡeː.dɛk] (listen); born 14 September 1961) is a German actress. She came to broader, international attention due to her roles in films such as Mostly Martha (2001), The Lives of Others (2006), and The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008). She has won numerous awards, including the Deutscher Filmpreis in 1997 for Supporting Actress in Life is All You Get, and in 2002 for Actress in Mostly Martha. Gedeck was born 14 September 1961 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany, and grew up in Bavaria, the oldest of three girls. In 1971, her family moved to Berlin, where the eleven-year-old debuted as an actress in children's television shows. There seems to be some uncertainty regarding her year of birth 1961. After graduating school in 1981, she enrolled at the Free University of Berlin, majoring in German Literature and History. From 1982 to 1986, Martina attended acting classes at the Berlin University of the Arts. During that time, she made her stage debut at the Theater am Turm in Frankfurt. Gedeck performed regularly at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, and appeared in plays in Basel, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Hamburg.