Martina Gedeck is a German actress. She came to broader, international attention due to her roles in films such as Mostly Martha, The Lives of Others, and The Baader Meinhof Complex. 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.
Biography
Martina Gedeck was born 14 September 1961 in Munich, 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. 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. In 1994, Gedeck gained the attention of film audiences with her performance in Sönke Wortmann's hit comedy Maybe... Maybe Not. In 1995, Gedeck received critical praise for her award-winning performance in the television drama '. In 1997, she furthered her reputation with her performance as Lilo in Wolfgang Becker's Life is All You Get. In 1997, she received the German Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as a shy waitress in Helmut Dietl's '. By the end of the 1990s, Gedeck had established herself as "one of the most prolific character actresses in Germany" with ambitious feature films such as Jew-Boy Levi and television dramas like Dominik Graf's Deine besten Jahre. She garnered awards and nominations throughout this period of her career. Gedeck's international breakthrough came with her performance in Sandra Nettelbeck's Mostly Martha. In the film, she plays a workaholic chef who is forced to adjust to major changes in her personal and professional life that are beyond her control. The film won the Créteil International Women's Film Festival Grand Prix Award, and the Goya Award for Best European Film in 2002. It also received a German Film Award Nomination for Outstanding Feature Film. For her performance, Gedeck received a European Film Award Nomination for Best Actress, the German Film Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Actress, and the German Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress. In 2006 Gedeck appeared in five major films: The Elementary Particles as Christiane, The Lives of Others as Christa-Maria Sieland, The Perfect Friend as Marlène, Summer '04 as Miriam Franz, and Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd as Hanna Schiller, starring opposite Matt Damon and John Turturro. The Lives of Others won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2008 Gedeck played the role of Ulrike Meinhof in The Baader Meinhof Complex. In 2010, Gedeck, who is affiliated with the Green Party, served as an elector in the Federal Assembly to elect the new President of Germany. That year, she appeared in and Agnosía. In 2012 she appeared in The Wall and The Door, and in 2013, she appeared in The Nun and Night Train to Lisbon. Gedeck resides in Berlin with her partner, Swiss director Markus Imboden. In 2013 she was named as a member of the jury at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.
Filmography
;Television
Goldjunge
Die Beute, as Nelly
Schulz & Schulz – TV series, 5 episodes, as Britta
Hausmänner, as Helen
Mutter und Söhne, as Susanne Stoller
Leo und Charlotte, as Sylvie
', as Bronka
', as Wanda
', as Hölleisenretl
Der Schönste Tag im Leben, as Waltraut
Lea Katz - Die Kriminalpsychologin: Einer von uns, as Lea Katz
Lea Katz - Die Kriminalpsychologin: Das wilde Kind, as Lea Katz
Der Neffe, as Isabella
Bella Block – TV series, episode "Tod eines Mädchens", as Frau Meng
', as Elvira
', as Kati Treichl
Die beste Party - Heimatabend 1999
Ich habe nein gesagt, as Doris Wengler
Deine besten Jahre, as Vera Kemp
Happy Hour oder Glück und Glas, as Greta Steinwender
