Monica Bleibtreu


Monica Bleibtreu was an Austrian actress and screenwriter, best known in the German-speaking world for her German film, television and stage roles.

Life and career

Bleibtreu was born in Vienna, Austria, the daughter of Helene Buchholt and Renato Attilio Bleibtreu. She studied drama at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and made her cinema debut in Ludwig-Requiem for a Virgin King in 1972. Her later roles included appearances in Four Minutes and Tom Tykwer's Run Lola Run, which also starred her son, actor Moritz Bleibtreu.
She also starred as Katia Mann in Heinrich Breloer's television biodrama, The Manns - Novel of a Century, and in Hilde, a biopic of the late German actress and singer Hildegard Knef, which was released in 2009. From 1993 to 1998 Bleibtreu taught drama at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.
Bleibtreu died on 13 May 2009, aged 65, in Hamburg, Germany, after a long battle with lung cancer. German President Horst Koehler released a statement saying he was "dismayed" by her death, telling her son that "she enthused countless people" during her career. Her last films, , directed by, and Soul Kitchen, directed by Fatih Akın, were released in 2009 after her death.

Filmography