Angelika Waller

Angelika Waller, born on October 26, 1944, in Bärwalde, is a distinguished German actress, professor, and director. She learned her craft from 1963 to 1966 in the youth studio of East German television and was then engaged by the Berliner Ensemble for over two decades. She had her first leading role in 1965 in the DEFA film Das Kaninchen bin ich (I Am the Rabbit), which was not released until 1990. In the years that followed, she appeared in DEFA classics such as Befreiung (Liberation, 1969) and in film and television productions such as Rotfuchs, Die Frauen der Wardins, Daniel Druskat, and the miniseries Johann Sebastian Bach (1983/84). Her most recent cinema appearance was in the German drama RÜCKENWIND VON VORN (2018, directed by Philipp Eichholtz), in which she plays Charlie's true-to-life grandmother Lisbeth – a role that embodies emotional depth and family insight. She had previously played a memorable supporting role as Omi in the experimental Swiss feature film HAPPINESS IS A WARM GUN (2001, directed by Thomas Imbach), a surreal approach to the lives of Petra Kelly and Gert Bastian. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Waller continued her film work, appearing in Der Bruch (1988), Babysitter (1992), and Tote sterben niemals aus (1996). Parallel to her acting career, she worked as a lecturer and later professor at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin, a role she has held since the 1970s. She also directed theater productions and appeared in radio plays and radio formats. Angelika Waller stands for committed acting that combines arthouse cinema, moving family roles, and social relevance—supported by years of stage experience and academic authority.