Biography

Klaus Maria Brandauer was a music student and studied drama at Stuttgarter Hochschule. He was a true stage actor and therefore didn't like to work in movies except for two small parts in The Salzburg Connection (1972) and Októberi vasárnap (1979). This changed when Hungarian director István Szabó gave him a leading part in Mephisto (1981). Brandauer received the actors award in Cannes and that opened door to international films. Together with the movies Colonel Redl (1985) and Hanussen: Hitler's Astrologer (1988), all directed by István Szabó, these three movies formed the 'German trilogy' of Brandauer. He received a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination for his role of Bror Blixen in Out of Africa (1985). The first movie he directed himself was Georg Elser - Einer aus Deutschland (1989). He also played the leading role in this movie.
- IMDb mini biography by: Wladimir van Heemst <j.j.w.van.heemst@dv.agro.nl>

His work in show business began in 1988 at the Cologne Carnival. Stelter also financed his economics studies with small appearances as a cabaret artist. He was discovered at one of these appearances and soon came to radio. He worked at various stations such as Radio RPR, Antenne Bayern and WDR 4, where he acted as a presenter, freelance author and producer. His comedic style didn't go unnoticed by television producers for long. From 1996 to 1997, Stelter moderated various shows for ARD such as "Stimung", "The ABC of Carnival" and "Jux Mix". As a carnivalist, he was regularly represented at meeting events with his program. At the beginning of 1997, Stelter was recruited by Rudi Carrell for the comedy show "7 Days - 7 Heads".

From then on, Bernd Stelter was a permanent member of the production's ensemble and was therefore partly responsible for the enormous success of the show, which attracted between five and six million viewers to the screen every Friday evening. The team around producer Rudi Carrell was awarded the "Bambi", the "Golden Lion" and the "Golden Gong" for this show. Stelter himself was a seven-time winner of the "Foolish Oscar". In 1998, Stelter ventured into acting for a short time. Among other things, he appeared alongside Mike Krüger and Rolf Zacher in the TV comedy "Voll auf der Kippe" on WDR. Although "7 Days - 7 Heads" became Stelter's greatest success, he remained loyal to the stage and delighted his audience with his jokes. With his role as an "advertising expert" he became a star not only in carnival, but also in the cabaret scene.

In 2000, he toured 73 cities nationwide with his program "Stories from the Suburbs and from Television." A live recording of the program was broadcast by WDR television and was also sold on CD. During his stage appearances, the passionate camping holidaymaker enjoyed making fun of himself just as much as the people around him. Another big success for Bernd Stelter was his role in the RTL sitcom "Bernds Hexe", the first season of which was broadcast in spring 2002. In 2007 he moved to WDR, for which he moderated the ARD show "Deutschland laughs" and the quiz show "NRW-Duell" on WDR television. In the same year he moderated the TV gala "Thank you Rudi - A Homage to Rudi Carrell" for the entertainer Rudi Carrell, who had died a year earlier.

Bernd Stelter is married to his wife Anke, has two children and lives in Bornheim-Hersel.
- IMDb mini biography by: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth