Biography

The unwanted son of a prostitute, Bruno S. was beaten so severely by his mother at age 3 that he became temporarily deaf. This led to his placement in a mental institution; he spent the next 23 years in various institutions, often running afoul of the law. Despite this past, he a self-taught painter and musician; while these were his favorite occupations, he was also forced to take jobs in factories such as driving a fork lift. Director Werner Herzog saw him in the documentary Bruno the Black - One Day a Hunter Blew His Horn (1970) and vowed to work with him, which led to his major roles in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) and Stroszek (1977). He was very difficult to work with, though, sometimes needing several hours of screaming before he could do a scene.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jon Reeves <jreeves@imdb.com>

He was also the subject of Nazi experiments on mentally disabled children during the Nazi era in Germany.

Director Werner Herzog once named him the "unknown soldier of German cinema".

Purchased a piano with his income from The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) -- see Stroszek (1977) for details.

Has become involved in outsider art and an exhibition of some of his works was put on display in New York in 2004.

In the movie Control about Ian Curtis and Joy Division, Ian was drinking and watching Stroszek, the part where Bruno was losing his trailer and things at the auction in Wisconsin, a few hours before Ian killed himself. Ian and Bruno forever missed.

I have my pride, and I can think, and my thinking is clever.

On America: Bruno is still being pushed around, not physically but spiritually; here they hurt you with a smile.

On Bruno's fading fame: Everybody threw him away.