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Arthur Brauss

Arthur Brauss built a remarkably broad career across German film, television, voice work and theatre, appearing in more than 190 screen productions. Born in Augsburg on 24 July 1936, he first distinguished himself away from acting: in 1954, he became Germany’s youth champion in pole vaulting and joined the national athletics team. After an apprenticeship at a construction machinery factory, a scholarship took him to the University of Wyoming, where he studied mathematics and economics and developed an interest in acting. Brauss returned to Germany in 1960 and worked at Radio Free Europe before making his cinema debut three years later. Directed by Rolf Hädrich, he played a military policeman in Verspätung in Marienborn, an early example of the uniformed and authoritative characters that would recur across his screen work. German television became a substantial part of his career. He was particularly well known as police officer Richard Block in Jürgen Roland’s Großstadtrevier, while appearances in Tatort and Der Alte added to a long association with crime drama. His extensive list of guest roles also included Derrick, Ein Fall für zwei, Der Kommissar, Polizeiruf 110, SOKO München and Kottan ermittelt. In a different register, he appeared as a ship’s first officer in the 1979 ZDF children’s series Timm Thaler. Brauss also had a significant career as a voice actor, lending his voice to performers including Dennis Hopper, Brian Dennehy, Max von Sydow, Stephen McHattie and Robbie Coltrane. His work was not confined to the screen: in 2009, he took on the role of Götz von Berlichingen at the Burgfestspiele in Jagsthausen. By 2014, he had largely stepped away from German television and was working mainly in theatre. Brauss lived in Munich’s Schwabing district for more than 40 years. He died in his Munich apartment on 29 August 2025, aged 89, leaving behind a career defined by range, longevity and a familiar presence across decades of German television.