Iris Berben

Iris Berben (born Iris Renate Dorothea Berben on 12 August 1950 in Detmold, West Germany) is a celebrated German actress whose career spans more than five decades of film, television, and stage work. Raised in Hamburg where her parents operated a restaurant, she entered the entertainment world in 1968 and quickly became a prolific performer, appearing in roughly 150 productions by the early 2020s. Her early breakout roles included the 1970 Spaghetti Western Compañeros directed by Sergio Corbucci, and a series of popular TV appearances such as the sitcom Zwei himmlische Töchter in the late 1970s and the comedy sketch show Sketchup alongside Diether Krebs in the 1980s. Perhaps her most iconic television character is the tough police commissioner in the long‑running crime series Rosa Roth, a role she inhabited from 1994 until the series concluded in 2013, cementing her status as a household name in German households. Berben’s cinematic résumé also features the literary adaptation Die Buddenbrooks (2008) and an international supporting turn as the barmaid Petra in the British sports drama Eddie the Eagle (2016). Beyond acting, she is an outspoken advocate for Israel, a stance shaped by her 1967 visit after the Six‑Day War and her partnership with Israeli singer Abi Ofarim; she has campaigned against antisemitism and participated in numerous cultural and political initiatives. In 2010 she was elected president of the German Film Academy together with Bruno Ganz, and she served as an SPD delegate at the 2017 Federal Convention. Her personal life includes a long‑term partnership with Gabriel Lewy (1974‑2006) and, since 2007, with Heiko Kiesow, and she is mother to a son, Oliver, born in 1971. Recognised with numerous honors such as the Bundesverdienstkreuz (1997), the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit (2003), and the Golden Eye Award at the Zurich Film Festival (2020), Iris Berben remains a respected figure whose contributions continue to shape German cultural life.