Charles Brauer

A very prolific German character actor, he was born as Charles Knetschke, but changed his surname to Brauer in 1952. Though on screen from the age of eleven, he has become best best known to TV audiences as Hamburg's Chief Inspector Peter Brockmöller in the long-running procedural police series Tatort (1970). Brauer has also had recurring roles as customs inspector Bronne in the series Abenteuer Airport (1990) and as the owner of a failing textile business in Samt und Seide (2000). He has appeared in diverse TV guest roles, ranging from Derrick (1974) and Peter Strohm (1989) to Rosamunde Pilcher (1993).

Brauer studied acting at the Max-Reinhardt Academy in Berlin. He first appeared on the stage with the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg under the direction of Gustaf Gründgens, eventually becoming a member of the ensemble for twenty years. Active on various stages in Germany from 1984, his career highlights have included Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady, Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Vladimir in Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Brauer has also done German voice dubbing for Basil Rathbone, Adolphe Menjou, Donald Sutherland, Stacy Keach and Roy Scheider. Since 1998, he has been the regular German language narrator of John Grisham audio books. His own recently released co-written autobiography is entitled Die Blaue Mütze.

For four decades, Brauer has resided near Basel in Switzerland with his second wife, the Swiss stage designer Lilot Hegi.