Daniel Gedeon Burkhard (born 3 July 1969) is a German film and television actor. Although he has appeared in numerous films and TV series in both Europe and the US, he is probably best recognised for his role as Alexander Brandtner in the Austrian/German television seriesKommissar Rex (1998–2001), or as Corporal Wilhelm Wicki in the 2009 filmInglourious Basterds. He is also well recognised for his role as Chris Ritter in the long-running seriesAlarm für Cobra 11.
Gedeon Burkhard was born inMunich,West Germany, the son of Wolfgang Burkhard and German actress Elisabeth von Molo (then Burkhard) who is the granddaughter ofAlexander Moissi, a famous Albanian-born Austrian actor of the 20th century.[2] Gedeon was educated at a boarding school in England and began his acting career in 1979 in the German TV filmTante Maria.
During the 1990s, he lived in the United States, working in several productions, but without much recognition. Burkhard marriedBirgit Cunningham, then divorced three months later.[citation needed] After that, he lived in Vienna forKommisar Rex for more than five years, then moved to Berlin. Burkhard was working in Cologne on the TV seriesAlarm für Cobra 11 as the detective Chris Ritter until November 2007. His character Chris Ritter had a heroic death. He then returned to Berlin to be close to his daughter and to work on projects. He said "For the moment I will dedicate myself again fully to my artistic vagabond life in Berlin".[3] Burkhard appeared in theQuentin Tarantino movieInglourious Basterds. In February 2009, he was shooting the filmMassel, made for German television. In 2011, he was in Rome, shooting the Italian miniseriesCaccia al Re – La narcotici.
In 2011, he competed inBallando con le Stelle, the Italian version of "Dancing with the Stars", accompanied by professional Italian dancer Samanta Togni, in which he danced with his "daughter" Laura Glavan.
In 2016, Burkhard playedGustav Froehlich, a German actor and UFA star, in the international movieThe Devil's Mistress by Czech directorFilip Renč. The biographical film is about the life of actressLída Baarová and her relationship withJoseph Goebbels. The film was released in January 2016 in Prague.[4]
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