Person biography:
Ulrich Tukur was born in Germany and spent his childhood and youth in Hesse, Westphalia, and Lower Saxony. He lived in the Wedemark region of Lower Saxony near Hanover, where he completed his high school diploma as an exchange student for the American Field Service AFS in Boston (USA). He then attended the University of Tübingen, where he studied German, English, and history, and also worked as a musician. It was during one of his performances that he was discovered for acting.
Tukur started acting training at the Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts in 1980. During his studies, he played the student and member of the resistance group against the Nazi dictatorship Willi Graf in the film "The White Rose" directed by Michael Verhoeven. He completed his training in 1983 and initially played at the Heidelberg Municipal Theater and in Munich, where he took part in the play "Illness of Youth".
Tukur's breakthrough came in 1984, when he portrayed the SS soldier Kittel in the play "Ghetto" directed by Peter Zadek at the Freie Volksbühne Berlin. He was then engaged at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg from 1985 to 1995, where he played a wide range of roles, including in "As You Like It" by Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar" based on Shakespeare, "Lulu" by Frank Wedekind, and "Hamlet" by Shakespeare.
Tukur's stage performances were rewarded with the title "Actor of the Year" by German theater critics in 1986. He also directed the Hamburg Festival from 1995 to 2003, alongside Ulrich Waller. In 2000, he appeared in a "Tatort" episode for the first time, playing a mass murderer in "Das Böse", which earned him the German Television Prize.
Tukur has also pursued a music career, founding the dance band Ulrich Tukur & The Rhythm Boys in 1995. He has released his own compositions and cover music, and has toured with the band. In addition to his acting and music career, Tukur is also a writer, having published his collection of stories "The Water Lily in the Dining Room - Venetian Stories" in 2007.
Tukur has won numerous prizes and awards for his work, including the O.E. Hasse Prize, the Boy Gobert Prize, the title of "Actor of the Year" in 1986, the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in 1986, the Golden Camera in 1996, the Hamburg Island Art Prize in 1996, the Adolf Grimme Prize in 2000, the German Television Prize in 2004, the German Film Prize in 2006, the Bavarian Film Prize in 2008, the German Film Prize in 2009, and the Lower Saxony State Prize in 2010.
