Biography

Managed to survive the Nazi terror regime together with his mother. While his father was deported to a concentration camp and died shortly after World War II, they were hidden by friends in Berlin.

Published his critically acclaimed autobiography "Nicht alle waren Mörder - Eine Kindheit in Berlin" (Not everyone was a murderer - A childhood in Berlin) in 1999.

After studying acting in Berlin, he made his stage debut at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. In the following decades, he collaborated with some of the most important stage directors in Germany such as Bertolt Brecht, Rudolf Noelte or Peter Zadek.

Is portrayed by Aaron Altaras on Nicht alle waren Mörder (2006) (TV), the movie about his childhood.

Degen is married for the third time, his second wife was the actress Dora Degen Borkoff, they have two children: Adina and Jakob Degen.

He's also the father of Elisabeth Degen (actress) and Gabi Degen (first marriage).

- IMDb Mini Biography By: A.D.

Growing up as the son of Jewish parents, his childhood from 1933 was shaped by anti-Semitic persecution by the National Socialists. Degen survived the war and the Nazi tyranny in Berlin. Together with his mother and under a false identity, they hid underground in a colony of arbors in the eastern part of the city from 1943 to 1945. Degen's father was deported. Although the father survived his imprisonment in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, he died shortly after his liberation as a result of his torture. Michael Degen returned to West Berlin after the end of the war. After finishing school, he began his career as an actor, initially as an extra. He received his training in 1950 through a scholarship at the German Theater Drama School in East Berlin.

From 1951 he traveled to the State of Israel for two years. Here Degen learned Hebrew and got a job at the Kammerspiele in Tel Aviv. Back in Germany, Michael Degen received numerous theater roles in Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Munich, Salzburg, Hamburg and Vienna, as well as a two-year engagement in Berthold Brecht's ensemble in 1954. In 1968 he celebrated his film debut with "The Judge of Zalamea". From the early 1970s onwards, Degen made numerous TV films such as "Supermarkt", "Filmriss" and in 1976 "The 21 Hours of Munich". During his career he worked with such renowned directors as Peter Zadek, Ingmar Bergman, Claude Chabrol, Rudolf Noelte and George Tabori. From 1967 to 1973 he was employed at the State Theater in West Berlin. There, at the Schiller Theater, he also directed Goethe's "Urfaust" for the first time, in which he also played the leading role. In his private life, he became the father of two children from two marriages.

Michael Degen became known to a large television audience in 1978 through his role in Franz Peter Wirth's multi-part series based on Thomas Mann's "Buddenbrooks". In 1981 he played alongside Helmut Griem and Stephane Audran in "Elective Affinity" based on the original by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Films followed in the 1980s such as Dieter Wedel's "Lunchtime on Red Square" (1983), Peter Beauvais' "The Eternal Feelings" (1984) and Michael Kehlmann's "Secret Reich Matter" from 1987. In the film "Die Colony" from 1988 about the controversial German "Colonia Dignidad" in Chile, Degen appeared in front of the camera for the first time with his daughter, the actress Elisabeth Degen. One of his most popular roles from 1989 was the series "The Drombuschs" alongside Witta Pohl and Günter Strack.

Degen then became one of the most productive and popular film actors on German television. In 1986 he expressed public protest at a meeting of the "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler". As a result, his apartment in Hamburg was vandalized and Degen was confronted with death threats, after which he no longer took a political stance. In 1990 he was in the horror film "Dr. M." starring Alan Bates and Jennifer Beals. In 1991 he celebrated a great success alongside Iris Bergen in the fairy tale film "The Frog Prince". During this time, Michael Degen also became active as a writer. In 1993, Degen followed with the film about Count Waldeck in the international co-production "Mission Eureka". In 1999 he published his autobiography under the title "Not all were murderers - A childhood in Berlin". In 2000, Degen produced the Leon film adaptations "Donna Leon - Vendetta" and "Donna Leon - Venetian Charade"; Until 2019 he could be seen in the ARD crime series in the role of Vice-Questore Patta.

He also played in "Rote Glut" in 2000 and "Nights in the Park" in 2001 as well as in "Leo and Claire". His autobiography entitled "Not All Were Murderers" was made into a film in 2006 under the direction of Jo Baier. The production starred Aaron Altaras as Michael Degen and Nadja Uhl as Degen's mother. The dramatic events of his childhood, combined with the public interest in him, sparked great media interest. In the same year, 2006, he published the book "Blondi". From the perspective of Adolf Hitler's dog, a born-again Jew, the powerful people of the National Socialist era are viewed with common sense, before the Jewish people's confrontation with God. In 2010 and 2011 as well as 2014, Degen played in the play "Heldenplatz" by Thomas Bernhard and in "I can't think of anything about Hitler" at the Theater in der Josefstadt, Vienna.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth