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Born in Tilsit, East Prussia (now Sovetsk, Russia). Stage-trained character actor, with East Berlin's Theater am Schiffbauerdamm from 1952 to 1977, who began appearing in films in 1950. Mueller-Stahl has appeared in several features directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and won the Montreal Film Festival best actor prize for his performance in Agnieszka Holland's ANGRY HARVEST (1985). He immigrated to the West in 1980 and is perhaps best known for his role as a dissembling war criminal in Costa-Gavras's MUSIC BOX (1989) and the scion of an immigrant family in Barry Levinson's AVALON (1990). Other notable films since emigrating include KILLING BLUE (1988), KAFKA (1991), THE POWER OF ONE (1992), THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS (1993), HOLY MATRIMONY (1994), THE LAST GOOD TIME, A PYROMANIAC'S LOVE STORY and THEODORE REX (all 1995), TANANDRIA, SHINE, CONVERSATION WITH THE BEAST (as Adolf Hitler) and THE OGRE / DER UNHOLD (all 1996), "12 Angry Men" (TV), THE ASSISTANT and THE PEACEMAKER (all 1997), THE COMMISSIONER and THE X FILES (both 1998), THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR, THE THIRD MIRACLE, JAKOB THE LIAR, "Jesus" (TV) (all 1999), PILGRIM, MISSION TO MARS and THE LONG RUN (all 2000), THE STORY OF AN AFRICAN FARM and THE DUST FACTORY (both 2004), LOCAL COLOR and ICH BIN DIE ANDERE / I AM THE OTHER WOMAN (both 2006), EASTERN PROMISES and LENINGRAD (both 2007), and THE INTERNATIONAL and DIE BUDDENBROOKS (both scheduled for release in 2008).  Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role 1996: SHINE 1 nomination