Biographie
Ben Becker grew up in Berlin alongside his sister Meret Becker, living with their mother and her partner, actor Otto Sander. As a child, Becker participated in radio plays, including "The 3 Question Marks and the Car Marten." Inspired by Otto Sander, he chose to pursue acting training. Becker took on theater roles and appeared in various film and TV productions. His first film role came in 1983 in "A Love in Germany" alongside Hannah Schygulla and Armin Mueller-Stahl. He first appeared in a "Tatort" episode in 1978. In 1991 and 1995, he portrayed "Stefan Triest" twice in the crime series "Polizeiruf 110." That same year, Becker received the Adolf Grimme Prize in silver for his role in the TV film "Landschaft mit Thornen" and the Adolf Grimme Prize in gold for the "Polizeiruf 110" episode "Totes Gleis."
From the mid-1990s, Becker increasingly featured in major productions and gained widespread recognition with the 1995 drama "Schlafes Bruder." Two years later, he played the manager of the "Comedian Harmonists" in the film of the same name, starring alongside his sister Meret, Heino Ferch, Katja Riemann, and Kai Wiesinger. Together, they earned the special prize at the 1998 Bavarian Film Awards. Becker also directed plays such as "Sid and Nancy," starring his sister Meret, and wrote short stories. Unsatisfied, he ventured into music, releasing his first album, "And silently the head flies away," in 1997. That year, he also appeared in television productions, including the crime thriller "Against the Current," the thriller "The Seven Fires of Death" with Iris Berben and Hannes Jaenicke, and "Game for Your Life."
In 2000, Becker released his second music album, the sampler "Rilke Project," in collaboration with Xavier Naidoo, blending music with works by the German poet. In 2001, he acted in the Berlinale film "Frau 2 sucht Happy End" and contributed the song "Engel wie wir" to its soundtrack. Shortly after, his third album, "We lift off," was released. Becker's ventures remained diverse: he gave voice to boxer Muhammad Ali on the audiobook CD "King Of The World" and produced the CD "Fever - Diary of a Leper" with Alexander Hacke. He also recited previously unpublished poems by the eccentric actor Klaus Kinski. Among his other film projects was the role of Franz Sass in the 2001 film "Sass." That same year, he performed in Peter Zadek's production "Bash - Pieces of the Last Days" at Hamburg Kammerspiele.
In 2006, Ben Becker delivered one of his most powerful performances in Oliver Hirschbiegel's drama "An Ordinary Jew," a one-man show driven by Becker's confident and occasionally cynical reflections. The bold choice to stage a 90-minute monologue was met with acclaim from both audiences and critics. In 2009 and 2010, he appeared in "The Tiger or What Women Love," directed by Niki Stein, and "Habermann." Becker married Anne Seidel in 2012; the couple had their daughter Lilith in 2000. In 2013, Becker received the Askania Award. Between 2019 and 2020, he appeared in the "Tatort" productions "The Palatinate from Above" and "The Team.
