Jeff Burrell is an American-born actor and voice-over artist based in Germany. He has worked under Roman Polanski and Lars von Trier.
Early years Burrell was born in Staten Island, New York, in 1968. He studied acting at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. He then got a BA in German Studies at Oberlin College in 1990. After that he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study acting at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch in Berlin, Germany. He got a degree in 1994, with which he was the first American to do so.
Career
Burrell began his professional career at the Neues Theater [de] in Halle (Saale). He was in the acting ensemble until 2000, when he moved to Berlin.
Among other movies, Burrell acted in Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer (2010), and Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac (2013). He was in the spy thriller Jack Strong by Władysław Pasikowski, and was a narrator in the documentary Warsaw Uprising by Jan Komasa.
He acted in Oles Sanin's film The Guide, which was Ukraine's 2014 nomination to the Academy Awards. His acting partner was the singer Jamala, who would later go on to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
Burrell won a "Best Actor Award" for his performance in the film Robin: Watch for Wishes at the Festival South Film Expo 2018.
In the fall of 2018 Burrell performed the role of Fred Madison in Yuval Sharon's production of Lost Highway at the Oper Frankfurt.
Filmography
Film Year Title Director Notes 1991 Ein Mann namens Pis Rosa von Praunheim 2005 Peace of Mind Detsky Graffam Short, CobraVision Award 2006 2006 Blindflug Ben von Grafenstein FA Ludwigsburg 2007 Must Love Death Andreas Schaap HFF Konrad Wolf 2008 Rheingold Andreas Pieper HFF Konrad Wolf 2008 Basement Robert Franke 2008 Pandorum Christian Alvart Constantin Film 2009 American Night Julian Rosefeldt Art Film 2009 The Ghost Writer Roman Polanski 2010 Remembrance Anna Justice 2010 Gregor Schnitzler Deutsche Columbia Pictures 2011 The Smurfs Dubbing, German version 2011 Muster Clemens von Wedemeyer Art Film for the Documenta 13 2012 Delver Glass Matthias Greving Short 2012 The Guide Oles Sanin 2012 My Friend Vijay Sam Garbarski 2012 Nymphomaniac Vol 1. Lars von Trier 2013 Jack Strong Władysław Pasikowski 2013 Phoenix Christian Petzold 2015 Point Break Ericson Core 2015A Cure for WellnessGore Verbinski2015The ConfessionsRoberto Andò 2016 Race Stephen Hopkins 2016 A Hologram for the King Tom Tykwer 2016Bye Bye Germany Sam Garbarski2018Robin: Watch for WishesKevin and Toby SchmutzlerBest Actor Award / FSFX Festival 2018
Television Year Title Director Notes 1992 The Last U-Boat Frank Beyer TV Film, ZDF 1996 Tatort Hans Werner Episode 329: Bei Auftritt Mord 2001 Joe and Max Steve James TV Film, Starz TV USA 2004 Spy Swap Steven Bennett BBC History Channel 2004 Die letzten Tage Oliver Frohnauer FA Ludwigsburg, ARD 2005 Auf ewig und einen Tag Markus Imboden TV Miniseries, ZDF 2005 Dresden Roland Suso Richter TV Film, ZDF 2005 Unser Charly Christoph Klünker Episode 11: Charly und die Leoparden, ZDF 2006 Ron Hammer Jan Weitz Campaign, Art Directors Award (Germany & Europe) 2006 Laible & Frisch Michael Rösel Series Pilot, SAT.1 2007 Das 100 Millionen Dollar Date Josh Broecker TV Film, SAT.1 2007 Tatort Ralph Bohn Episode 691: Tod einer Heuschrecke, ARD 2009 Die Geschichte der Ozeane Stefan Schneider Docufiction, ZDF 2010 Raymond Ley Docudrama, ARD 2014 Matti Geschonneck ZDF 2015 Miguel Alexandre RTL2015Der Lack ist abKai WiesingerWeb series2016Tödliche GeheimnisseSherry HormannZDF2016Berlin StationJohn David ColesNetflix2018BörüCem ÖzüduruStar TV, Turkey2018IllegalsLeszek DavidCanal+, Poland2018Der StaatsanwaltAyşe PolatEpisode: Abrechnung im Blut
References