A real Wossi, grew up in the East, went to school there, studied acting, played his first leading roles in the theater, gained his first film experience at DEFA. Targeted by the Stasi due to political actions, he spent 6 months in prison in Gera and Karl Marx Stadt before being bought out by the West in 1987 through the mediation of the famous GDR lawyer Wolfgang Vogel. His experiences in prison, where he not only had painful experiences but also laughed more than he ever had in his life, shaped his work in movie and at the theater. The tragicomic characters are a great passion of his and this can be felt in most of his roles. This is why one of his most important directors is Leander Haußmann, under whose direction he has embodied many idiosyncratic and contradictory characters. In addition to the Berliner Ensemble, Volksbühne and Gorki Theater, he always found time and enjoyment for roles in movie and television.