Biography
Jürgen Prochnow (born 10 June 1941) is a German-American actor. His international breakthrough was his portrayal of the good-hearted and sympathetic U-boat Commander "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the 1981 war film Das Boot. He is also known for his roles in The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (1975), Dune (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), The English Patient (1996), Air Force One (1997), The Da Vinci Code (2006), and played Sergei Bazhaev on the eighth season of 24 ...
Known For
Complete Filmography

A World War II Fairy Tale: The Making of Michael Mann's 'The Keep'
2025
as Self
Exploring Michael Mann's 1983 film adapted from the F. Paul Wilson novel and its impact.

The Last Rifleman
2023
as Friedrich Mueller
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary ...

U-96, The True Story of 'Das Boot'
2023
as Self (archive footage)
Today, 80 years after the events and 40 years after the film, these images and testimonies shed an unexpected light on the reality of the fiction film...

The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune
2021
as Self (voice) (archive footage)
A brand new feature-length documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures exploring the making of the film, featuring dozens of new and archive interviews wi...

Das Boot Revisited: An Underwater Success Story
2021
as Self - Das Boot Actor
In 1981, a film about the misadventures of a German U-boat crew in 1941 becomes a worldwide hit almost four decades after the end of the World War II....

The old Man and the Pain in the Neck
2020
as Wilhelm Schürmann
Shortly before his 75th birthday, Wilhelm Schürmann has no desire to adapt his lifestyle even a little to suit his age and his health problems. When, ...

A Handful of Water
2020
as Konrad
Jürgen Prochnow (Das Boot, Dune) stars as Konrad, an old man still mourning his wife's death, living alone in a large house with little but a tropical...

A Hidden Life
2019
as Major Schlegel
Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.

Real Men
2019
as Himself - Actor
An investigation into the myth of the screen hero and its importance to men, mainly in the Western world. How the professional image is built in Holly...

Damascus Cover
2017
as Franz Ludin
A spy navigates the precarious terrain of love and survival during an undercover mission in Syria.

The Final Journey
2017
as Eduard
A former German Army officer, accompanied by his granddaughter, journeys to Ukraine to find the woman he once loved.

Old Agent Men
2017
as Kern
Four very retired, ex-GDR spies, or "Kundschafter des Friedens" as they were officially named, led by the once legendary Jochen Falk, are called on by...

Half Brothers
2016
as Herr Dryser
Two estranged, American half brothers with opposing political views and their significant others meet in a vacation house in the mountain resort villa...

The Dark Side of the Moon
2016
as Pius Ott
A psychedelic mushroom trip turns a successful lawyer into a wanted man.

Remember
2015
as Rudy Kurlander #4
With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the d...

Hitman: Agent 47
2015
as Tobias
An assassin teams up with a woman to help her find her father and uncover the mysteries of her ancestry.

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
2014
as Self (archive footage)
The story of the insane scandals related to the remake of “Island of Dr. Moreau” —originally a novel by H. G. Wells—, which was brought to the big scr...

Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces
2014
as Woodsman
Ninety minutes of deleted and alternate takes from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, assembled by David Lynch to continue the story of the final week of ...

Die Kinder meiner Tochter
2013
as Ernst Blessing
Grim, recently retired 'iron judge' Ernst Blessing lives alone with his dog since his only daughter left angrily 18 years ago. Suddenly he's informed ...

Ohne Gnade
2013
as Helmutchen
The crunchy sisters Biene and Püppi decide that there must finally be an end to the emotional and financial disaster of their mother Hilde. Therefore,...

Company of Heroes
2013
as Luca Gruenewald
American soldiers lost behind enemy lines during the WWII make a horrific discovery: Hitler has a super bomb in development. Against all odds, they se...

Ein schmaler Grat
2013
as Uwe Wolfmann
Psychothriller by facts. A lightly labile journalist (Felicitas Woll) wants to explore the motives of a women murderer (Heiner Lauterbach). When he wa...
Die Schuld der Erben
2012
as Kurt Hanson

Amigo - Dead on Arrival
2010
as Fredo Kovacs
Two BKA investigators fly to Italy to arrest the ex-RAF terrorist Amigo Steiger, who has gone into hiding there. The arrest ends in bloodshed. Steiger...

Sinners and Saints
2010
as Mr. Rhykin
In lawless storm ravaged New Orleans, eleaguered Detective Sean Riley is trying to cope with the death of his young son and the abandonment of his wif...

Spear of Destiny
2010
as Baron Von Haan
When a museum professor disappears, his colleagues must solve riddles and avoid traps to find the mythical Spear of Destiny and rescue the professor.

Oko ve zdi
2009
The aging couple might have been enjoying a gracious autumn of their lives had it not been for a crack in the wall that revealed a secret that changed...

Merlin and the War of the Dragons
2008
as The Mage
In 5th Century Britian, a young Merlin struggles for his place in his known land under the tutelage of The Mage, a local wizard whom sees the young ma...

La conjura de El Escorial
2008
as Espinosa
16th century ruler King Philip II of Spain maneuvers within a court of deceit and betrayal
Ohne einander
2007
as Ernest

Primeval
2007
as Jacob Krieg
A news team is sent to Burundi to capture and bring home a legendary 25-foot crocodile. Their difficult task turns potentially deadly when a warlord t...

Schröders wunderbare Welt
2006
as John Gregory
A gigantic investment project brings assistant Frank Schröder back to his home, the border triangle. Torn between appropriation, small-mindedness and ...

Beerfest
2006
as Baron Wolfgang von Wolfhausen
During a trip to Germany to scatter their grandfather's ashes, German-American brothers Todd and Jan discover Beerfest, the secret Olympics of downing...

The Celestine Prophecy
2006
as Jensen
A spiritual adventure film chronicling the discovery of ancient scrolls in the rainforests of Peru. The prophecy and its nine key insights predict a w...

The Da Vinci Code
2006
as André Vernet
A murder in Paris’ Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. ...

Chain Reaction
2006
as Police Man
A prison bus with over a dozen criminals on board has an accident and rams another car, in which Dr. Douglas Madsen was on his way home. Most of the p...
Rilke Projekt: Zwischen Tag Und Traum (Live 2005)
2005
as Self

See Arnold Run
2005
as Arnold Schwarzenegger
This biographical docu-drama alternates between two parallel threads in the life of Arnold Schwarzenegger: his formative early years as the repeat win...

Julie, chevalier de Maupin
2005
as Le baron Hengen
Agnès Dormes, a famous opera singer, saves Julie, a baby girl who was about to be sacrificed during a black mass. Twenty years later, the baby has tur...

Los Angeles Plays Itself
2004
as Michael Kogan in The Replacement Killers (archive footage)
From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen ...

The Poet
2003
as Vashon
A contract killer sees a chance to free himself from a tragic past.

Baltic Storm
2003
as Erik Westermark
A journalist from Berlin, Germany, and a Swedish lawyer discover the truth behind the sinking of the "MS Estonia" in 1994, where more than 850 people ...

House of the Dead
2003
as Kirk
Set on an island off the coast, a techno rave party attracts a diverse group of college coeds and a Coast Guard officer. Soon, they discover that thei...

Heart of America
2003
as Harold Lewis
It is the last day of high school and the unthinkable is about to happen. Distraught at the constant abuse and bullying they have been subjected to, t...

Davon stirbt man nicht
2002
as Everett Burns
A little deception with big consequences: Because boarding school student Dorian, the daughter of a wealthy American family, would rather have a littl...

Dark Asylum
2001
as Dr. Fallon
Asylum is a taut psychological thriller about a deranged fearsome killer running lose in an abandoned high security Asylum. Pitting the county psychia...

Ripper: Letter from Hell
2001
as Detective Kelso
A massacre survivor studies serial killers under a famous expert, but her classmates soon start dying at the hands of a Jack the Ripper copycat.

Gunblast Vodka
2001
as Sacha Roublev
Supermodel Everhart is kidnapped by bad guy Prochnow and rescued by good guy Otto in technopop action.

Last Run
2001
as Andrus Bukarin
Frank Banner used to specialize in helping Soviet spies defect safely to the West. Banner's wife was shot to death aiding such an escape. Now, with th...

The Elite
2001
as Avi
After the murder of their families by a terrorist bomb, five young adults are trained as a hi-tech, anti-terrorist team with a mission to search and d...

Jack the Dog
2001
as Klaus
Jack is a dog. When he's not photographing women, as a profession, he's seducing them. Until now. Home from Paris, he feels empty and fed up with his ...

Final Ascent
2000
as Paul
A man leading an expedition into the Rocky Mountains becomes entangled with a deadly band of thieves in search of their lost loot.

The Last Stop
2000
as Fritz
A group of snowbound strangers discover there are killers amongst them.

Poison
2000
as Carl Krieger
Traci is a devious teenage girl who befriends and kills anyone who comes between her and her mother, Dana, a failed movie actress who lies for and pro...

The Millennium Disaster - Computer Crash 2000
1999
as Hans Hagemann
A convicted murderer holds the world hostage with a year 2000 virus in all the world's major computer systems.

Heaven's Fire
1999
as Quentin Darby
Terrorists seize a building with intent to blow it up. However, one of the men trapped in the building is an ex-treasury agent, who just happens to be...

Der blonde Affe
1999
as Jan Vleuten
The wealthy Hamburg gallery owner Elaine Troost dies mysteriously on a stormy fall night and her body is subsequently found in the bathtub by her daug...

Esther
1999
as Haman
Esther, the beautiful queen of Persia, intervenes to save the Jewish people from a bloody massacre.

Wing Commander
1999
as Cdr. Paul Gerald
In the mid-27th century, the Terran Confederation is at war with the vicious alien Kilrathi Empire. When the Kilrathi capture a crucial navigational d...

The Fall
1999
as József Kovács
In Budapest, two Americans live together. Adam, a former Manhattan prosecutor at work on his first novel, and Lisa, a cool hard-working financier who ...

From China with Love
1998
as Paul Konen

Human Bomb
1998
as Gerhardt Dach
An unhappy male takes a classroom of children and their teacher (Patsy Kensit) hostage with a set of explosives strapped to his body.

The Replacement Killers
1998
as Michael Kogan
Hired assassin John Lee is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov. Lee has the boy in his sights, ...

Air Force One
1997
as Alexander Radek
When Russian neo-nationalists hijack Air Force One, the world's most secure and extraordinary aircraft, the President is faced with a nearly impossibl...

DNA
1997
as Dr. Carl Wessinger
A mad scientist's DNA experiment on the bones of a mysterious jungle creature brings the carnivorous beast to life, and only his former assistant Ash ...

The Cry of Love
1997
as Holger
The story The Cry of Love is about the love between two men. Lara brings her first boyfriend, the good-looking Yannis, to the barbecue party in the fa...

The English Patient
1996
as Major Muller
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along w...

On Dangerous Ground
1996
as Carl Morgan
Vusi Madlazi returns to the South African village he left as a young boy (he was organizing against apartheid, and left in fear of his life) to bury h...

Fesseln
1995
as Günther
A couple travel to the mountains to talk about their marital crisis. When the wife falls during the hike and only survives seriously injured, she is a...

Tödliche Wahl
1995
as Alex Bronner

Judge Dredd
1995
as Judge Griffin
In a dystopian future, Dredd, the most famous judge (a cop with instant field judiciary powers) is convicted for a crime he did not commit while his m...
Stallone's Law: The Making of 'Judge Dredd'
1995
as Himself
Documentary on the making of the 1995 film 'Judge Dredd.'

In the Mouth of Madness
1995
as Sutter Cane
An insurance investigator begins discovering the impact a horror writer's books has on his fans is more than inspirational.

The Other Side of the Law
1994
as Simon McQuarie
With two shots from a rifle, the life of a man and his young son are forever changed. Jurgen Prochnow stars in this chilling tale of a man who is forc...

Guns of Honor
1994
as Jack Neumann
In 1867, an ex-Confederate general, Jackson Hardin, still holds a grudge against the Union. He and his legendary "Floating Outfit" refuse to let the r...

Trigger Fast
1994
as Jack Neumann
A feisty woman struggles to keep her ranch from being stolen by a greedy and unscrupulous land-baron named Malick. A trio of young men comes to her ai...

Lie Down with Lions
1994
as Marteau
Doctor Peter Husak introduces the American Jack Carver to his friend, nurse Kate, and it's love on first sight. But when she learns, in a dramatic inc...
Die Wildnis
1993
as Brenner
The son of a farmer is bathed in his blood in front of an isolated mountain hut. There is no record of the attacker. Two investigators disappear witho...

The Last Border
1993
as Duke
One man's quest for revenge in a post-apocalyptic world

Der Fall Lucona
1993
as Jorunalist Strasser
Based on a true story. The Lucona was a ship that sank in the Indian Ocean in 1977. Allegedly, the steamer had a uranium factory on board. And there w...

Body of Evidence
1993
as Dr. Alan Paley
When an elderly millionaire is found dead with cocaine in his system, his will leaves $8 million to Rebecca Carlson, who was having an affair with him...

Interceptor
1992
as Phillips
A U.S. Air Force officer tries to stop a murderous group of terrorists who are trying to steal two top secret F-117A Stealth Fighters from the cargo h...

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
1992
as Woodsman
In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The...

Hurricane Smith
1992
as Charlie Dowd
An oil-field worker from Texas journeys to Australia to look for his missing sister, and his search winds up getting him involved with a violent drug-...

Robin Hood
1991
as Sir Miles Folcanet
The Swashbuckling legend of Robin Hood unfolds in the 12th century when the mighty Normans ruled England with an iron fist.
The Man Inside
1990
as Günter Wallraff
Gunter Wallraff is a journalist seeking to expose the unethical journalism practiced by The Standard, a very popular and powerful German newspaper. He...
The Schoolmaster
1990
as Rozinsky
In 1948 a new schoolmaster with a Polish background arrives in a small South-African town and is confronted with the Apartheid regime.

Kill Cruise
1990
as The Skipper
Two British beauties go to Barbados with a yacht captain who does not know what he's in for.

The Fourth War
1990
as Col. Valachev
Cold War adversaries Col. Jack Knowles and his Russian counterpart, Col. Valachev, are stationed on opposite sides of the German-Czech border. Both me...

A Dry White Season
1989
as Captain Stolz
During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy w...

The Seventh Sign
1988
as David Bannon
Abby is a pregnant woman with a curious new boarder in the apartment over her garage. Turns out he's heaven-sent and is speeding along the Apocalypse ...

Beverly Hills Cop II
1987
as Maxwell Dent
Axel Foley returns to the land of sunshine and palm trees to investigate the near-fatal shooting of police Captain Andrew Bogomil. With the help of Sg...

Devil's Paradise
1987
as Escher
At the start of the 20th century, a man lives in solitude on an island. One day on the mainland, he saves a young woman from some nasty folk and takes...

Terminus
1987
as Sir / Doctor / Yellow Truck's Driver
An established dystopian sport has drivers of a computerized truck driving cross-country to a terminus. The lead truck, created by a boy genius, is dr...

Killing Cars
1986
as Ralph Korda
In a complex story of automotive intrigue, oil barons, corporate finance, and international villainy, the inventor of an environmentally friendly car ...

Murder: By Reason of Insanity
1985
as Adam Berwid
A married couple from Poland emigrates to the U.S.,. but things don't turn out as well as they had imaged. The husband's business fails, while his wif...

The Cop & the Girl
1985
as Der Bulle
A tough cop but his life in ruins. His superiors are only looking for a reason to sack him. The girl is 17 years old and lives on the street. As the c...
Blitz
1985
In a complex story of automotive intrigue, oil barons, corporate finance and international villainy, the inventors of an environmentally friendly car ...

Dune
1984
as Duke Leto Atreides
In the year 10,191, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spi...

Forbidden
1984
as Fritz Friedländer
In Berlin in the early 1940s, romance is forbidden between the young countess who is studying veterinary medicine and a young man she meets at the hom...

The Keep
1983
as Captain Klaus Woermann
Set during World War II, a German army garrison is sent to guard a mountain pass in a village in Romania's Carpathian mountains and sets up barracks i...

Love is Forever
1983
as General Siegfried Kaplan
Michael Landon stars in this real life story about a journalist in Laos, and the extent to which he will go for his girlfriend.

Destination Dune
1983
as Self
A short documentary that was originally produced to promote the film at conventions and publicity events in the lead-up to its release.

Krieg und Frieden
1982
as Kevin
The third episodical film, after Deutschland im Herbst and Der Kandidat, in which notable German film makers reflect on the state of their country.

Das Boot: Behind The Scenes
1981
as Self
Comprehensive classic piece that looks at the process of creating the movie, told with a strong, well-constructed narrative that plays almost as a mov...

Das Boot
1981
as Captain Lieutenant 'Der Alte'
A German submarine hunts allied ships during the Second World War, but it soon becomes the hunted. The crew tries to survive below the surface, while ...

So weit das Auge reicht
1980
as Alexander Späh
Robert, a masseur who is hard of hearing, is unaware that he has inherited millions. Four people want to take it from him: stockbroker Kuhl, his emplo...
Kotte
1979
as Günther Kotte

Operation Ganymed
1977
as Oss
A spaceship returns to Earth after several years of space exploration and finds it desolate. Landing in what they believe is Mexico, the crew decides ...

The Consequence
1977
as Martin Kurath
Thomas, the son of a prison warden, falls for Martin, one of the prison inmates. After Martin is released, they try to build a relationship and a life...
Hans in Luck
1976
as Hans Schmidtke
When Hans wakes up one morning, he realizes that he is longer than his bed, his feet sticking out over the edge of the bed. The young man remembers hi...

Shirin's Wedding
1976
as Aida
In order to be reunited with Mahmood (Ören), a man she was promised to as a young girl, 20-year-old Shirin (Erten) leaves the life she had in a small ...

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
1975
as Ludwig Götten
After a chance encounter with a wanted man, a woman is harassed by the police and press until she takes violent action.

The Brutalization of Franz Blum
1974
as Franz Blum
Born into a well-off family, Franz Blum had led a carefree youth until, some time after graduating from high school, he was arrested by the police. Fo...

One or the Other of Us
1974
as Bernd Ziegenhals
Psychological thriller that focuses on the intense conflict between a university professor and a blackmailer.

Tenderness of the Wolves
1973
as Hehler
A German serial killer preys on boys and young men during the so-called years of crisis between the wars. Based on the true story of Fritz Haarmann, a...

Auf Befehl erschossen
1972
as Franz Sass
The Sass brothers commit a bank robbery through a tunnel.
Knast
1972
as Roloff

The Merchant of Four Seasons
1972
as Man at the Meeting Table
Hans is a street fruit peddler and born-loser. His choice of career upsets his bourgeois family, causing him to turn to drinking and violence. After r...
Zoff
1972
as Joky
Unternehmer
1970
as Arnold
The Guardian Angel
N/A
as Albert Klosser
In July 1944, with the Allies landed at Normandy but unable to push past German forces, a young German soldier is enlisted for a spy mission by a myst...