Swiss actor Bruno Ganz, star of 'Downfall,' dies at 77

BERLIN — Swiss actor Bruno Ganz, who played Adolf Hitler cooped up in his Berlin bunker in “Downfall” and an angel in Wim Wenders’ “Wings of Desire,” has died. He was 77.

German news agency dpa reported that Ganz’s management said Saturday he died in Zurich.

Ganz, a prominent figure in the German-language theater world, shifted into movies in the 1970s, appearing in Werner Herzog’s “Nosferatu” and Wenders’ “The American Friend” among others. In one of his more recent appearances, he starred as Sigmund Freund in “The Tobacconist,” released last year.

Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller said Ganz was “one of the greats” of the screen and stage. He said that “the death of Bruno Ganz is a great loss for the German-speaking theater and film world.”