Swiss actor Bruno Ganz dies

Bruno Ganz, the Swiss actor who gave masterful performances as Adolf Hitler in "Downfall" and an angel seeking mortality in divided Berlin, died Saturday aged 77, his agent said. Ganz, who was suffering from cancer, died "in the early hours of the morning" at his home in Zurich, the agent said.
Considered one of the greatest German-speaking actors in the post-World War II era, Ganz had a distinguished career on screen and stage before his 2004 appearance in "Downfall", which unfolds over the final, suffocating days inside Hitler's underground bunker.
For many critics, his nuanced portrayal of the fascist tyrant that veers between explosive and sombre was unparallelled. Hitler is a figure that German-speaking actors have historically been reluctant to take on and the Zurich-born Ganz conceded that being Swiss provided a necessary buffer.