Bruno Ganz dead: Downfall actor dies aged 77

Bruno Ganz, the actor who played Hitler in the 2004 film Downfall, has died aged 77.

The Swiss star, who had roles in Hollywood films The Reader and The Manchurian Candidate, died at home in Zurich on Friday evening, his management said.

Ganz was best known for the Oscar-nominated film Downfall, the German film that charted Adolf Hitler’s final days in a Berlin bunker.

His performance gained notoriety after a scene showing Hitler ranting spawned parody memes online.

While Ganz’s cause of death is unconfirmed, it was reported that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer.

Over his five-decade career, Ganz – a prominent figure in German cinema – worked with Werner Herzog, Eric Rohmer, Francis Ford Coppola and Wim Wenders.

He played a vampire in Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre and an angel in Wenders’ Wings of Desire eight years later.

Ganz was the current holder of the Iffland-Ring, which is given to the German-speaking actor who is judged “most significant and worthy”. It is unknown who Ganz had intended to hand it to after his time with the ring came to an end.