# Jeff Burrell

Jeff Burrell is an American-born actor and voice-over artist based in Germany. He has worked under Roman Polanski and Lars von Trier.

## Early years

Burrell was born in Staten Island, New York, in 1968. He studied acting at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. He then got a BA in German Studies at Oberlin College in 1990. After that he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study acting at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch in Berlin, Germany. He got a degree in 1994, with which he was the first American to do so.

## Career

Burrell began his professional career at the Neues Theater [de] in Halle (Saale). He was in the acting ensemble until 2000, when he moved to Berlin.
Among other movies, Burrell acted in Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer (2010), and Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac (2013). He was in the spy thriller Jack Strong by Władysław Pasikowski, and was a narrator in the documentary Warsaw Uprising by Jan Komasa.
He acted in Oles Sanin's film The Guide, which was Ukraine's 2014 nomination to the Academy Awards. His acting partner was the singer Jamala, who would later go on to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
Burrell won a "Best Actor Award" for his performance in the film Robin: Watch for Wishes at the Festival South Film Expo 2018.
In the fall of 2018 Burrell performed the role of Fred Madison in Yuval Sharon's production of Lost Highway at the Oper Frankfurt.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1991 | Ein Mann namens Pis | Rosa von Praunheim | |
| 2005 | Peace of Mind | Detsky Graffam | Short, CobraVision Award 2006 |
| 2006 | Blindflug | Ben von Grafenstein | FA Ludwigsburg |
| 2007 | Must Love Death | Andreas Schaap | HFF Konrad Wolf |
| 2008 | Rheingold | Andreas Pieper | HFF Konrad Wolf |
| 2008 | Basement | Robert Franke | |
| 2008 | Pandorum | Christian Alvart | Constantin Film |
| 2009 | American Night | Julian Rosefeldt | Art Film |
| 2009 | The Ghost Writer | Roman Polanski | |
| 2010 | Remembrance | Anna Justice | |
| 2010 | Resturlaub [de] | Gregor Schnitzler | Deutsche Columbia Pictures |
| 2011 | The Smurfs | | Dubbing, German version |
| 2011 | Muster | Clemens von Wedemeyer | Art Film for the Documenta 13 |
| 2012 | Delver Glass | Matthias Greving | Short |
| 2012 | The Guide | Oles Sanin | |
| 2012 | My Friend Vijay | Sam Garbarski | |
| 2012 | Nymphomaniac Vol 1. | Lars von Trier | |
| 2013 | Jack Strong | Władysław Pasikowski | |
| 2013 | Phoenix | Christian Petzold | |
| 2015 | Point Break | Ericson Core | |
| 2015 | A Cure for Wellness | Gore Verbinski | |
| 2015 | The Confessions | Roberto Andò | |
| 2016 | Race | Stephen Hopkins | |
| 2016 | A Hologram for the King | Tom Tykwer | |
| 2016 | Bye Bye Germany | Sam Garbarski | |
| 2018 | Robin: Watch for Wishes | Kevin and Toby Schmutzler | Best Actor Award / FSFX Festival 2018 |

### Television

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1992 | The Last U-Boat | Frank Beyer | TV Film, ZDF |
| 1996 | Tatort | Hans Werner | Episode 329: Bei Auftritt Mord |
| 2001 | Joe and Max | Steve James | TV Film, Starz TV USA |
| 2004 | Spy Swap | Steven Bennett | BBC History Channel |
| 2004 | Die letzten Tage | Oliver Frohnauer | FA Ludwigsburg, ARD |
| 2005 | Auf ewig und einen Tag | Markus Imboden | TV Miniseries, ZDF |
| 2005 | Dresden | Roland Suso Richter | TV Film, ZDF |
| 2005 | Unser Charly | Christoph Klünker | Episode 11: Charly und die Leoparden, ZDF |
| 2006 | Ron Hammer | Jan Weitz | Campaign, Art Directors Award (Germany & Europe) |
| 2006 | Laible & Frisch | Michael Rösel | Series Pilot, SAT.1 |
| 2007 | Das 100 Millionen Dollar Date | Josh Broecker | TV Film, SAT.1 |
| 2007 | Tatort | Ralph Bohn | Episode 691: Tod einer Heuschrecke, ARD |
| 2009 | Die Geschichte der Ozeane | Stefan Schneider | Docufiction, ZDF |
| 2010 | The Children of Blankenese [de] | Raymond Ley | Docudrama, ARD |
| 2014 | The Witness House [de] | Matti Geschonneck | ZDF |
| 2015 | Starfighter [de] | Miguel Alexandre | RTL |
| 2015 | Der Lack ist ab | Kai Wiesinger | Web series |
| 2016 | Tödliche Geheimnisse | Sherry Hormann | ZDF |
| 2016 | Berlin Station | John David Coles | Netflix |
| 2018 | Börü | Cem Özüduru | Star TV, Turkey |
| 2018 | Illegals | Leszek David | Canal+, Poland |
| 2018 | Der Staatsanwalt | Ayşe Polat | Episode: Abrechnung im Blut |