Monika Hansen

Monika Hansen (9 April 1942 – 26 June 2025) was a German theatre and film actress.

Life and career Hansen, daughter of the comedian Claire Schlichting, was married to the actor Rolf Becker until 1971. The marriage produced two children, Ben Becker and Meret Becker, both also actors. After the divorce, Hansen married the actor Otto Sander, with whom she remained married until his death in 2013. Hansen's older brother Jonny Buchardt was also an actor.

She received her acting training from 1959 to 1962 at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich. After her first permanent engagement at the Theater Ulm, she then worked for ten years at the Theater Bremen under the directorship of Kurt Hübner, whom she followed to the Freie Volksbühne Berlin in 1973. Further stops in her career included the Schillertheater (Berlin) and the Schaubühne in Berlin. There she worked with Luc Bondy, Klaus Michael Grüber, and Frank-Patrick Steckel, among others. The latter brought her to the Schauspielhaus Bochum for Einar Schleef's Die Schauspieler. She also performed at the Renaissance Theater Berlin and the Staatstheater Kassel.

Hansen's film work includes around 40 film and television productions between 1971 and 2022. She worked with several directors of the New German Cinema such as Margarethe von Trotta (on The Promise), Wim Wenders (on Faraway, So Close!) and Bernhard Sinkel (on Put on Ice). In the film The Einstein of Sex (1999) by Rosa von Praunheim, she played together with her children Meret and Ben Becker and her husband Otto Sander. She made several films with the director Lars Kraume. In 2005, she appeared in the children's film alongside Mario Adorf. On television, Hansen appeared in well-known series such as Polizeiruf 110 (three times in total), Tatort, KDD – Kriminaldauerdienst (KDD – Berlin Crime Squad), and Neues aus Uhlenbusch (News from Uhlenbusch).

Hansen last lived in Berlin. She died on 26 June 2025, at the age of 83.

Filmography 1971: (Feature film) – Director: Uwe Brandner 1977: Rappelkiste (TV series, 1 episode) 1979: Feuerzeichen (TV film) – Director: Rainer Boldt 1980: The Moon Shines on Kylenamoe (TV film) – Director: Jan Kauenhowen 1980: Put on Ice (Feature film) – Director: Bernhard Sinkel 1980: Neues aus Uhlenbusch (TV series, 1 episode) 1982: Warten bis Lilli kommt (TV film) – Director: Rainer Boldt 1989: 10 Minuten Berlin (Short film) 1989: Hals über Kopf (TV series) (TV series, 1 episode) 1993: Faraway, So Close! (Feature film) – Director: Wim Wenders 1993: (TV series, 1 episode) 1994: The White Horse Inn (TV film) 1994: Polizeiruf 110: Totes Gleis (TV series episode) – Director: Bernd Böhlich 1994: The Promise (Feature film) – Director: Margarethe von Trotta 1995: Doppelter Einsatz (TV series, 1 episode) 1996: Killer Condom (Feature film) – Director: Martin Walz 1996, 1998: Wolffs Revier (TV series, 2 episodes, various roles) 1998: Polizeiruf 110: Das Wunder von Wustermark (TV series episode) – Director: Bernd Böhlich 1999: The Einstein of Sex (Feature film) – Director: Rosa von Praunheim 1999: Rosa Roth: Wintersaat (TV series episode) 1999: (TV film) 2001: My Sweet Home (Feature film) – Director: Filippos Tsitos 2003: Tatort: Hexentanz (TV series episode) 2005: Polizeiruf 110: Dettmanns weite Welt (TV series episode) 2005: (Feature film) – Director: Lars Kraume 2005: Unveiled (Feature film) – Director: Angelina Maccarone 2005: (Feature film) – Director: Ben Verbong 2006: Stolberg (TV series, 1 episode) 2008: KDD – Kriminaldauerdienst (TV series, 2 episodes) 2008: (TV film) – Director: Judith Kennel 2009: (Feature film) – Director: Esther Gronenborn 2010: SOKO Köln (TV series, 1 episode) – Director: Richard Huber 2011: SOKO Wismar (TV series, 1 episode) 2012: Großstadtrevier (TV series, 1 episode) – Director: Torsten Wacker 2013: (Feature film) – Director: Lars Kraume 2014: Seven Deaths of a Bird – Director: Ralf Schmerberg 2017: – Director: Lars Kraume 2022: Rex Gildo – The Last Dance (Semi-documentary film) – Director: Rosa von Praunheim

Radio plays 1992: Conny Lens: Ostwind – Director: Joachim Sonderhoff (crime radio play – WDR) 2014: Hans Zimmer (author): Johann disappears – Director: Klaus-Michael Klingsporn (children's radio play – DKultur)

Audiobooks Solo for a Mannequin by Grieneisen. Homage to Valeska Gert, audio collage by Peter Eckhart Reichel with Monika Hansen and Gerd Wameling, duo-phon records, 2001, ISBN 3-937127-00-3.

Awards 1994: Adolf Grimme Award for her role in Polizeiruf 110: Totes Gleis