Biography

Michael Alexander Verhoeven (* 13 July 1938; + 22 April 2024) was a German actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer. He achieved international success with films such as The White Rose (1982) and The Nasty Girl (1990).

Michael Verhoeven grew up in Berlin and later Munich. Being the son of actress Doris Kiesow (1902-1973) and actor-director Paul Verhoeven (1901-1975), his creative abilities were nurtured from a very young age. Verhoeven began his artistic career as a nine-year-old in theatre plays - including a stage adaptation of "Dot and Anton" (Pünktchen und Anton) after author Erich Kästner, a family friend - and subsequently appeared in various films in the 1950s.

As a young adult, he briefly wandered off the creative path and studied medicine - a bold move his parents did not agree with. Especially his father whose creative abilities included years working as artistic director at the Residenz Theatre in Munich opposed his son's decision. Verhoeven however persevered. He obtained his doctorate in 1969 and worked as a doctor for several years. Nevertheless, his passion for filmmaking never fully disappeared, eventually leading him back to the director's chair.

Throughout his career, Verhoeven often collaborated with his wife, actress Senta Berger, whom he had met at the Berlinale in 1960. These collaborations included the series Die schnelle Gerdi (1989) about a Munich taxi driver, the miniseries Lilli Lottofee (1992), and the 2008 documentary Menschliches Versagen (2008). In 1965, they established Sentana Film and were later joined professionally by their sons and fellow filmmakers, Simon Verhoeven and Luca Verhoeven.

In 1972, after becoming a father for the first time, Verhoeven began to work on a children's series. He wrote and directed the anarchic Krempoli: A Place for Wild Children (1975), in which he had a guest appearance. He also cast his father Paul Verhoeven and his sister Lis Verhoeven alongside his wife Senta Berger.

Through his work, Verhoeven often tackled political subjects and confronted historical injustices. His anti-Vietnam War film O.K. (1970) caused a major scandal at the 1970 Berlinale and eventually led to the competition being canceled. The Berlinale regulations were subsequently reformed, the Forum came into being, and O.K. (1970) went on to win the Gold Award for Best Feature Film at the German Film Awards. His repertoire of politically motivated films also included The White Rose (1982) about the Scholl siblings, which among other accolades won the Silver Award for Best Feature Film at the German Film Awards and, more recently, the documentary The Second Execution of Romell Broom (2012).

The Nasty Girl (1990), written and directed by Verhoeven, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1991. The film, based on the true story of a young woman who investigates her town's involvement in the Third Reich, also won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlinale, the BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In 1995, he directed My Mother's Courage (1995) about the deportation of 4000 Jews from Budapest to Auschwitz in July 1944. The film is based on the autobiographical play by George Tabori, who played himself. My Mother's Courage (1995) won the Silver Award for Best Feature Film at the German Film Awards, The Jewish Experience Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival, Best Feature at The Chicago International Film Festival, and more. Later, in 2000, Verhoeven wrote and directed the television film Enthüllung einer Ehe (2000), which dealt with the topic of transgender identities - still a taboo subject at the time. He won the Robert Geisendörfer Prize and two FIPAs at the Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels in Biarritz. Then in 2014, Verhoeven wrote and directed the TV drama Let's Go! (2014), which was adapted from the autobiographical novel Von Zuhause wird nichts erzählt by Laura Waco about her Jewish family in post-war Munich and won a German Television Academy Award. The 2016 production Welcome to Germany (2016), which he co-produced with his son Simon Verhoeven, became the most successful German film of that year, won numerous awards, and was recognized Europe-wide.

Together with his wife Senta Berger, he was honored with the Federal Cross of Merit in 1999 and the Bavarian Order of Merit in 2002. In 2005, Verhoeven was awarded the Marion Samuel Prize, which honors particularly effective ways of combating the forgetting, suppression, and relativization of the crimes committed by Germans during the National Socialist era.

In the 1990s, he became a professor at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, where he dedicated himself to nurturing and shaping the next generation of filmmakers. Verhoeven was also one of the founding members of the German Film Academy in 2003.