With his strong-sounding name, distinguished good looks, and immense talent, it’s no surprise Armin Mueller-Stahl enjoyed an acting career that spanned some 70 years. Before the German thespian retired in 2015, the Berlin International Film Festival presented him with the Silver Bear Award in 1992 and an Honorary Golden Bear in 2011. He also charmed the iron snake in Mr. Man’s pants in 2001! Over the decades, Armin lent his commanding presence to movies (Angels & Demons, Angry Harvest, Spider’s Web) and TV (Amerika, The West Wing, Wolf Among Wolves). He’s worked with film auteurs including Rainer Werner Fassbinder on Lola (1981) and Veronika Voss (1982); Barry Levinson on Avalon (1990) with Aidan Quinn; Jim Jarmusch on Night on Earth (1991) with Winona Ryder; Steven Soderbergh on Kafka (1991) with Jeremy Irons; David Cronenberg on Eastern Promises (2007) with Viggo Mortensen; Terrence Malick on Knight of Cups (2015) with Christian Bale; and Scott Hicks on Shine (1996) for which he nabbed an Oscar nomination! If that’s not impressive enough, the overachiever wrote, directed and starred in Conversation with the Beast (1996). But what’s frustrating about Armin is that out of his 100+ roles, he’s only been nude in one. Thanks to the track and field drama The Long Run (2001), we finally got to see all of Mr. Mueller-Stahl! During a man-filled shower scene, the stately stud scrubs his naked chest, ass, and penis! It took a long time to see Armin’s bare body but The Long Run was worth the wait!
