Bruno Ganz, renowned for his role as Hitler in the cult classic Downfall, has died aged 77.
The Swiss actor was diagnosed with colon cancer last year and died at his home in Zurich on Friday (local time), his management confirmed.
Though Mr Ganz was a prominent figure in German-language film and television for over 50 years, he also starred in English-language movies, including The Reader and The Manchurian Candidate.
But it was his portrayal of Adolf Hitler in the Academy Award-nominated film Downfall that gained him international acclaim.
The historical war drama, which told the story of Hitler's final days, went on to spawn thousands of angry-führer internet memes and online parodies.
Though not without controversy — with critics arguing it portrayed the human side of Hitler — the film grossed over $US92 million ($128 million) and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards.
Mr Ganz was the recipient of a Donatello Award, Italy's Oscar equivalent, for his role in the Italian-Swiss comic drama Bread and Tulips, and in 2010 was awarded a European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award.
However, his greatest honour was the Iffland-Ring, a bequest from his predecessor Josef Meinrad in 1996, which is given to the "most significant and most worthy actor of the German-speaking theatre".
He was just the fifth actor to have held it since the 1870s.
