Walter Sittler


Walter Sittler is an American-German actor, producer, and writer.

Early life

Sittler was born on December 5, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. His father Edward Vieth Sittler had been born a United States citizen, but shortly after Germany's September 1, 1939, invasion of Poland had applied for naturalisation as a German citizen, renouncing his United States Citizenship, and had worked for the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, including as an English language commentator broadcasting propaganda intended to weaken the morale of allied personnel during the Second World War. His father had an unsuccessful marriage in the United States before emigrating to Germany, and on September 27, 1940, had remarried to Walter Sittler's mother, Lily Margaret, who had been born in England in 1918 and held British and German citizenship. Sittler's paternal uncle, Charles Vieth Sittler, employed by the University of Chicago in 1960, had also broadcast for the Nazis.
Although he had not renounced his United States citizenship Charles Vieth Sittler was neither charged with treason nor stripped of his citizenship. Edward Vieth Sittler and Charles Vieth Sittler had been returned separately to the United States by the United States Government after the Second World War as witnesses for the prosecution in the treason trials of other Americans who had worked for the Nazi German government. Edward Vieth Sittler, employed as a university professor, remained in the United States despite his lack of citizenship until deported in 1954. Walter Sittler possesses United States Citizenship on the basis of his own birth in the United States before the deportation. His father later returned to the US and attempted to regain his United States Citizenship, which was rejected by the Courts on April 12, 1963, following which he returned to West Germany, where he died in 1975.

Professional life

Walter Sittler was an acting student at the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in Munich, and debuted on the stage in 1981 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. He went on to act also on television, including playing Dr. Robert Schmidt in the German television show Nikola, and in films such as EuroTrip.

Activism

Sittler has spoken out against the Stuttgart 21 railway and urban development project, and against populist politics, saying in a 2016 interview:
In the 2016 United States presidential election he voted for Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump.

Family

Sittler married to director and writer Sigrid Klausmann on May 29, 1985. They have three children, including actress Jennifer Sittler, Benedikt Sittler, and Lea-Marie Sittler.

Filmography

Source:

Actor



Producer

  • 2007: Fliegen wirst du noch!
  • 2009: Lisette und ihre Kinder
  • 2010: Thomas Hitzlsperger und die Township Kinder
  • 2017: ''Nicht ohne uns!''

Voice