French film and stage actor André Wilms was born in Strasbourg on April 29, 1947. From 1975 until 1984, he regularly starred in productions at the Théâtre national de Strasbourg, and he went on to perform in numerous prestigious stage productions in France and Germany. He sometimes also worked as a director, for instance he staged Franz Xaver Kroetz' "Der Drang" in Strasbourg in 1999 and "Die Backchen" at the Comédie Française in 2005.

At first only occasionally appearing in films, he had minor roles in Gérard Depardieu's "Le tartuffe" (1984) and Jean-Pierre Denis' "Champ d'honneur" (1987). He gained wider popularity with his turns in Etienne Chatiliez' "La vie est un long fleuve tranquille" (1988) and Patrice Lecontes "Monsieur Hire" (1989). He continued to work with Chatiliez, who also cast him in "Tatie Danielle" (1991), "Tanguy" (2001) and "La confiance règne" (2004).

In 1990, he played the homosexual soldier Robert Kellermann in Agnieszka Holland's WWII drama "Hitlerjunge Salomon". This was followed by starring roles in smaller productions like "Isimeria" (1991) and "La révolte des enfants" (1992).

Wilms' international breakthrough came with his portrayal of the luckless Parisian writer Marcel in Aki Kaurismäki's "La vie de Bohème." His performance garnered Wilms the European Film Award for Best Supporting Actor, and years later he reprised his role for the 2001 stage adaptation at the Schauspiel Frankfurt. Wilms went on to appear in other films by Kaurismäki, including the 1994 comedy "Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses" and the silent black and white drama "Juha" (1999).

In the German production "Scardanelli" (2000), André Wilms played the ailing German poet Friedrich Hölderlin. Supporting roles in "Le temps d'un regard" (2007) and François Ozon's "Ricky" (2009) followed, as did a turn in the psychological thriller "Sans laisser de traces". In 2011, André Wilms again teamed up with Kaurismäki for "Le Havre", and his performance garnered him a Best Actor nomination at the European Film Awards. In Benjamin Heisenberg's 2014 comedy "Über-Ich und Du", Wilms stars as an aging psychologist who teams up with a young con man.

After a supporting role in Marie Noëlle's "Marie Curie", Wilms took on another leading role in the film adaptation "Un juif pour l'exemple" ("A Jew as an Example", Switzerland 2016). There he played Jacques Chessex, the author of the novel, who in his book deals with the murder of a Jew in Switzerland in 1942 and suddenly finds himself confronted with an unexpected smear campaign.

Even after his 70th birthday, Wilms remained very active as an actor. In 2017, for example, he could be seen as the imprisoned husband of the titular character (Charlotte Rampling) in the multi-award-winning "Hannah" (IT/BE/FR). He took on further notable roles in "Wie ich lernte, bei mir selbst Kind zu sein" (AT 2019), Philippe Garrel's "La sel des larmes" (FR/CH 2020), which screened in competition at the Berlinale, as the father of the main character and most recently in the TV film "La bonne conduite" (FR 2021).

André Wilms died in Paris on 9 February 2022 at the age of 74.