Gabriela Maria Schmeide was born in Bautzen on July 10 1965. Being denied a place in med school in the German Democratic Republic because of her father's defection to the West, she turns to theatre and music. From 1984 on, Schmeide is taking acting and violin lessons, later landing a spot in the renowned Ernst Busch School of Acting in Berlin. Graduating in 1991, she joined the Berliner Ensemble and already in her first year was named talent of the year by the magazine "Theater heute". In 1994, she received an award by the Berlin Academy of the Arts and became an ensemble member in the state theatre of Bremen, where she stayed till 2009. Since then, she is an ensemble member of the famous Thalia theatre in Hamburg.

In 2000, Gabriela Maria Schmeide made her TV debut as a supporting actress in the drama "Liebe mich!". The same year, she got rave reviews for her moving portrayal of a policewoman in Andreas Dresen's "Die Polizistin" ("The Policewoman"), which brought her a Grimme award and a nomination for the German Television Award. Her screen debut in Dresen's multi-award winning "Halbe Treppe" ("Grill Point", 2002) was also a tremendous success, garnering her and co-stars Axel Prahl and Thorsten Merten acting awards at the Chicago Film Festival. Despite these accolades, Schmeide remained a dedicated and celebrated stage actress, therefore appearing mostly in supporting roles when it comes to TV and cinema.

Her memorable performances include Kai Wessel's "Leben wäre schön" (TV, 2003) co-starring Dagmar Manzel, Lars Jessen's satire "Am Tag als Bobby Ewing starb" ("The Day Bobby Ewing Died", 2005), Marco Mittelstaedt's "Elbe" (2006), the period piece "Die Flucht" (2007) and the childrens" film "Stella und der Stern des Orients" ("Stella and the Star of the Orient", 2008), in which she played the mother of the young protagonist. Following smaller roles in Michael Haneke's international arthouse success "Das weisse Band" ("The White Ribbon", 2009) and Jo Baier's "Henri IV" ("Henry of Navarre", 2010), Gabriela Maria Schmeide starred in Doris Dörrie's comedy "Die Friseuse" ("The Hairdresser") as the titular hairdresser, who challenges an arrogant salon owner. Despite the film's success and the positive reviews she got for her performance, Schmeide had rather few TV and screen appearances during the following years. She played a crime novelist who disappears without a trace in the screen adaptation of Daniel Kehlmann's bestseller "Ruhm" ("Glory: A Tale of Mistaken Identities", 2011) and had a supporting role in Bernd Böhlich's tragicomedy "Bis zum Horizont, dann links!" ("Fly Away"). On TV, she was seen as the queen's cook in the fairy tale "Allerleirauh" (2012).

Meanwhile, she enjoyed a very successful stage career: In 2013, Schmeide was awarded the Rolf-Mares-Preis for her performance in the play "Don Giovanni. Letzte Party". In 2014, Gabriela Maria Schmeide returned to cinemas as the female lead in Sönke Wortmann's comedy "Frau Müller muss weg" ("Ms. Mueller Must Go").