Rosel Zech, born on July 7, 1940 in Berlin to a bargeman and a seamstress, grew up in Hoya on the Weser. After secondary school she attended the acting school Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Berlin, but left it early. She appeared on stage in 1962 in Landshut at the Südostbayerische Städtetheater, followed by engagements in Switzerland at the Städtebundtheater in Biel/Solothurn and at the Sommertheater in Winterthur. Further stations of her theater career were among others the Schauspielhaus in Wuppertal, the Württembergische Landestheater in Stuttgart, the Schauspielhaus Bochum, the Deutsche Schauspielhaus Hamburg, the Freie Volksbühne Berlin and the Bayerische Staatsschauspiel. In 1977 she was voted actress of the year by the industry magazine "Theater heute" for her portrayal of the title role of "Hedda Gabler".

After her television debut in the Sean O'Casey adaptation "Der Pott" (1970), directed by Peter Zadek, she first appeared on the big screen in a small supporting role in Ulli Lommel's "Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe" ("Tenderness of the Wolves", 1973), produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, under whose direction she later became famous. Before that she appeared in a number of literary adaptations for television such as "Kleiner Mann - was nun?" and "Die Möwe". In 1977 she became known to a wider television audience through her role as the mother of one of the "Großstadtkrokodile" in the immensely successful TV film of the same name. In 1979 she played a key supporting role in Peter Fleischmann's epidemic thriller "Die Hamburger Krankheit" ("The Hamburg Syndrome").

In 1981 Rosel Zech played for the first time under the direction of Fassbinder. In "Lola" he cast her as the wife of Mario Adorf's character. The following year she appeared in her most important leading role, which made her famous: In "Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss" ("Veronika Voss") she played the title character, an actress addicted to morphine who slowly perishes - based on the fate of Ufa star Sybille Schmitz. The film was awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlinale.

After further television works such as the two-parter "Die Geschwister Oppermann" ("Oppermann Family", 1982) by Egon Monk, "Mascha" (1983) by Hans-Eberhard Quelle, for which she was awarded the German Actor's Prize, "Ein fliehendes Pferd" (1984) by Peter Beauvais and appearances in series such as "Die Knapp-Familie" (1981-83), Zech appeared in the cinema in the two Alexander Kluge films "Der Angriff der Gegenwart auf die übrige Zeit" ("The Assault of the Present on the Rest of Time", 1985) and "Vermischte Nachrichten" ("Miscellaneous News", 1986). Under the direction of Percy Adlon, she acted alongside K. D. Lang in "Salmonberries" in 1991, which made her internationally known and for which she received the Bavarian Film Prize for Best Actress. Further appearances on the big screen in later years included Max Färberböck's "Aimée & Jaguar" (1998), Dani Levy's "Väter" ("I'm the Father", 2002), Stefan Ruzowitzky's "Anatomie 2" ("Anatomy 2", 2002) and Hendrik Hölzemann's "Kammerflimmern" ("Off Beat", 2004).

Rosel Zech then appeared on television frequently, for example in series such as "Tatort", "Der Alte", "Derrick", "Ein Fall für zwei", "Ärzte" and "Siska" as well as in ambitious television films and multi-part series such as "Hemingway", "Fabrik der Offiziere" ("The Officer Factory") and "Die Bertinis". From 2002 to 2011 she impersonated Mother Superior Elisabeth Reuter in the ARD series "Um Himmels Willen".

Rosel Zech, who played on various stages until the end, died of cancer in Berlin on August 31, 2011.