# Dieter Laser
**Dieter Laser** (Klaus Dieter Laser; 17 February 1942 – 29 February 2020) was a German stage, film, and television actor who won the German Film Award in Gold in 1975 for the title role of *John Glückstadt* and became internationally known late in his career as the surgeon Dr. Josef Heiter in [Tom Six](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-six)'s horror film *The Human Centipede (First Sequence)* (2009).[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 1942, Kiel; 29 February 2020, Berlin, aged 78[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) |
| Signature award | German Film Award in Gold (Filmband in Gold), 1975, Best Actor, for *John Glückstadt*[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) |
| Breakout year | 1975: *John Glückstadt*, the reporter Tötges in *The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum*, and Wolfgang Petersen's *Tatort* episode "Kurzschluss"[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78) |
| Horror landmark | Dr. Josef Heiter in *The Human Centipede (First Sequence)* (2009); Best Actor at Austin Fantastic Fest[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/) |
| Other genre roles | Mantrid in the sci-fi series *[Lexx](https://www.edgepedia.org/lexx)*; Prof. Otto Blaettchen in *The Ogre* (1996); Bill Boss in *The Human Centipede III* (2015)[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78) |
| Output | About 65 films, plus stage work in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxembourg[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/) |
| Final role | The Baron in the Estonian fantasy drama *November* (2017)[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) |
## Early life
Laser was born in Kiel and grew up in Hamburg. His family belonged to a strict Christian sect in which the [Luther Bible](https://www.edgepedia.org/luther-bible) was the only permitted reading, and his mother removed him from the Gymnasium shortly before his final examinations on the grounds that study endangered his faith; he then left home.[4](https://www.munzinger.de/register/portrait/biographien/laser%20dieter/00/28351) As a teenager he went to the stage door of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, at the time among Germany's most famous theaters, and asked the doorman how to become an actor.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/)
He took acting lessons while working as an extra at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus and as a night hotel doorman, and he abandoned the formal training after a year despite passing the state intermediate examination.[4](https://www.munzinger.de/register/portrait/biographien/laser%20dieter/00/28351) According to filmportal.de's biography, he secretly attended rehearsals at the Schauspielhaus, where the director [Gustaf Gründgens](https://www.edgepedia.org/gustaf-grundgens) discovered him in 1961; Gründgens initially intended to expel him from the theater but was persuaded to engage him instead, first for small roles.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc)
## Stage career
In 1967 the director Peter Stein brought Laser to the Münchner Kammerspiele, where he quickly made a name for himself, and in 1970 Laser followed Stein to the Berliner Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer, serving on its directorate from 1971 to 1973.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) From 1974 he worked as a freelance actor, appearing at venues including the Württembergisches Staatstheater in [Stuttgart](https://www.edgepedia.org/stuttgart), the Freie Volksbühne Berlin, the Schiller-Theater Berlin, the Wiener Burgtheater, and the Salzburg Festival.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) His stage parts included [Don Juan](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-juan), Valmont, Peer Gynt, Macbeth, and [Captain Ahab](https://www.edgepedia.org/captain-ahab).[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/)
## German film and television
Laser's screen debut came in 1968 in a television adaptation of Peter Stein's celebrated production of [Bertolt Brecht](https://www.edgepedia.org/bertolt-brecht)'s *In the Jungle of Cities*.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78) A long series of film and television work began with Reinhard Hauff's TV film *Desaster* (1973).[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc)
**1975 made him widely known in Germany.** He won the German Film Award in Gold for Best Actor for playing a stigmatized former convict in Ulf Miehe's Theodor Storm adaptation *John Glückstadt*, his first leading cinema role.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) • [4](https://www.munzinger.de/register/portrait/biographien/laser%20dieter/00/28351) The same year he played the unscrupulous tabloid reporter Werner Tötges in Volker Schlöndorff and [Margarethe von Trotta](https://www.edgepedia.org/margarethe-von-trotta)'s film of [Heinrich Böll](https://www.edgepedia.org/heinrich-boll)'s *The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum*, a key work of the West German new wave of the 1970s.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78) He also appeared in [Wolfgang Petersen](https://www.edgepedia.org/wolfgang-petersen)'s *Tatort* episode "Kurzschluss" as the small-time criminal Piet Kallweit.[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc)
Later work included Hans W. Geißendörfer's *The Glass Cell* (1978), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Bernhard Sinkel's multi-part *Väter und Söhne* (1986), Peter Sehr's *Kaspar Hauser* (1993), and Schlöndorff's *The Ogre* (1996), in which he played the "race researcher" Professor Blaettchen opposite [John Malkovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-malkovich).[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) In the [English-speaking world](https://www.edgepedia.org/english-speaking-world) he became known as the evil scientist Mantrid in the late-1990s science-fiction series *Lexx*.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78) Across his career he co-starred with actors including [Burt Lancaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-lancaster), Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Glenn Close, and John Malkovich.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/)
## The Human Centipede and late career
Laser's international prominence came from Tom Six's Dutch horror film *The Human Centipede (First Sequence)* (2009), in which he played the deranged surgeon Dr. Josef Heiter, who stitches three captive tourists together mouth-to-anus.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78) He won Best Actor at the Austin Fantastic Fest for the role and received the 2010 Fright Meter Award for Best Actor, along with a 2010 Scream Award nomination for Best Villain.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/awards/) In an interview, Laser said he had modeled the character on the Nazi physician [Josef Mengele](https://www.edgepedia.org/josef-mengele).[6](https://www.yearsofterror.eu/2018/03/interview-mit-dieter-laser/) The film's graphic content gave it cult status, and it became widely referenced in popular culture.[7](https://news.sky.com/story/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78-11971565)
He returned for *The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence)* (2015) as the sadistic prison warden Bill Boss, who orders the inmates to be sewn together.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78)
His last film role was as the Baron in Rainer Sarnet's black-and-white Estonian fantasy drama *November* (2017).[1](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc) • [8](https://www.filmstarts.de/nachrichten/18530491.html)
## Death
Laser died on 29 February 2020 in Berlin, a few weeks after his 78th birthday; the death was announced weeks later in a post on his official Facebook page, and his wife, Inge, confirmed the news. No cause of death was given.[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78) • [9](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/dieter-laser-human-centipede-actor-dies-at-78) Tom Six paid tribute on social media, writing that Laser "was a force of nature, an unique human being and an iconic actor. I'm so damn proud we created pop culture together."[3](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78)
## References
1. [Dieter Laser, filmportal.de](https://www.filmportal.de/person/dieter-laser_f3103ed74acf45b28a52061a5e2cd6cc)
2. [Dieter Laser, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/)
3. [Human Centipede star Dieter Laser dies aged 78, The Guardian (10 April 2020)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/apr/10/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78)
4. [Dieter Laser, Munzinger Biographie](https://www.munzinger.de/register/portrait/biographien/laser%20dieter/00/28351)
5. [Dieter Laser – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0489504/awards/)
6. [Interview mit Dieter Laser, 100 Years of Terror (2018)](https://www.yearsofterror.eu/2018/03/interview-mit-dieter-laser/)
7. [Human Centipede star Dieter Laser dies aged 78, Sky News (10 April 2020)](https://news.sky.com/story/human-centipede-star-dieter-laser-dies-aged-78-11971565)
8. [Schauspieler Dieter Laser ist tot, FILMSTARTS.de (10 April 2020)](https://www.filmstarts.de/nachrichten/18530491.html)
9. [Dieter Laser, Human Centipede actor, dies at 78, SYFY WIRE (9 April 2020)](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/dieter-laser-human-centipede-actor-dies-at-78)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › German actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license