Swiss actor Bruno Ganz who played Adolf Hitler in the 2004 movie Downfall has died aged 77.

Ganz, who died at his home in Zurich, had a distinguished career on screen and stage before his 2004 appearance in 'Downfall', which unfolds over the final, suffocating days inside Hitler's bunker.

For many critics his nuanced portrayal of the fascist tyrant that veers between explosive and sombre was unparallelled.

It had previously been reported that Ganz had been diagnosed with colon cancer.

Swiss actor Bruno Ganz who played Adolf Hitler in the 2004 movie Downfall has died aged 77

Ganz's depiction of Hitler was hailed by critics, although many German-speaking actors are reluctant to play the part. Ganz said being Swiss acted as a buffer for him

Hitler is a figure that German-speaking actors had historically been reluctant to take on and the Zurich-born Ganz conceded that being Swiss provided a necessary buffer.

'It helped me also that I am not German, because I could put my passport between Hitler and me,' Ganz told The Arts Desk website in 2005.

Downfall spawned thousands of internet memes from a memorable scene in the Fuhrer's bunker where he starts shouting at several generals when he finally realises the war is lost.

Ganz shows Hitler's weakness during his final hours in the critically acclaimed performance

Bruno Ganz (left) and Willem Dafoe (right) in So Close! Faraway - 1993

Bruno Ganz (pictured above) sat at a table in a scene from the 2000 film Bread and Tulips

Bruno Ganz (pictured above) filming The American Friend, directed by Wim Wenders

The film had previously been crowned the winner of the BBC Four World Cinema Award, as well as having been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Since then the film has become most famous for making waves on social media, where users have continuously created parodies and memes of different scenes in the movie.

Despite the film having propelled his fame further, he had starred in a number of other hits.

Ganz first started his theatre career in 1961 where he gained a reputation as an exceptional stage actor. However, his film career started in 1960, where he played 'The Gentlemen' in the Black Derby.

Bruno Ganz (pictured above) during a scene in Circle of Deceit

Bruno Ganz also played Professor Stanciulescu in Youth without Youth

Bruno Ganz (left) and Blair Brown (right) filming Strapless

Bruno Ganz Wings Of Desire / Der Himmel Uber Berlin - 1987, directed by Wim Wenders

In 1979 he then appeared in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre, as well as playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire in 1987 and then its sequel Farawat, So Close! in 1993.

His career spanned various genres and included The American Friend in 1977, as well as science fiction movie The Boys from Brazil in 1978, which also starred Sir Laurence Olivier.

Ganz and the memes his portrayal of Hitler inspired Downfall, called Der Untergang in German, was arguably one of the most famous films Ganz had starred in. It told the story of Hitler's final days in his Berlin bunker. It grossed £71.3m at box offices around the world when it was released. However, what made the film even more notorious was a scene where the fuhrer becomes furious. This then spawned a host of memes which included Hitler discovering there was no toilet paper, to being told his pizza had arrived late. Clips from the movie formed serious fodder for those wanting to poke fun at Hitler and his rant and other memes included showing Hitler becoming upset about topical issues such as Brexit and other gossip soon emerged. Advertisement

In 2018 he starred in The Baader Meinhof Complex, with his last role being in Lars von Trier's The House that Jack Built, in 2018.

One of his biggest achievements was receiving the Iffland-Ring in 1996.

The award is seen as one of the most prestigious for German-speaking actors. Traditionally the bearer of the award would keep the ring until death and passes it on by will to the male actor which he considers the best in German-language theatre.

It is not known at present who and if the award has yet been passed on.

Ganz was born in 1941 and grew up in Zurich. His father was a Swiss factory worker and his mother was Italian.

Earlier today German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas offered his condolences to Ganz's family and friends, via Twitter he said: 'Bruno Ganz is dead. One of the most important actors of our time goes, his brilliant work remains. We mourn with the family and friends of #BrunoGanz.'

After Ganz's most famous film Downfall was released, the actor revealed that he had fully immersed himself into character, to such an extent that it started to affect his off screen personality.

He once told reporters: 'I tend to identify with my roles to such an extent that I appear to be totally convinced about certain statements that, in real life, I would never believe in.'

However, in a 2005 interview with The Guardian, he said he spent four months preparing for the part but highlighted that he could 'never begin to understand Hitler'.

'I cannot claim to understand Hitler. Even the witnesses who had been in the bunker with him were not really able to describe the essence of the man.

'He had no pity, no compassion, no understanding of what the victims of war suffered.'