Biography (en)

Rudolf Martin was born on July 31st, 1967 in Berlin Schlachtensee, where his mother worked at a pharmacy. His father finished his study before he started working as a Journalist for television. After the divorce of his parents – 2 years after Rudolf’s birth – his mother re-educated as a grammar school teacher and raised Christine and Rudolf on her own. His sister Christine made a mean attempt of assassination on his life, when he was only at the age of two, but soon realised the lacking prospect of success for her intentions and saved her brothers life from drowning in the garden pond shortly after. Now Rudolf had to expertly stand up to a household of 2 women, which gained him an early sensitiveness for delicate situations. He was interested in Football and later in music, literature and theater. A stay in England with a language institute fueled his interest in the english language.

After his Abitur (German diploma from secondary school; qualification for university admisson or matriculation) in Berlin, Rudolf went out in the big wide world in 1986. Until 1990 he lived mostly in Paris, learned the french language, broke off 2 courses of study (English and dramatics) and started studying at the famous Lee Strasberg Institute in New York in 1990. In 1993 he got a 2-years contract for a TV series, followed by a year of theater acting. In 1998 Rudolf jumped his car and drove to Los Angeles, where he still shares his headquarter with his dog “Comet” (a black Chihuahua) and is often seen in the movies and on television as successful actor.

While performing in New York small theater productions, Martin secured a starring role in Susan Seidelman’s Academy Award nominated short film “The Dutch Master.” Leading roles on ABC’s “All My Children” and Off-Broadway in Nicky Silver’s critically acclaimed hit comedy “The Food Chain” soon followed. While in New York, Martin received recognition for his work in independent films such as “Fall,””High Art,”(Sundance 1998) and “When.”

Increasingly in demand, the engaging young actor then moved to Hollywood and has since appeared in the 20th Century Fox’s comedy “Bedazzled” directed by Harold Ramis, Patrik Ian Polk’s edgy comedy “Punks” (Edmonds Entertainment) that was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as well as in the independent feature “The Scoundrel’s Wife,” starring Tatum O’Neal, Tim Curry and Julian Sands.

After arriving in Los Angeles in 1999, Rudolf Martin first received a lot of attention after appearing in the Warner Brothers thriller “Swordfish”. In the film Rudolf plays Axl Torvalds, an internationally renowned computer hacker. Based on his performance in “Swordfish”, Martin was offered a role in the German thriller “Lautlos”, produced by Tom Tykwer (“Run, Lola, Run”) and directed by Mennan Yapo.

Before “Swordfish” Rudolf Martin was primarily known for his role in the original Showtime series “Beggars & Choosers”, an inside look at the television networks. Martin played “Nikolai Krasnakov”, the charming but dangerous Russian mobster whose life was to be developed into a mini-series by the fictional network. “Krasnakov” was such a hit that Martin ended up working the entire two seasons. The L.A.Times called “Beggars & Choosers” one of the five best shows on television.

In an altogether different role, Martin received critical acclaim for his unique portrayal of the title character Vlad Dracula in the USA film “Dark Prince [The True Story of Dracula].” The film was shot in 2000 on authentic locations in Romania and tells the story of Vlad The Impaler (1431-1476) who later became the model for the fictional vampire. Based on this performance Martin then guest-starred as Dracula (yes, this time the vampire) on the last season premiere of WB’s “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” (“Buffy vs Dracula”) alongside his previous “All My Children” co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar. Rudolf Martin proceeded to guest-star in five episodes of the Fox thriller “24” (starring Kiefer Sutherland), in which he played two different characters, one of them impersonating the other.

He has also guest starred in other television dramas, notably “Judging Amy” (CBS), “Crossing Jordan” (NBC) and in “CSI-Crime Scene Investigations” (CBS) as a serial killer motivated by Shakespearean sonnets, as well as a currently ongoing guest lead as “Ari Haswari”, the antagonist to Mark Harmon on the hit show “NCIS” (CBS).

Rudolf Martin’s main focus remains on working in film, as a European actor he continues to search out European productions as well. He has his second lead performance in the film:
“Bloodlines”, (a US-Czech-Slovak co-production, directed by Oleg Harencar)

Already finished in the meantime are the independent feature films “River’s End”, shot on location in Texas and directed by Bill Katt, starring Charles Durning and Barry Corbin and “Hoboken Hollow” with C. Thomas Howell, Dennis Hopper and Michael Madsen as wee as another German feature, “Paparazzo” shooting in France and Spain and the Short Film “Two Nights”. Also finished is the filming for “Anomie”, “Hyenas” and “Sunrise”. In the CBS TV Show “Moonlight”, premiere Fall 2007, he plays the guest star role “Professor Christian Ellis”. In the meantime the movies – “Pig” and “Raven” are ready as well. “Pig” is successful in the USA and Europe on several film festivals on tour, with a lot of Awards.

Two German TV Productions with Rudolf are the movies “Heiße Spur – Cry no more” (locations are in Chile) – German TV Channel “ZDF” – “Die Jagd nach der heiligen Lanze” (shooting took place in Germany) – German TV Channel “RTL” and the horrormovie “Béla Kiss” (location here is the Blackforest, Germany), which premiered in German movie theaters in January 2013.

Rudolf currently resides in Berlin, Germany with his spouse Katherine LaPlant, their daughter Eloise  son Arthur.