Actor Bruno Ganz, who played Hitler, dies at age 77.

247, with Reuters - Bruno Ganz, the Swiss actor who played Adolf Hitler in the Oscar-nominated film "Downfall," died of cancer at his home in Zurich on Saturday at the age of 77, his agent said.

Ganz was active in German-language theatre, film and television for over 50 years and won the Iffland-Ring, the most important award for German-language actors.

"One of the most important actors of our time, his brilliant work remains. We mourn with the family and friends of Bruno Ganz," said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in a tweet.

The son of a Swiss mechanic father and an Italian mother, Ganz grew up in Zurich and decided to become an actor after a lighting technician allowed him into a local theater.

It wasn't an easy path, with his family opposing his career choice. As a teenager, Ganz dropped out of school to attend night acting classes in Zurich, where he also worked as a bookseller and trained as a paramedic.

In the early 1960s, Ganz left Switzerland to work in theatre in Germany and, from the 1970s onwards, performed at the Schaubuehne theatre in Berlin.

He earned praise for his performances, including in film, where he worked with renowned German directors such as Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, and Volker Schlöndorff.

One of his most famous roles came when he played Hitler in the 2004 film "Downfall," which dramatized the Nazi dictator's final days in the Berlin bunker, one of Germany's first attempts to portray the Führer on film.

Ganz portrayed Hitler as a delusional madman, but also as a father figure suffering from Parkinson's disease. His delusions continued to appear in many internet parodies.

Immersing himself in the role of Hitler affected the actor, who later admitted to being haunted by his portrayal for a long time.

"I tend to identify with my roles in such a way that I seem to be totally convinced about certain statements that, in real life, I would never believe," said Ganz.

He also continued to work on stage, playing classic roles such as "Faust" and "Hamlet," as well as appearing in films like "The Reader," "The Manchurian Candidate," and "The Tree of Life."

But he narrowly missed out on a few roles, including the lead opposite Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman," which went to Richard Gere. He was also rejected by Steven Spielberg for the lead role in the Oscar-winning "Schindler's List."

Extremely private, he avoided Hollywood. He married once, separated from his wife with whom he had a son, and lived in Zurich, Berlin, and Venice.