Jan Niklas

Jan Niklas (born 15 October 1947) is a German film and television actor. He is best known for appearing in TV films such as Peter The Great, Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna and Anne Frank: The Whole Story. He won a Golden Globe Award for his appearance in the TV miniseries Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. He also played in the Hungarian film Colonel Redl which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Early life Jan Niklas was born on 15 October 1947 in Pottenstein, near Nuremberg, Germany. After attending boarding school in Britain, he took acting classes in London, then he completed three years of acting classes at the Max Reinhardt Academy in Berlin. Career Niklas made his first television appearance on an episode of the German TV series Sonderdezernat K1 as Juniorchef. After playing in a couple of TV films and miniseries he slowly gained popularity. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he was cast in supporting role in István Szabó's war film Oberst Redl. In 1986 he was cast to portray a young Peter the Great in the miniseries Peter the Great. A lot of newspapers and magazines stated that it was Niklas' performance that made the miniseries so believable, and the Miami Herald stated: "It’s Niklas’ vigorously effective portrayal of the younger Peter that hooks a viewer into caring about this legendary figure. Due to his energetic performance the first two parts of “Peter the Great” are the most absorbing". TV Guide stated that Niklas was the Discovery of the year in 1986.