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Samuel Finzi

Bulgarian-German actor

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
9 min read
Source updated June 23, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Samuel Finzi (Bulgarian: Самуел Финци) is a Bulgarian-German actor. Since the late 1980s, he has hundreds of film, television, and theatrical credits. He played the title role in the crime series Flemming (2009-2012), and plays a prominent role as a Russian agent in the 2026 Netflix German spy drama series Unfamiliar.

01Early life and education

Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Samuel Finzi is the son of actor Itzhak Fintzi. He is of Bulgarian-Jewish descent.

Finzi performed in his first theatre and film roles while still a student.

02Career

Finzi has hundreds of film, television, and stage credits from the late 1980s onwards. He moved to Germany in 1989, and soon came into contact with directors who have had a major influence on European theatre and film. He has worked in the theatre with directors such as Benno Besson, Dimiter Gotscheff, Frank Castorf, Jürgen Gosch, and Robert Wilson. In film, his collaborations with Michael Glawogger, Oliver Hirschbiegel, Peter Popzlatev, Sönke Wortmann, and Til Schweiger have extended his popularity to a wider audience. He also played the title role in the crime series Flemming.

Finzi has performed in many film and television productions, including Kokowääh, In Between Days, Même Dieu est venu nous voir ("Even God Came to See Us"), and Vaterspiele ("Father Games").

In 2013 he starred alongside his son, Ezra Finzi, in the movie Aschenbrödel und der gestiefelte Kater.

In 2014, he played six leading roles at the Deutsches Theater, the Maxim Gorki Theater, and the Volksbühne, in Berlin, and at the Schauspielhaus in Leipzig.

In March 2023, he acted in a stage adaptation of A Horse Walked Into a Bar, a 2014 novel by David Grossman. The play toured to the National Theatre in Sofia.

Finzi plays a Russian agent in the 2026 Netflix German spy drama series Unfamiliar.

03Awards

Finzi has received several awards for his acting, including the Berlin Theatre Prize in 2011. Between 1993 and 2011, he received ten acting awards.

These include:

  • 1993: Critics' Prize for Best New Actor in Nordrhein-Westfalen for The Seagull
  • 1994: 13th Theater Festival NRW: Prize for Best New Actor for The Seagull
  • 1995: Critics’ Prize: Best Actor of the Year in Nordrhein-Westfalen for The Cherry Orchard and Swan Songs
  • 1996: Advancement Award for Dramatic Arts of the city of Düsseldorf for Ein Monat in Dachau (A Month in Dachau)
  • 2001: Golden Chest, Best Male Performer, International Television Festival Plovdiv, Bulgaria for Devil’s Tail
  • 2009: Best Actor at the Mess Theater Festival Sarayevo for Ivanov
  • 2010: Best Actor at the MOT Theater Festival Skopje for Diary of a Madman
  • 2011: Best Actor at the Skena Up Theater Festival Pristina for Diary of a Madman
  • 2011: German Comedy Prize in the category Film Comedy for Kokowääh
  • 2011: Theater Prize Berlin 2011, Prussian Maritime Trading Foundation, for his entire work in the theater

04Personal life

Finzi was married to Dimitra Petrou for 14 years before she was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2004, and died within 20 hours, aged 39.

He has two children with French casting director Sorrel Jardine.

05Selected filmography

Film

TV

06Theatrography (selection)

Watch videos about Samuel FinziExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Samuel Finzi”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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