A terrible loss to cultural connections across language lines

Oh, no. What bad news. Ulrich Muehe, one of Germany's greatest actors, has died of cancer. Desson Thomas just posted this at the WaPo:

"I'd like to take a moment to salute Ulrich Muehe, the photogenic, doe-eyed star of "The Lives of Others," who played the Stasi officer. What a performance that was. And what a terrible loss to quality movies in general, and cultural connections across language lines for moviegoers, that he has passed."

Absolutely. His performance was riveting in the best sense, understated and immediately accessible and just flat out brilliant. It is a loss, indeed.