Jan Josef Liefers

Jan Josef Liefers (born 8 August 1964), is a German actor, producer, director and musician.

Liefers was born in Dresden, the son of director Karlheinz Liefers and actress Brigitte Liefers-Wähner.

After his apprenticeship he studied at the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch in Berlin.

From 1987 until 1990 he acted at the Deutsches Theater Berlin; after this he moved to the Thalia Theater in Hamburg.

His first role in cinema was Alexander von Humboldt in the East German film Die Besteigung des Chimborazo.

Following that, Liefers appeared in some minor film roles; however, in 1996 he achieved his breakthrough with the Helmut Dietl film .

He received the Bayerischer Filmpreis for his role (Bodo Kriegnitz).

As a result of this success, he was awarded roles in several German films.

He has been playing a pathologist in the famous serial Tatort since 2002.

Liefers married actress and singer Anna Loos in 2004.

Previously he had been married to Alexandra Tabakova, a Russian actress.

In the German television series Tatort, Liefers plays Professor Dr. Karl Friedrich Boerne, the director of the "Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensics" at the University of Münster.

The witty scientist loves his job and enjoys life to the fullest, often without considering the feelings of others.

Karl-Friedrich Boerne loves the good things in life, plays golf, fences and is fond of classical music, especially if it's loud.

But what he loves most are his luxury cars (Jaguar, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, etc.), which he drives without worrying too much about wrecking them, and the sound of his own voice.

Boerne's irony and intellect make him seem cynical and arrogant at times, but still it's evident that there's a good heart beating inside him.

His wife left him and ever since Boerne lives alone in his big city apartment.

The much smaller neighbouring apartment he let to inspector Frank Thiel.

But not only at home the idiosyncratic, quirky forensic physician and the quiet, down-to-earth police officer share a close partnership.

Liefers is a keen motorcyclist and in 2007 started on a trip of a lifetime from Quito (Ecuador) to Patagonia in South America.

Unfortunately, his trip came to a premature end when he was injured avoiding a collision with a young child who ran out in front of his motorbike.

In 2008 a film of the trip called "70° West – Entscheidung in Peru" (Decision in Peru) was shown on German TV channel DMAX.

In April 2021, Liefers was a leading figure of a group of German actors criticizing the coronavirus policies in Germany, with the campaign #Allesdichtmachen (“shut everything down”).

The campaign was heavily criticized.