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Anja Kling was born in Potsdam on March 22 1970. The daughter of a stage manager at Babelsberg Film Studios, she was discovered as an actress while still a teenager, appearing in the feature films "Mit Leib und Seele" (DDR 1987) and "Danke für die Blumen" (DDR 1988), as well as the TV series "Polizeiruf 110" (DDR 1988). She played her first leading role in Herrmann Zschoche's romantic drama "Grüne Hochzeit" (DDR 1989). In 1989, Kling was the host of the popular TV show "Elf 99", before she fled to West Germany together with her sister, actress and talent agent Gerit Kling, shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
She gained popularity with her role in the miniseries "Hagedorns Tochter" (1994, TV) and apart from starring in Peter F. Bringmann's science-fiction comedy "Die Sturzflieger" ("Heaven or Bust", 1995), she focused on her television career. She starred in numerous TV productions, including a memorable leading role in the acclaimed German-Italian miniseries "Allein gegen die Mafia".
Kling went on to play major parts in prolific made-for-TV films like "Das Hochzeitsgeschenk" (1998), "Das Herz des Priesters" (2000), "Irren ist sexy" (2004, TV) and "Allein gegen die Angst" (2006). From 2000 on, she also frequently starred in theatrical releases, such as "Das fliegende Klassenzimmer ("The Flying Classroom", 2002), "(T)Raumschiff Surprise - Periode 1" ("Dreamship Surprise – Period 1", 2004), "Es ist ein Elch entsprungen" ("A Christmoose Carol", 2005) and "Wo ist Fred!?" ("Where is Fred?", 2006). She garnered rave reviews and a Bavarian Television Award for her portrayal of an East-German woman caught while trying to escape to the West in the two-part TV movie "Wir sind das Volk - Liebe kennt keine Grenzen" (2008, TV). She later won another Bavarian Television Award for her lead performance in the thriller "Hannah Mangold & Lucy Palm" (2011, TV). Other feature film releases starring Kling are "Männersache" (2009), "Hexe Lilli: Der Drache und das magische Buch" ("Lilly the Witch - The Dragon and The Magic Book", 2009) and the sequel "Hexe Lilli: Die Reise nach Mandolan" ("Lilly the Witch 2 – The Journey to Mandolan", 2011), and the "Hanni & Nanni" films.
After major parts in "Das Adlon. Eine Familiensaga" (2012, TV), "Kein Entkommen" (2014, TV) and "Chuzpe - Klops braucht der Mensch!" (2015, TV), Anja Kling played a school principal who is magically shrunken to bit size and has to team up with a rebellious boy in the theatrical release "Hilfe, ich hab meine Lehrerin geschrumpft" ("Help, I Shrunk My Teacher", 2015).