Katrin Schaake, born in 1945, is a German actress, known primarily for her work in the New German Cinema and her intense collaboration with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Between 1969 and 1970, she was a central figure in the director's early films, playing significant roles in works such as *Love Is Colder Than Death*, *Katzelmacher*, *Gods of the Plague*, and *The American Soldier*. Her acting, characterized by an understated and controlled style, perfectly embodied the anti-theatrical aesthetic of early Fassbinder. For their ensemble performance in *Katzelmacher*, the entire cast was awarded the Filmband in Gold at the 1970 German Film Awards, Germany's most important film award. After the end of her professional partnership and brief marriage to the director, Schaake continued to work in television and cinema with other directors, although her fame remains inextricably linked to the Fassbinder period that established her as one of the emblematic faces of that cinematic era.