Richard Sammel  Richard Sammel (born 13 October 1960) is a German actor. He is best known for his role as Thomas Eichhorst on the FX television series "The Strain" (2014–2017). He has appeared in more than 100 films and television series since 1991. Sammel speaks five languages: German (native speaker), English (fluent), French (fluent), Italian (fluent) and Spanish (fairly fluent). The actor currently resides in Paris and Berlin with his girlfriend and his son. He also has two daughters.