Bruhns was a Hamburg-based actor who began on stage before freelancing as an actor and announcer on radio network NWDR in 1949. He was also heard on RB (Radio Bremen), SDR, and others in the 1950s and '60s, including Gilles de Rais in a 1959 version of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. As a dubbing actor, he was the German voice of Mike Connors on Mannix, Michael Hordern in the 1951 A Christmas Carol, Hugh O'Brian in The Life and Adventures of Wyatt Earp and Ten Little Indians, Donald Sinden in Josephine and Men, and various guest stars on Bonanza.