Klaus Maria Brandauer
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Klaus Maria Brandauer (born June 22, 1944) is an Austrian actor and director.
Born Klaus Georg Steng in Bad Aussee, Austria, he subsequently took his mother's maiden name, Maria Brandauer, as his stage name.
Brandauer began acting onstage in 1962. After working in national theatre and television, he made his film debut in 1972, with his starring and award-winning role in Istvan Szabo's Mephisto (1981) launching his international career. He followed this with parts in Never Say Never Again (1983), Out of Africa (1985, for which he was nominated for an Oscar) and Szabo's Oberst Redl (1985) and Hanussen (1988).
He directed his first film in 1989, Georg Elser - Einer aus Deutschland, with himself in the title role. His other film roles have been in The Lightship (1986), Streets of Gold (1986), Burning Secret (1988), The Russia House (1990), White Fang (1991), Becoming Colette (1992), Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999) and Everyman's Feast (2002).
He was married to Karin Brandauer from 1963 until her death in 1992. They had one son.
He has acted in four languages: German, Hungarian, English and French.
In August, 2006, Brandauer's much-awaited production of "The Threepenny Opera" got a mixed reception, with cheers for German rock star Campino of the band Die Toten Hosen as Mack the Knife, but scattered boos for the "conventional" staging. Brandauer had resisted questions about how his production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's classic musical comedy about the criminal MacHeath would differ from earlier versions, and his production featured Mack the Knife in a three-piece suit and white gloves, stuck to Brecht's text, and avoided any references to contemporary politics or issues. Some at Friday night's premiere apparently found it too conventional and there were boos after the curtain for Brandauer when he took his bow.
[edit] Trivia
- Was originally cast as Marko Ramius in The Hunt for Red October. That role eventually went to Oscar winner Sean Connery, who played James Bond to Brandauer's Largo in Never Say Never Again (1983). He co-starred with Connery again in The Russia House, released in 1990.
- Won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in 1986 for his performance as Bror Blixen in "Out of Africa".
