Oskar Werner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oskar Werner
Born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer
November 13, 1922 (1922-11-13)
Vienna, Austria
Died October 23, 1984 (aged 61)
Marburg an der Lahn, Germany
Years active 1938 - 1976
Spouse(s) Elisabeth Kallina (1944-1952)
Ann Power (1954-1968)

Oskar Werner (November 13, 1922 – October 23, 1984) was an Austrian actor. Born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer in Vienna, he started off his career as a stage actor for the famous Burgtheater until making his film debut in Der Engel mit der Posaune in 1948.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Stage career

Universally regarded as one of Western Europe's foremost stage actors, Oskar Werner was 18 years old when he made his stage bow at the Burgtheater in his native Vienna. A lifelong pacifist, Werner did everything he could to avoid conscription in the Axis army during World War II; when he finally was forced into a uniform, he deserted at the earliest opportunity.

[edit] Film career

After the war, Werner resumed his theatrical career, only reluctantly making his first film in 1948; "I am married to the theatre, and the films are only my mistress" he would later declare. In 1951, he made his English-language film debut as "Happy," an enigmatic German prisoner of war, in 20th Century-Fox's Decision Before Dawn. When Fox reneged on its promise to develop Werner into a Hollywood star, he went back to his true love, the theatre, vowing to only appear in films that intrigued him. In 1955, he essayed the title role in Mozart, and also played a smaller but no less significant part as the "Student" in Max Ophüls' Lola Montes. Then it was back to the stage, culminating with his formation of Theatre Ensemble Oskar Werner in 1959. One of Werner's most notable screen performances was the romantic intellectual, "Jules", in François Truffaut's Jules et Jim (1962), and he became an international star as a result. His portrayal of the philosophical "Dr. Schumann" in Ship of Fools (1965) truly brought him to the attention of English-speaking movie-goers, and, for his work, the actor received his only Oscar nomination, his first of three Golden Globe nominations, his first of two BAFTA British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations, and was given the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor. As the Jewish East German spy "Fiedler" in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for his second BAFTA. In 1966, he played the book-burning fireman, "Montag", in Truffaut's film version of the cult-classic Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. With Anthony Quinn as the Pope, Werner played a questioning Vatican priest in The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968).

[edit] Later career

In the 1970s and 1980s, Werner returned to the stage — among other things, starring in and directing "Hamlet" with his Theater Ensemble at the Salzburg Festival. During the 1970s he also spent much time traveling internationally. In an uncharacteristic television appearance, Werner played the murderer opposite Peter Falk in an episode of Columbo, Playback (1975), prior to his Golden Globe nominated final film appearance in Voyage of the Damned (1976). His alcoholism apparently having resulted in the decline of his acting career, Werner died of a heart attack in 1984, at the age of 61, just before he was scheduled to deliver a lecture at a German drama club.

[edit] Selected Filmography

Awards
Preceded by
Rex Harrison
for My Fair Lady		 NYFCC Award for Best Actor
1965
for Ship of Fools		 Succeeded by
Paul Scofield
for A Man for All Seasons
Preceded by
Edmond O'Brien
for Seven Days in May		 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1966
for The Spy Who Came in from the Cold		 Succeeded by
Richard Attenborough
for The Sand Pebbles

[edit] External links