August Zirner
August Zirner (born 7 January 1956) is an American-Austrian actor, who starred in over 60 film productions. He is one of the most popular actors in Germany.[1]
Biography
Zirner was born as son of Austrian Jewish immigrants in the United States in Urbana, Illinois. His father had fled from the Nazis.[2] In 1976 he studied drama at the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar in Vienna before he made his debut as an actor at the Volkstheater in Vienna. After that he was engaged in Hanover, Wiesbaden and at the Munich Kammerspiele. His breakthrough into film was in "The Promise" in 1994.[1]
He has appeared in numerous films and television films, e. g. in Cafe Europa (1990) by Franz Xaver Bogner, The Voyager (1991) by Volker Schlondorff,[3] Stadtgespräch (1995) by Rainer Kaufmann, Winterkind (1997) by Margarethe von Trotta, Die Apothekerin (1997) by Rainer Kaufmann and The Counterfeiters by Stefan Ruzowitzky, which was awarded with the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2008. For the film Fury, he got the 2006 Adolf Grimme Award.[4] In 2009 Zirner played the transverse flute together with the Spardosen-Trio and the Theatre Program Diagnose: Jazz. In May 2011 Zirner acts in Blind Date, a film by Theo van Gogh at the Schauspielhaus Graz, a production of Bernadette Sonnenbichler.
Zirner is married to actress Katalin Zsigmondy and one of his four children is the actor John Zirner.[5] Although he has lived in Europe since 1973, August Zirner has retained his U.S. citizenship.[1][5]
Commitment
August Zirner supports the Austrian Service Abroad as an advisor for the Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service.
Awards
2006 - "Special Recognition" by the German Academy of Performing Arts on the Film Festival Baden-Baden for the production team of Wut.
Filmography
- 1984: Tapetenwechsel, Regie: Gabriela Zerhau
- 1989: Geld
- 1990: Café Europa
- 1991: Von Gewalt keine Rede, Regie: Theodor Kotulla
- 1991: Homo Faber – The Voyager
- 1994: Du bringst mich noch um, Regie: Wolfram Paulus
- 1995: Das Versprechen, Regie: Margarethe von Trotta – The Promise[6]
- 1995: Stadtgespräch
- 1996: Hannah, Regie: Reinhard Schwabenitzky
- 1997: Der Wald, nach einem Roman von Werner Kopacka
- 1997: Die Apothekerin
- 1998: Suzie Washington, Regie: Florian Flicker
- 1999: Pünktchen und Anton
- 2001: Bella Martha – Mostly Martha[7]
- 2001: Das Sams
- 2001: Taking Sides – Der Fall Furtwängler, Regie: István Szabó – Taking Sides
- 2002: Der Stellvertreter, Regie: Constantin Costa-Gavras
- 2002: Joe & Max
- 2002: Gebürtig
- 2003: Novaks Ultimatum
- 2003: Trenck – Zwei Herzen gegen die Krone, TV, Regie: Gernot Roll
- 2004: Die Kirschenkönigin, Fernsehfilm von Rainer Kaufmann
- 2004: Liebe nach dem Tod
- 2005: Speer und Er – Speer und Er
- 2005: A Sound of Thunder – A Sound of Thunder
- 2005: Ein Haus in Irland –Tara Road
- 2005: Wut
- 2005: Mutig in die neuen Zeiten, TV, Regie: Harald Sicheritz
- 2006: Helen, Ted und Fred, TV, Regie: Sherry Horman
- 2007: Die Fälscher – The Counterfeiters[8]
- 2007: Herr Bello
- 2007: Meine böse Freundin
- 2007: Contergan – Eine einzige Tablette
- 2008: Selbstgespräche
- 2008: Ein starker Abgang
- 2009: Ein Dorf sieht Mord
- 2009: Berlin 36 – Berlin 36
- 2009: So ein Schlamassel
- 2009: Schlaflos[2]
- 2009: Meine Familie bringt mich um
- 2009: Dr. Hope – Eine Frau gibt nicht auf
- 2010: Klimawechsel (TV)
- 2010: Ein Praktikant fürs Leben
- 2011: Der Kardinal (Franz König)
References
- ^ a b c [1]"Interview mit August Zirner: "Eigentlich bin ich ein Komiker" Stern.de, August 4, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2011
- ^ a b [2]"August Zirner wollte mit Senta Berger drehen" (Interview with Zirner), Movieplot, April 8, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2011
- ^ [3] Canby, Vincent, "Voyager(1991): Review/film; a variation on the Oedipus theme," The New York Times, January 31, 1992. Retrieved April 6, 2011
- ^ [4]"Fünf Adolf-Grimme-Preise für Colonia Media-Produktion "Wut"Presseportal.de, March 14, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2011
- ^ a b [5]"http://www.gq-magazin.de/star-portraits/august-zirner/0/1738.html]Star portrait: August Zirner." GQ-magazin.de, retrieved April 6, 2011
- ^ [6] Kehr, Dave "Broken 'Promise" Berlin Wall saga fails to deliver on its premise," The New York Times, September 8, 1995. Retrieved April 6, 2011
- ^ [7] Mitchell, Elvis "Mostly Martha (2001): Film review; A single-minded cook who wakes up to life. Retrieved April 6, 2011
- ^ [McIntyre, Sarah "The Counterfeiters," RTE Ten: The Entertainment Network, October 11, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2011