Christoph Waltz: The Biography

Christoph Waltz knew at an earlier age that acting could be his life. Born into a theater family, Waltz found the stage his home and where he felt most comfortable. Although he launched his career in 1977 on German television, he earned the badge of international superstar only after thirty-two years.

Waltz was born in Vienna on October 4, 1956 to Elisabeth, an outfit designer, and Johannes, a phase builder and set designer. His grandparents included Maria Mayen and Emmerich Reimers, have been both actors. Even his great grandparents worked in the theater. His German-born father, who passed away when he was only seven years of age, filed for German citizenship for him soon after he was born, and Waltz continues to put on dual citizenship.

Studies were crucial that you Waltz, and he stayed in Vienna to attend the Theresianium and Billrothstrasse. After graduation, he immersed himself in acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar and then landed a position in “Parole Chicago,” a German television series. In 1979, he moved to New York City to carry on his studies at the Lee Strasberg Institute, where he was luckily enough to manage to study method acting underneath the guidance of both Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg.

Soon after graduation from the Institute, Waltz met up with a Hollywood agent who was visiting the city and told him of his dream of in movies out in California. The agent quickly told him that because of his background, he was probably destined to pay his acting career playing small Nazi-type roles.

Love struck while he was in New York City, and Waltz met and married his first wife. They subsequently moved to Vienna, where they stayed for a few years before packing their bags for London. While he initially focused BiographiesOfActors.com on starting a household and launching his stage career, he wound up capturing the hearts of the British together with his appearance in two British miniseries: “The Gravy Train” and “The Gravy Train Goes East.” He eventually began commuting from London to Berlin, where he continued to hone his acting chops.

During the ’80s and ’90s, Waltz cultivated an effective acting career in Germany on the stage, in television, film and even audiobooks. Some of his roles were those of villainous characters on various police dramas, his role as a Polish priest, Father Kilbe, in the 1991 hit “Leben Fur Leben” catapulted him to mega stardom in Germany. He made his directorial debut in Germany on the television show “Wenn Man Sich Traut.”

He was introduced to Quentin Tarantino in early 2000s, and it is nearly certain that neither of these understood how fateful the meeting was. During the time, Tarantino was prepared to throw in the towel on a task he was taking care of, “Inglorious Basterds,” when he couldn’t find the correct actor to play the pivotal role of Colonel Hans Landa.

Waltz, who’s fluent in several languages, convinced Tarantino to offer him a chance in the role that could require him to speak four languages: Italian, German, French, and English. While the smoothness of the evil Nazi is the stereotype that caused him to leave the United States earlier in his career, he knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The film opened to mixed reviews, but Waltz’s performance earned critical acclaim and catapulted him in to the limelight. He eventually won twenty-seven awards for his role in the movie, including a Golden Globe, Academy Award, BAFTA award, and the coveted Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.

“Inglorious Basterds” opened many doors for Waltz. In 2011 alone, he starred in “The Green Hornet,” “Water for Elephants,” “The Three Musketeers,” and “Carnage.” In 2012, he teamed up with Quentin Tarantino again for another successful film, “Django Unchained.” His portrayal of Dr. King Schultz garnered more awards for Waltz, including another BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Academy Award.

With his German career only a memory by this time, Waltz has continued playing starring roles on the American silver screen. In 2013, he had two films in post-production-“Epic” and “The Zero Theorem”-and one in pre-production, “Reykjavik,” where he portrays Mikhail Gorbachev.