Christoph Waltz Biography

Christoph Waltz (born 4 October 1956 in Vienna) is an Austrian and German actor. Internationally, he is best known for his works with American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. He received acclaim for his supporting roles as SS-Colonel Hans Landa in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012). For each performance, Waltz won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Additionally, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Landa.

Early life

Christoph Waltz was born in Vienna, the son of German-born Johannes Waltz and Austrian-born Elisabeth Urbancic, set and costume designers. His maternal grandfather, Rudolf von Urban, was a psychiatrist and psychologist who wrote the book Sex Perfection and Marital Happiness. His maternal grandmother was Burgtheater actress Maria Mayen, and his step-grandfather was actor Emmerich Reimers. His great-grandparents also worked in theatre.

Career

Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. He also attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York. He started as a stage actor, performing at venues such as Zurich's Schauspielhaus Zürich, Vienna's Burgtheater, and the Salzburg Festival. He became a prolific television actor. In 2000, he made his directorial debut, with the German-language television production Wenn man sich traut. Before coming to the attention of a larger audience in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds he had played, in 1990, the role of Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann in the English-language TV series Gravy Train. The show is a story of intrigue and misdeeds set in the offices of the European Union in Brussels. The series can be watched through Channel 4's player on YouTube.

In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa, aka "The Jew Hunter". Clever, courteous, and multilingual, but also self-serving, cunning, implacable, and murderous, the character of Landa was such that Tarantino feared he "might have written a part that was un-playable". Waltz received the Best Actor Award for the performance at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and received acclaim from critics and the public. In 2009, he began sweeping critics' awards circuits, receiving awards for Best Supporting Actor from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and for Best Supporting Actor at the 67th Golden Globe Awards and the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2009.

The following year, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. He is, , the only actor to win an Academy Award for appearing in a Tarantino film. Tarantino acknowledged the importance of Waltz to his film by stating: "I think that Landa is one of the best characters I've ever written and ever will write, and Christoph played it to a tee. It's true that if I couldn't have found someone as good as Christoph I might not have made Inglourious Basterds".

Waltz played gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet (2011); that same year he starred in Water for Elephants, opposite Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon, and in Roman Polanski's Carnage. He played German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz, opposite Jamie Foxx, in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. During a training accident prior to filming, Waltz injured his pelvis. His role garnered him awards acclaim once again, with Waltz winning the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, and ultimately the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His Oscar victory made him one of only three actors to win two Oscars for a supporting role under the direction of the same person (Walter Brennan and Dianne Wiest are the other two).

Waltz has been cast as the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in the movie Reykjavik, based on the 1986 peace talks between the United States and USSR.

In April 2013 he was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Personal life

Waltz is fluent in German, French, and English and speaks all three of the languages in both Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. Although his character in Inglourious Basterds, Col. Hans Landa, also spoke Italian, Waltz stated on the Adam Carolla Podcast that he does not speak that language. He is his own voice actor for both of French and German dubs.

Waltz has three adult children from a prior marriage, and is raising a young daughter with his wife, German costume designer Judith Holste. He divides his time between Berlin and Los Angeles.

Nationality

Waltz was born to a German father in Vienna, who applied for him to become a German citizen after his birth. Waltz received Austrian citizenship in 2010, thus holding citizenships of both Austria and Germany, but considers his German passport a "legal, citizenship law banality". Asked whether he felt Viennese, he responded: "I was born in Vienna, grew up in Vienna, went to school in Vienna, graduated in Vienna, studied in Vienna, started acting in Vienna " and there would be a few further Viennese links. How much more Austrian do you want it?"

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Parole Chicago	Eduard "Ede" Bredo	13 episodes
1981	Kopfstand	Markus
1982	Fire and Sword	Tristan
1986	Wahnfried	Friedrich Nietzsche
1987	Tatort - Wunschlos tot	Inspector Passini
1988	'	Stefan Mueller
1991	?ycie za ?ycie	Jan	Credited as Chistopher Waltz
1993	König der letzten Tage	John of Leiden
1995	Catherine the Great	Mirovich
1996	Du bist nicht allein " Die Roy Black Story	Roy Black	Special Award for an outstanding performance at the Baden-Baden days of television play Bavarian Television Award
1996	Inspector Rex	Herr Wolf
1998	'	Kant
1998	'	Charly
2000	Death, Deceit and Destiny Aboard the Orient Express	Brian
2000	Ordinary Decent Criminal	Peter
2000	Falling Rocks	Louis
2001	Der Tanz mit dem Teufel	Dieter Cilov	Adolf Grimme Award
2002	Dienstreise " Was für eine Nacht	Klaus-Dieter Lehmann	Adolf Grimme Award
2003	Jagd auf den Flammenmann	Brisky	German Television Award: Best Supporting Actor
2003	Herr Lehmann	Doctor
2007	'	Frank "Büffel" Arbogast
2007	'	Dr. Helmut Bahr
2008	'	Hans Kortmann
2008	Todsünde	Sebastian Flies
2008	Das jüngste Gericht	Peters
2009	Inglourious Basterds	Col. Hans Landa	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Bambi Award for Best International Actor Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Empire Award for Best Actor Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor IndieWire Critics' Poll Award for Best Supporting Actor Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Acting Ensemble Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated "? Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2011	'	Benjamin Chudnofsky	Nominated "? MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
2011	Water for Elephants	August Rosenbluth
2011	'	Cardinal Richelieu
2011	Carnage	Alan Cowan	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Ensemble Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Nominated "? San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Nominated "? Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture
2012	Django Unchained	Dr. King Schultz	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Boston Society of Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place) Black Film Critics Group Award for Best Supporting Actor Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (3rd place) Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place) New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place) San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Empire Award for Best Actor Nominated "? Indiana Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? International Cinephile Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated "? Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
2013	Saturday Night Live	Himself/Host	Episode 38.14: "Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes"
2013	Epic	Mandrake (voice)
2013	The Zero Theorem	Qohen Leth	Post-Production
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	TBA	Filming
2014	Reykjavík	Mikhail Gorbachev	Filming
2014	Big Eyes	Walter Keane	Post-production

Decorations and awards

In addition to the awards mentioned in the filmography above:

• 1982: O.E. Hasse Prize from the Berlin Academy of Arts
• 2010: Romy: Favorite Actor
• 2010: Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Cinema Vanguard Award
• 2012: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art

See also

• List of German-speaking Academy Award winners and nominees