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]

August Zirner at the Romy TV awards (Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna)

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 Café Europa (1990) by Franz Xaver Bogner, Voyager (1991) by Volker Schlöndorff,[3] Talk of the Town (1995) by Rainer Kaufmann, Winterkind (1997) by Margarethe von Trotta, The Pharmacist (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 Wut, he got the 2006 Grimme-Preis.[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 play based on 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 Johannes 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.

Selected filmography
  • 1984: Tapetenwechsel (directed by Gabriela Zerhau) .... Wolfgang
  • 1986: Auf immer und ewig .... Paul
  • 1988: Felix .... Luci's Husband
  • 1989: Geld .... Lothar Fuchs
  • 1990: Café Europa .... Yobo
  • 1991: Von Gewalt keine Rede (TV Movie, directed by Theodor Kotulla) .... Frank Götz
  • 1991: Voyager .... Joachim Hencke
  • 1994: Du bringst mich noch um (directed by Wolfram Paulus) .... Simon Halm
  • 1995: The Promise[6] .... Konrad II
  • 1995: Talk of the Town .... Erik Kirsch
  • 1996: Hannah (directed by Reinhard Schwabenitzky) .... Wolfgang Heck
  • 1997: Der Wald (TV Movie, based on a novel by Werner Kopacka) .... Karl Fürst
  • 1997: The Pharmacist .... Pawel Siebert
  • 1998: Suzie Washington (directed by Florian Flicker) .... Herbert Korn
  • 1999: Annaluise & Anton .... Richard Pogge
  • 2001: Mostly Martha[7] .... Martha's Therapist
  • 2001: Taking Sides (directed by István Szabó) .... Captain Ed Martin
  • 2001: Das Sams .... Herr Oberstein
  • 2002: Amen. (directed by Costa-Gavras) .... Von Weizsäcker
  • 2002: Joe and Max (TV Movie) .... David Lewin
  • 2002: Gebürtig .... Danny Demant
  • 2003: Trenck – Zwei Herzen gegen die Krone (TV Movie, directed by Gernot Roll) .... König Friedrich II.
  • 2003: Novaks Ultimatum (TV Movie) .... Dr. Günther Erhardt
  • 2004: Die Kirschenkönigin (TV Mini-Series, directed by Rainer Kaufmann) .... Samuel Goldfisch
  • 2004: Sergeant Pepper .... Dr. Theobald
  • 2005: Speer und Er (TV Mini-Series) .... Dr. Gilbert
  • 2005: Liebe nach dem Tod (TV Movie) .... Paul Markwart
  • 2005: A Sound of Thunder .... Clay Derris
  • 2005: Tara Road .... Greg Vine
  • 2005: Mutig in die neuen Zeiten (TV Movie, directed by Harald Sicheritz) .... Paul Berkowitz
  • 2006: Helen, Ted und Fred (TV Movie, directed by Sherry Hormann) .... Peter Kowalski
  • 2005: Rage (TV Movie) .... Simon Laub
  • 2007: The Counterfeiters .... Dr. Klinger
  • 2007: Herr Bello .... Herr Sternheim / Traugott Sternheim
  • 2007: Meine böse Freundin (TV Movie) .... Robert Mahrtaler
  • 2007: Contergan – Eine einzige Tablette (TV Movie) .... Dr. Gerd Naumann
  • 2008: Selbstgespräche .... Richard Harms
  • 2008: Ein starker Abgang (TV Movie) .... Dr. Kübler
  • 2009: Schlaflos[2] (TV Movie) .... Dr. Borchert
  • 2009: Dr. Hope – Eine Frau gibt nicht auf (TV Movie) .... Ludwig von Arnstetten
  • 2009: Berlin 36 .... Edwin Bergmann
  • 2009: Ein Dorf sieht Mord (TV Movie) .... Martin Selig
  • 2009: So ein Schlamassel (TV Movie) .... Ludwig Norderstedt
  • 2009: Meine Familie bringt mich um (TV Movie) .... Peter
  • 2010: Klimawechsel (TV Series) .... Dr. Dieter Dumont
  • 2010: Ein Praktikant fürs Leben (TV Movie) .... Ulf Kamprath
  • 2011: Der Kardinal .... Franz König
  • 2012: Sams im Glück .... Herr Oberstein
  • 2012: Die Heimkehr (TV Movie) .... August Staudenmeyer
  • 2012: Die Lebenden .... Lenzi Weiss, Sitas Vater
  • 2013: Der blinde Fleck .... Meier
  • 2014: Coming In .... Salvatore
  • 2015: The Misplaced World .... Georg
  • 2015: Meister des Todes .... Niethammer, Andreas
  • 2015: Colonia Dignidad .... German Ambassador
  • 2017: Euphoria .... Frank
  • 2018: Was uns nicht umbringt .... Maximilian
  • 2018: Wackersdorf .... Innenminister
  • 2018: Das Wunder von Wörgl .... Direktor Nationalbank
  • 2019: Das Ende der Wahrheit .... Dr. Grünhagen

References
  1. "Interview mit August Zirner: "Eigentlich bin ich ein Komiker"". stern.de. 4 August 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  2. "August Zirner im Interview : August Zirner wollte mit Senta Berger drehen - News - moviepilot.de". moviepilot.de. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  3. "Movie Review - Voyager - Review/Film; A Variation on the Oedipus Theme - NYTimes.com". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  4. "Fünf Adolf-Grimme-Preise für Colonia Media-Produktion "Wut"". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  5. GQ. "Alles zum Thema: August Zirner - GQ". GQ. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  6. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1995/09/08/1995-09-08_broken__promise___berlin_wal.html%5B%5D
  7. "Movie Review - Mostly Martha - FILM REVIEW; A Single-Minded Cook Who Wakes Up to Life - NYTimes.com". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
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