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Christoph Waltz (German pronunciation: [valts] VULTS; born October 4, 1956) is an Austrian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of SS Standartenführer Hans Landa in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 82nd Academy Awards in 2010, the second Austrian actor to receive an Oscar.
Acting career
Christoph Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and 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, or the Salzburg Festival. He became a prolific actor on television. In 2000, he directed his first film, the TV production Wenn man sich traut. In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed Standartenführer Hans Landa of the Schutzstaffel (SS) aka "The Jew Hunter". For this role, he received the Best Actor Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and has received acclaim for the performance from critics and the public. In 2009, he began sweeping critics' awards circuits, receiving awards for Best Supporting Actor role from the New York Film Critics Circle,[1] Boston Society of Film Critics,[2] Los Angeles Film Critics Association[3] and for Best Supporting Actor at the 67th Golden Globe Awards[4] and the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Waltz won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 82nd Academy Awards. He is only the second actor to win an Academy Award for playing a Nazi, following Kate Winslet in 2009's The Reader. 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."[5]
Personal life
Waltz was born in Vienna, Austria, to set designers Johannes Waltz and Elisabeth Urbancic.[6] His grandparents were also actors,[7] and his great-grandparents worked in the theatre.
Waltz is fluent in German, French and English[8] and speaks all three languages in Inglourious Basterds. Though he also spoke Italian in Inglourious Basterds, he stated on the Adam Carolla Podcast that he does not actually speak Italian.[9] He is divorced and has four children. His first wife was from New York and was Jewish.[10][11] One of his children currently lives in Israel and is a rabbi.[12] Waltz currently lives in London and Berlin.[13][14][15]
Filmography
References
External links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Waltz, Christoph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
|
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
4 October 1956 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
Vienna, Austria |
| DATE OF DEATH |
|
| PLACE OF DEATH |
|
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