He embodied “Jedermann” more often than anyone else, played the touching “Toni Erdmann” or played a racist blinded professor. Peter Simonischek has now died at the age of 76.
The actorPeter Simonischek is dead. The Austrian died at the age of 76 on the night of May 30 with his family at home in Vienna, the Burgtheater confirmed on Tuesday according to media reports. The Austrian has appeared in numerous roles on stage, in film and on television. In the touching father-daughter story “Toni Erdmann” he played the title role alongside Sandra Hüller. The film was a finalist for the 2017 Oscar for best international film.
From 2002 to 2009 he played “Jedermann” at the Salzburg Festival. More than 100 times, more often than anyone else, he played the rich man who slowly but surely dies. The career of the star actor, who was born in Graz on August 6, 1946, was multifaceted. In the past few decades, Simonischek has played practically all the important games in German-speaking countries. After his first appearances at the Graz theater, he received a permanent engagement at the St. Gallen city theater. From there he moved to Bern in 1970 and then came to the Düsseldorf theater via the Staatstheater Darmstadt.
Peter Simonischek known as “Everyman”
From 1979 he was a member of the ensemble at the Berlin Schaubühne for 20 years. In 1999 he returned to the Burgtheater in Vienna. Working with renowned directors such as Bob Wilson, Dieter Dorn, Luc Bondy, Peter Stein and Andrea Breth was formative for him. His father, a dentist, had unintentionally infected his son with the acting bug. He took him to a “Hamlet” performance in Graz. “I was lost after this Hamlet,” Simonischek told the German Press Agency on his 75th birthday. He found the years in Germany particularly enriching. “If you’re a stranger, try harder abroad. The turbo is ignited abroad,” the actor was glad not to have stayed in sheltered Austria.
Father infected him with the acting virus
In 2016, Simonischek was awarded the Austrian honorary title of “Chamber Actor” for his impressive stage presence. For decades, Simonischek has juggled his appearances in film, on television and on stage. He was convincing in the highly acclaimed, abysmal homeland saga “Hierankl” (2003), as a philanderer (“Die Welt der Wunderlichs”, 2016) and as the son of a Nazi war criminal (“Der Dolmetscher”, 2018). One of the last roles of the extremely versatile artist was in the film “A Place in the Sun” as a professor who justifies the German genocide of the Hereros and Nama with his racist teachings.
“I’m so grateful that I can do what I love,” said Simonischek of the dpa, who has collected two Grimme prizes, the European and the German film prize in his career.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
