Everything about Oskar Werner totally explained
Oskar Werner (
November 13,
1922 –
October 23,
1984) was an
Austrian actor. Born
Oskar Josef Bschließmayer in
Vienna, he started off his career as a stage actor for the famous Burgtheater until making his film debut in
Der Engel mit der Posaune in
1948.
Biography
Stage career
Universally regarded as one of
Western Europe's foremost stage actors, Oskar Werner was 18 years old when he made his stage bow at the
Burgtheater in his native
Vienna. A lifelong
pacifist, Werner did everything he could to avoid
conscription in the
Axis army during
World War II; when he finally was forced into a uniform, he deserted at the earliest opportunity.
Film career
After the war, Werner resumed his theatrical career, only reluctantly making his first film in
1948; "I am married to the theatre, and the films are only my mistress" he'd later declare. In
1951, he made his
English-language film debut as "Happy," an enigmatic
German prisoner of war, in
20th Century-Fox's
Decision Before Dawn. When
Fox reneged on its promise to develop Werner into a
Hollywood star, he went back to his true love, the theatre, vowing to only appear in films that intrigued him. In
1955, he essayed the title role in
Mozart, and also played a smaller but no less significant part as the "Student" in
Max Ophüls'
Lola Montes. Then it was back to the stage, culminating with his formation of
Theatre Ensemble Oskar Werner in 1959. One of Werner's most notable screen performances was the romantic intellectual, "Jules", in
François Truffaut's
Jules et Jim (1962), and he became an international star as a result. His portrayal of the philosophical "Dr. Schumann" in
Ship of Fools (1965) truly brought him to the attention of English-speaking movie-goers, and, for his work, the actor received his only
Oscar nomination, his first of three Golden Globe nominations, his first of two BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations, and was given the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor. As the Jewish East German spy "Fiedler" in
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for his second BAFTA. In 1966, he played the book-burning fireman, "Montag", in Truffaut's film version of the cult-classic
Fahrenheit 451 by
Ray Bradbury. With
Anthony Quinn as the Pope, Werner played a questioning Vatican priest in
The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968).
Later career
In the 1970s and 1980s, Werner returned to the stage — among other things, starring in and directing "Hamlet" with his Theater Ensemble at the Salzburg Festival. During the 1970s he also spent much time traveling internationally. In an uncharacteristic television appearance, Werner played the murderer opposite
Peter Falk in an episode of
Columbo,
Playback (1975), prior to his Golden Globe nominated final film appearance in
Voyage of the Damned (1976). His
alcoholism apparently having resulted in the decline of his acting career, Werner died of a
heart attack in 1984, at the age of 61, just before he was scheduled to deliver a lecture at a German drama club.
Selected Filmography
Further Information
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