Til Schweiger

Til Schweiger
Schweiger at the Cinedome, Cologne, on promotion tour for Der Eisbär, November 1998
Born	Tilman Valentin Schweiger December 19, 1963 (1963-12-19) (age 48) Freiburg, West Germany
Occupation	Actor, director, producer
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Dana Carlson (separated)
Website
http://www.til-schweiger.de/

Tilman Valentin "Til" Schweiger (German pronunciation: [ˈtɪlman ˈvaləntiːn ˈʃvaɪɡɐ]; born December 19, 1963) is a German actor, director, and producer. He is one of Germany’s most successful filmmakers. Since 1968, when the FFA started counting, no other German actor has drawn more people to the cinemas.^[1] He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin.^[2]

Early life and family

Schweiger was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. He married American model Dana Carlson on June 19, 1995. The couple has four children: Valentin Florian (b. 1995), Luna Marie (b. 1997), Lilli Camille (b. 1998), and Emma Tiger (b. October 2002). They separated in 2005, but have not divorced.

Career

Schweiger's debut as a producer and (uncredited) director came in 1997 with Knockin' on Heaven's Door. The film remains a cult favourite for audiences worldwide. He also directed and produced Der Eisbär (The Polar Bear) in 1998. Schweiger won a prestigious Bambi Award for Barfuß (Barefoot) in 2005, which he wrote, directed and starred in.^[3] He also won a Bambi for his lead role in Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1. In 2008, Keinohrhasen (this literally translates to "no ear rabbits" while the English title is Rabbit Without Ears), which was written, produced and directed by Schweiger, became the most successful film in German theaters with a box office result of USD 62,000,000.^[4] The film won a Bambi, a Bavarian Film Award, the German Comedy Award, two DIVA Awards, a Jupiter Award and the Ernst Lubitsch Award. The sequel, Zweiohrküken (Rabbit Without Ears 2, literally "two ear chicks"), was released the following year and was also a huge success with over 4.2 million viewers and a box office of USD 45,000,000. Schweiger then went on to direct, produce and star in 1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde, which also proved a huge cinema hit on its release in 2008. The movie Kokowääh came to German cinemas in February 2011. His daughter Emma stars beside him, and the movie is also directed, co-written and produced by him.

Onscreen, Schweiger first appeared as an actor in 1989 in the TV series "Lindenstraße". His first film role came in 1991 with Manta, Manta. Additional TV and film roles followed, including Der bewegte Mann (Maybe, Maybe Not), Männerpension (Jailbirds), Das Mädchen Rosemarie (The Girl Rosemarie), Bastard (Bandyta), Bang Boom Bang, Der große Bagarozy (The Devil and Ms. D.), Was tun, wenn's brennt (What to Do in Case of Fire), Les Daltons vs. Lucky Luke, The Red Baron, Wo ist Fred (Where is Fred?), Phantomschmerz (Phantom Pain), Männerherzen, and others.

Schweiger has also appeared in a wide range of American films, including Already Dead, King Arthur, In Enemy Hands, Magicians, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Driven, SLC Punk!, Investigating Sex, Jow and Max, and The Replacement Killers. His latest big screen appearance was as Hugo Stiglitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Schweiger is currently shooting the US productions The Courier with Mickey Rourke and This Means War with Reese Witherspoon.

Filmography

Schweiger at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

References

External links

• Til Schweiger at the Internet Movie Database
• Photographs and bibliography