Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
Maximilian Schell is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Producer and Script Autrichien born on 8 december 1930 at Vienna (Austria)

Maximilian Schell

Maximilian Schell
If you like this person, let us know!
Birth name Maximilian Schell
Nationality Austria
Birth 8 december 1930 at Vienna (Austria)
Death 1 february 2014 (at 83 years) at Innsbruck (Austria)
Awards Academy Award for Best Actor, Austrian Decoration for Science and Art, Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was an Austrian and Swiss film and stage actor, who also wrote, directed and produced some of his own films. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1961 American film Judgment at Nuremberg, his second acting role in Hollywood. His parents were involved in the arts and he grew up surrounded by acting and literature. While he was a child, his family fled Vienna in 1938 when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, and they settled in Zurich, Switzerland. After World War II ended, Schell took up acting or directing full-time. He appeared in numerous German films, often anti-war, before moving on to Hollywood.

Schell was top billed in a number of Nazi-era themed films, as he could speak both English and German. Among those were two films for which he received Oscar nominations: The Man in the Glass Booth (1975; best actor), where he played a character with two identities, and Julia (1977; best supporting actor), where he helps the underground in Nazi Germany.

His range of acting went beyond German characters, however, and during his career, he also played personalities as diverse as Venezuelan leader Simón Bolívar, Russian emperor Peter the Great, and scientist Albert Einstein. For his role as Vladimir Lenin in the television film, Stalin (1992), he won the Golden Globe Award. On stage, Schell acted in a number of plays, and his was considered "one of the greatest Hamlets ever."

In Schell's private life, he was an accomplished pianist and conductor, performing with Claudio Abbado and Leonard Bernstein, and with orchestras in Berlin and Vienna. His elder sister, Maria Schell, was also a noted Hollywood actress, about whom he produced the documentary, My Sister Maria, in 2002.

Biography

During the 1960s Schell had a three-year-long affair with Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari, former wife of the last Shah of Iran. In 1985 he met the Russian actress Natalya Andrejchenko, whom he married in June 1986; their daughter Nastassja was born in 1989. After 2002, separated from his wife (whom he divorced in 2005), Schell had a relationship with the Austrian art historian Elisabeth Michitsch. From 2008 he was romantically involved with German opera singer Iva Mihanovic; they eventually married on 20 August 2013.

Schell was a semi-professional pianist for much of his life. He had a piano when he lived in Munich and said that he would play for hours at a time for his own pleasure and to help him relax: "I find I need to rest. An actor must have pauses in between work, to renew himself, to read, to walk, to chop wood."

Conductor Leonard Bernstein claimed that Schell was a "remarkably good pianist." In 1982, on a program filmed for the U.S. television network PBS, before Bernstein conducted the Vienna Philharmonic playing Beethoven symphonies, Schell read from Beethoven's letters to the audience. In 1983, he and Bernstein co-hosted an 11-part TV series, Bernstein/Beethoven, featuring nine live symphonies, along with discussions between Bernstein and Schell about Beethoven's works.
On other occasions, Schell worked with Italian conductor Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic, which included a performance in Chicago of Igor Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, and another in Jerusalem, of Arnold Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw. Schell also produced and directed a number of live operas, including Richard Wagner's Lohengrin for the Los Angeles Opera. He worked on the film project Beethoven's Fidelio, with Plácido Domingo and Kent Nagano.

Schell was a guest professor at the University of Southern California and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago.

Best films

Deep Impact (1998)
(Actor)
The Black Hole (1979)
(Actor)
Julia (1977)
(Actor)
Vampires (1998)
(Actor)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
(Actor)
Topkapi (1964)
(Actor)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Maximilian Schell (69 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Les Brigands, 1h24
Directed by Pol Cruchten
Origin Luxembourg
Genres Drama, Comedy-drama, Crime
Themes Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Éric Caravaca, Isild Le Besco, Robinson Stévenin, Maximilian Schell, Tchéky Karyo, Mickey Hardt
Roles Mr. Escher
Rating50% 2.532582.532582.532582.532582.53258
Pour protéger les affaires de son père, banquier important, Karl Escher a passé trois ans derrière les barreaux pour faux en écriture et détournement de fonds. À sa sortie de prison, il découvre que Franz, son frère, a commis les malversations pour lesquelles il a été puni. Résolu à se venger, Karl ne recule devant rien pour prouver la culpabilité de Franz et mettre un terme à ses activités délictueuses. Mais en s'associant à un groupe de malfrats habitués aux vols et aux prises d'otages, il bascule lui-même dans l'illégalité. De son côté, Franz ne tarde pas à avoir vent de ce que trame son frère
The Brothers Bloom, 1h53
Directed by Rian Johnson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Adventure, Romance
Themes Escroquerie
Actors Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, Maximilian Schell, Robbie Coltrane
Roles Diamond Dog
Rating66% 3.3493853.3493853.3493853.3493853.349385
The Brothers Bloom, orphaned at a young age, begin performing confidence tricks as young children; Stephen dreams up elaborate scenarios and his younger brother, Bloom, creates trust with the marks. Stephen creates his first con as a way of encouraging his brother to talk to girls.
Le secret des roses, 1h30
Directed by Peter Weck
Origin German
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Maximilian Schell, Mirjam Weichselbraun, Erol Sander, Gaby Dohm, Peter Weck, Ilse Peternell
Roles Karl Friedrich Weidemann
Rating48% 2.437712.437712.437712.437712.43771
The Shell Seekers, 3h3
Directed by Piers Haggard
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell, Sebastien Koch, Victoria Hamilton, Stephanie Stumph, Victoria Smurfit
Roles Lawrence Sterne
Rating68% 3.438453.438453.438453.438453.43845
Set in the 1980s, Penelope (Redgrave) is seen to be recovering from a heart attack. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn she is the daughter of Lawrence (Schell), an acclaimed painter. Her children attempt to convince her to sell her father's paintings and ease their financial burdens. As Penelope continues to recover she reflects on her life, as a disillusioned wife and briefly enthralled lover. She embarks on a trip to the Mediterranean where she encounters Antonia (Stumph), a woman in the grip of a passionate romance, something Penelope realises she briefly enjoyed.
Coast to Coast, 1h48
Directed by Paul Mazursky
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy-drama
Themes Transport films, Road movies
Actors Richard Dreyfuss, Judy Davis, Selma Blair, Maximilian Schell, David Julian Hirsh, Kate Lynch
Roles Casimir
Rating63% 3.1983153.1983153.1983153.1983153.198315
With equal parts humor and vitriol, Academy Award-winner Richard Dreyfuss and Emmy Award-winner Judy Davis portray Barnaby and Maxine Pierce, a middle-aged couple exploring the ups and downs of a marriage that has spun out of control. They have decided to divorce, but take one last cross country road trip from Connecticut to Los Angeles to attend the wedding of their son and give him their vintage Thunderbird as a gift. By reflecting on the life they’ve shared together, the couple begins to re-evaluate their marriage and discover the possibility of rekindling their relationship.
I Love You, Baby, 1h43
Directed by Nick Lyon
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Romance
Actors Mark Keller, Jasmin Gerat, Maximilian Schell, Burkhard Driest, Prince Hughes
Roles Walter Ekland
Rating61% 3.097693.097693.097693.097693.09769
The film revolves around two con partners named Peter and Gwen who plan to steal money from the millionaire Walter Ekland by posing Peter as his long lost son and Gwen as Peter's wife who is undergoing treatment for cancer. Their plan gets in jeopardy when a detective named Decker, who knows their identities, decides to get a share of the money.
Joan of Arc (miniseries), 2h20
Directed by Christian Duguay
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Historical
Themes Films about religion, Jeanne d'Arc, Political films, Histoire de France
Actors Leelee Sobieski, Peter O'Toole, Jacqueline Bisset, Powers Boothe, Neil Patrick Harris, Maury Chaykin
Roles Brother Jean le Maistre
Rating66% 3.312413.312413.312413.312413.31241
En guise d'introduction, on peut lire le message de Merlin disant qu'une pucelle délivrerait la France.
My Best Fiend, 1h35
Directed by Werner Herzog
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about television, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Eva Mattes, Isabelle Adjani, Claudia Cardinale, Mick Jagger
Rating77% 3.8952753.8952753.8952753.8952753.895275
The film opens with shots of Klaus Kinski performing – after his own interpretation – the role of Jesus. Kinski harangues the audience for not paying attention to him, curses wildly, has the microphone taken away from him, and, screaming, steals it back. Kinski left one of his Jesus tours to star in Herzog's film, Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). This was the first of five films that the two would make together, the others being Nosferatu the Vampyre (1978); Woyzeck (1978); Fitzcarraldo (1982); and Cobra Verde (1987).
Left Luggage, 1h40
Directed by Jeroen Krabbé
Origin Pays-bas
Genres Drama, Comedy-drama
Themes Films about religion, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Laura Fraser, Isabella Rossellini, Jeroen Krabbé, Chaim Topol, Marianne Sägebrecht, Maximilian Schell
Roles Mr. Silberschmidt
Rating72% 3.6432353.6432353.6432353.6432353.643235
While escaping from Nazis during World War II, a Jewish man buries two suitcases full of things dear to his heart in the ground. The war deprived him of his family, and afterwards he endlessly turns over the soil of Antwerp to find the suitcases, an obsessive compulsion. He keeps checking old maps and keeps digging, trying to find what he lost. His daughter Chaya is a beautiful modern girl looking for a part-time job. She finds a place as a nanny in the strictly observant hassidic family with many children, although her secular manners clearly fly in the face of their beliefs. One of the reasons she is accepted is that mother of the family is absolutely overburdened by the household, so Chaya stays despite the resistance of the father, who is normally an indisputable authority in the family.
Vampires
Vampires (1998)
, 1h48
Directed by John Carpenter
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantasy, Action, Horror, Western
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Films about religion, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Vampires in film, Road movies
Actors James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith, Maximilian Schell, Tim Guinee
Roles Cardinal Alba
Rating61% 3.0518653.0518653.0518653.0518653.051865
A team of Vatican sponsored mercenaries led by Jack Crow (Woods) rids an abandoned house of vampires in the middle of New Mexico.
Deep Impact, 2h
Directed by Mimi Leder
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Disaster, Action, Adventure, Romance
Themes Space adventure films, La fin du monde, Seafaring films, Politique, Films about religion, Transport films, Dans l'espace, Films set in the future, Political films, Dystopian films, Impact events in fiction, Arme nucléaire, Disaster films, American disaster films, White House in fiction
Actors Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Leelee Sobieski, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell
Roles Jason Lerner
Rating62% 3.100173.100173.100173.100173.10017
On May 10, 1998, teenage amateur astronomer Leo Biederman discovers an unusual object near the stars Mizar and Alcor at a star party in Richmond, Virginia with his school's astronomy club. His teacher alerts astronomer Dr. Marcus Wolf, who realizes that the object is a comet on a collision course with Earth. Wolf dies in a car accident before he can alert the world.
Telling Lies in America, 1h41
Directed by Guy Ferland
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical
Actors Kevin Bacon, Brad Renfro, Calista Flockhart, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Luke Wilson, Maximilian Schell
Roles Dr. Istvan Jonas
Rating61% 3.097433.097433.097433.097433.09743
Karchy Jonas (Brad Renfro) is a 17-year-old high-school student (who emigrated from Hungary 7 years earlier) trying to find his way in the world. He meets radio personality Billy Magic (Kevin Bacon) who takes him under his wing. However, authorities are after Billy for accepting payola from record companies to give their songs air time.
The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years, 2h58
Actors Richard Chamberlain, Amanda Donohoe, Julia Blake, Olivia Burnette, Simon Westaway, Michael Caton
Roles Cardinal Vittorio
Rating62% 3.102393.102393.102393.102393.10239
It's ten years after the birth of Dane, and Meghann "Meggie" O'Neill (Amanda Donohoe) is forced to run Drogheda basically on her own, since all her brothers went off to fight in World War II. To make matters worse, a two–year drought has struck the area. One day, Meggie's estranged husband, Luke, arrives on Drogheda and begs forgiveness. Meggie, lonely, in need of a man to run the ranch and to be a father for her children, reluctantly takes Luke back, and she becomes pregnant once again.
Little Odessa, 1h38
Directed by James Gray
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Mafia films, Gangster films
Actors Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Maximilian Schell, Moira Kelly, Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Guilfoyle
Roles Arkady Shapira
Rating66% 3.34743.34743.34743.34743.3474
The film follows the personal relationship between a father, Arkady Shapira (Schell), his terminally ill wife Irina (Redgrave), and his two sons, Joshua and Reuben (Roth and Furlong). Joshua, the elder, is a hit-man for the Jewish-Russian mafia in Brooklyn and estranged from his family. After things go sour Joshua executes a man at a phone booth, which angers the mafia. Joshua starts dating Alla (Kelly). Alla asks Reuben if he has seen Joshua anywhere and the three go together to see a movie. Eventually Reuben takes Joshua home to see his parents again, but Arkady kicks him out.