Til Schweiger

Til Schweiger
Schweiger at the Cinedome, Cologne, on promotion tour for Der Eisbär, November 1998
Born	Tilman Valentin Schweiger (1963-12-19) 19 December 1963 Freiburg, West Germany
Occupation	Actor, director, producer
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Dana Carlson (1995–present, separated)
Children	Valentin Schweiger Luna Schweiger Lilli Schweiger Emma Tiger Schweiger
Website
www.til-schweiger.de

Tilman Valentin "Til" Schweiger (German pronunciation: [ˈtɪlman ˈvaləntiːn ˈʃvaɪɡɐ]; born 19 December 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. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin.

Early life

Schweiger was born in Freiburg, West Germany to two teachers. He grew up in Heuchelheim closed to Giessen in Hesse, where he went to school. Later he attended acting lessons at Der Keller in Cologne and graduated in 1989.

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. 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. 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. Schweiger will reprise his role as Henry in its upcoming sequel, Kokowääh 2, co-starring his daughter Emma Schweiger. The film will be released on February 7, 2013.

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, Joe and Max, and The Replacement Killers. His latest big screen appearance was as Hugo Stiglitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Schweiger appeared in the US productions The Courier with Mickey Rourke and This Means War (2012), with Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon.

Personal life

He married American model Dana Carlson on 19 June 1995. The couple has four children: Valentin Florian Schweiger (born 17 September 1995), Luna Marie Schweiger (born 11 January 1997), Lilli Camille Schweiger (born 17 July 1998), and Emma Tiger Schweiger (born 26 October 2002). They separated in 2005, but have not divorced.

Schweiger has been in a relationship with model Svenja Holtmann since 2010.

Filmography

Schweiger at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival

Year	Film	Role	Notes and awards
1991	Manta, Manta	Bertie
1993	Ebbies Bluff		Max-Ophüls-Preis Best Actor Newcomer Award
1994	Maybe, Maybe Not	Axel Feldheim	Bambi
1995	Männerpension	Steinbock	Bambi; DIVA-Award
1997	Knockin' On Heaven's Door	Martin Brest	Also Writer and Producer 20th Moscow International Film Festival - Best Actor; Jupiter Best Actor; Goldene Kamera Best Actor
1997	Bandyta (Bastard)	Brute	Polish Film Festival (Polish Oscar) Best Actor; Bravo Otto Best Actor
1998	Judas Kiss	Ruben Rubenbauer
1998	Der Eisbär	Leo	Also Director and Producer
1998	SLC Punk!	Mark
1998	The Replacement Killers	Ryker
1999	Der große Bagarozy	Stanislaus Nagy
2000	Magicians	Max
2001	Driven	Beau Brandenburg
2001	Investigating Sex	Monty
2001	Was tun, wenn's brennt?	Tim
2002	Joe and Max	Max Schmeling
2003	Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life	Sean
2003	Hessischer Kulturpreis
2004	King Arthur	Cynric
2004	In Enemy Hands	Captain Jonas Herdt
2004	Les Dalton	Lucky Luke
2004	(T)Raumschiff Surprise - Periode 1	Rock Fertig Aus	Bambi Best Actor
2005	Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo	Heinz Hummer the Gigolo with the most below
2005	Barfuss	Nick Keller	Also Writer, Director and Producer Bambi Best Film
2006	One Way	Eddie Schneider	Also Producer
2006	Wo ist Fred?	Fred Krüppers	Jupiter Best Actor
2007	Already Dead	The Man
2007	Body Armour	John Ridley
2007	Keinohrhasen	Ludo Decker	Also Writer, Director and Producer Ernst-Lubitsch-Preis Best Comedy ; Bambi Best Film; Deutscher Comedypreis Best Comedy; Jupiter Best Film; 2x DIVA-Award Best Film
2008	The Red Baron	Werner Voss	Bravo Otto
2008	Phantomschmerz	Marc
2008	Far Cry	Jack Carver
2008	1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde	Ritter Lanze	Also Director and Producer
2009	Inglourious Basterds	Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2009	Männerherzen	Jerome Ades
2009	Zweiohrküken (Keinohrhasen 2)	Ludo Decker	Also Writer, Director and Producer Deutscher Comedypreis Best Comedy
2011	The Three Musketeers	Cagliostro
2011	The Courier	FBI agent
2011	Kokowääh	Henry	Also Writer, Director and Producer
2011	Männerherzen 2	Jerome
2011	New Year's Eve	James Schwab
2012	This Means War	Heinrich
2012	Schutzengel	Max	Also Director and Producer
2013	The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman	Darko
2013	Kokowääh 2	Henry	Also Writer, Director and Producer
Year	TV Show	Role	Notes and awards
1989–1992	Lindenstraße	Jo Zenker
2013-present	Tatort	Nick Tschiller	Tatort in Hamburg

External links

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