Karl Markovics is an Austrian actor and film director. He was born in Vienna, Austria.

Biography

Markovics' mother worked as a clerk and his father was a bus driver. Markovics did not want to go into a professional career but wanted to become a stage actor, which his parents supported. However, he failed to pass the entry exam for the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar. He did not let this deter him from his dream and began performing at the Serapions Theater in Vienna. In 1987, he started working with the Wiener Ensemble. In 1991, he got his first part in the movie, "Hund und Katz" and in 1993, he played the part of the innkeeper in

Paul Harather Paul Harather (born 30 March 1965 in Mödling, Lower Austria) is an Austrian film director, producer and screenplay author. He is considered one of the early artists in Austria's new wave film (1990s to the present). Harather studied at the Univ ...

's tragic-comedy road movie " Indien". Markovics became known to a wider audience when he played Ernst Stockinger, appearing in the Austrian crime show "

Inspector Rex ''Inspector Rex'' (German: ''Kommissar Rex''; Italian: ''Il commissario Rex'') is an Austrian-Italian police procedural comedy-drama television series created by Peter Hajek and Peter Moser. Originally an Austrian series aired from 1994 to 2004 on ...

", and then later in the spin-off series " Stockinger". Roles followed with parts in "

Hinterholz 8 ''Hinterholz 8'' is a 1998 Austrian comedy film directed by Harald Sicheritz. It is the most successful Austrian film in Austria since the 1960s with admissions of 617,597. Cast * Roland Düringer - Herbert Krcal * Nina Proll - Margit Krcal * ...

", "Late Show" and – as the main character acting alongside Julia Stemberger - in Geboren in Absurdistan, as well as in " Komm, süßer Tod. Markovics performed in many TV and theater productions, including those at Viennese theaters

Theater in der Josefstadt The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

and Wiener Volkstheater, where in 2005 he directed his first play production, The Bald Singer, by Eugène Ionesco. Markovics starred as Salomon Sorowitsch in Stefan Ruzowitzky's 2007 film '' The Counterfeiters'', which was awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for that year. Prior to that, his most notable appearances have been in the highly acclaimed Austrian (Viennese)

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

'' Komm, süßer Tod'' (2001), his role as far-right terrorist Franz Fuchs in the 2007 TV film ''Franz Fuchs - Ein Patriot'', and in the police drama television series ''

''. His character from ''Inspector Rex'' had his own spin-off series, '' Stockinger''. He also played the role of

Ferdinand aus der Fünten Ferdinand Hugo aus der Fünten (17 December 1909 – 19 April 1989), widely known as Fünten, was an '' SS-Hauptsturmführer'' and head of the Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Amsterdam during the Second World War. He was responsible for ...

in the 2012 Dutch film '' Süskind'', and a small role (Wolf) in the acclaimed 2014 comedy ''

The Grand Budapest Hotel ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' is a 2014 comedy-drama film written and directed by Wes Anderson. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a twentieth-century mountainside resort in the fiction ...

''. He also plays a supporting role in the German television series ''

Babylon Berlin ''Babylon Berlin'' is a German neo-noir television series. Created, written, and directed by Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, and Hendrik Handloegten. It is loosely based on novels by German author Volker Kutscher. The series premiered on 13 ...

''. Markovics remains a frequent stage actor, and in April 2010 played the non-singing role of ''Samiel'' in ''Counterfeiters''-director Ruzowitzky's first opera production, ''

Der Freischütz ' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 18 ...

'' at Vienna's

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

. He directed and wrote '' Atmen'' in 2011.

Personal life

Markovics is married to actress Stephanie Taussig. They have two children, Louis and Leonie, and reside in Vienna, Austria.

Selected filmography

External links

*
Movie Guide and Film Series

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, March 21, 2008. Accessed January 4, 2011.
Die Fälscher (videorecording) = The counterfeiters
Dayton Metro Library. Accessed January 4, 2011. *
Karl Markovics alias "Samiel" zu Gast bei LUDWIG REITER

. Accessed January 4, 2011. 1963 births Austrian male film actors Living people Male actors from Vienna Austrian film directors German-language film directors Austrian male television actors {{Austria-actor-stub