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 The Max Reinhardt Seminar (Reinhardt Seminar) is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. It is located in the Palais Cumberland, Penzingerstraße 9, ...

. 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 ''Indien'' is a 1993 Austrian tragicomic road movie directed by Paul Harather. It was Austria's submission to the 66th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy ...

". Markovics became known to a wider audience when he played

Ernst Stockinger ''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 ...

, appearing in the Austrian crime show " Inspector Rex", and then later in the spin-off series "

Stockinger {{for, the surname, Stockinger (surname) ''Stockinger'' is an Austrian-made police procedural, police television drama, with fourteen 45-minute episodes first aired from 1996 to 1997. The series is a spin-off (media), spin-off from the popular Ital ...

". 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 The Volkstheater in Vienna (roughly translated as "People's Theatre") was founded in 1889 by request of the citizens of Vienna, amongst them the dramatist Ludwig Anzengruber and the furniture manufacturer Thonet, in order to offer a popular count ...

, where in 2005 he directed his first play production, The Bald Singer, by

Eugène Ionesco Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...

. Markovics starred as Salomon Sorowitsch in

Stefan Ruzowitzky Stefan Ruzowitzky (born 25 December 1961) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. Early life Ruzowitzky was born in Vienna. He studied drama and history at the University of Vienna and started directing music videos, for example for 'N ...

's 2007 film '' The Counterfeiters'', which was awarded the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

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 discus ...

'' Komm, süßer Tod'' (2001), his role as far-right terrorist

Franz Fuchs Franz Fuchs (12 December 1949 – 26 February 2000) was an Austrian domestic terrorist who killed four people and injured 15, some seriously, using three improvised explosive devices and 24 mail bombs, which he sent in five waves between 1993 an ...

in the 2007 TV film ''Franz Fuchs - Ein Patriot'', and in the police drama television series '' Inspector Rex''. His character from ''Inspector Rex'' had his own spin-off series, ''

''. 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 t ...

in the 2012 Dutch film '' Süskind'', and a small role (Wolf) in the acclaimed 2014 comedy '' The Grand Budapest Hotel''. He also plays a supporting role in the German television series '' Babylon Berlin''. 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 181 ...

'' 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 ''Breathing'' (german: Atmen) is a 2011 Austrian art house drama film written and directed by Karl Markovics. The film concerns a 19-year-old inmate in a detention facility for juveniles, with a pending application for parole, who is challenged to ...

'' 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 d ...

, 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