Otto Tausig (13 February 1922 – 10 October 2011) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n writer, director and actor. Although he usually appeared in

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

films, he also played in

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

films such as '' Love Comes Lately'', and in

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in N ...

films such as '' La Reine Margot'' and ''

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It i ...

''.

Life and career

Tausig was the son of Jewish female author

Franziska Tausig Franziska Tausig (c. 1895 – 1989) was an Austrian author. Her parents were deported to Theresienstadt and murdered in Treblinka. She gave birth to her son, Otto Tausig, in 1922 in Vienna. He later became an actor and director. In 1938, the perse ...

. When the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938, she managed to send 16-year-old Otto to England in answer to an advertisement for factory workers which had been posted in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

''.Frank-Burkhard Habel, Volker Wachter: ''Das große Lexikon der DDR-Stars'', Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2002, The two were eventually reunited in Vienna in 1948. Tausig returned to Austria in 1946 and enrolled in the

Max Reinhardt Seminar The Max Reinhardt Seminar (Reinhardt Seminar) is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. It is located in the Palais Cumberland, Penzingerstraße 9, in Vienna's 14th district (). History A ''Leh ...

in Vienna. In 1948 he began as an actor, director and chief editor at the New Theatre in the Scala. The New Theatre closed in 1956, after which Tausig worked at the Deutsches Theater and the Volksbühne in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

, as a screenwriter and director of satirical short films of DEFA, the so-called " Das Stacheltier".Otto Tausig: ''Kasperl, Kummerl, Jud Eine Lebensgeschichte'', Mandelbaum, Wien 2003, In 1960 he moved to Zurich to work at the Schauspielhaus as a free-lance actor and director. A decade later, Tausig was an ensemble member and director at the Vienna Burgtheater, where he was active until 1983. Tausig also worked as a freelance artist throughout the

German-speaking world This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in Europ ...

, and taught courses at the Max Reinhardt Seminar. He frequently wrote and directed German television films. He was cremated at

Feuerhalle Simmering Feuerhalle Simmering is a crematorium with attached urn burial ground in the Simmering district of Vienna, Austria. It lies at the end of an alley, directly opposite Vienna Central Cemetery's main gate. Description Opened on 17 December 1922 by ...

, his ashes are buried in

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

Awards

Nestroy 2009 (33), Otto Tausig, David Larible

* 1995: Johann Nestroy Ring * 1997: Bruno Kreisky Award for Services to the Human Rights * 2005: European Peace Rose Waldhausen * 2007:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

* 2009:

Nestroy Theatre Prize The Nestroy Theatre Prize is an Austrian theatre award named after the poet Johann Nestroy. In 2000, the city of Vienna decided to combine two less noticed theatre awards: the Kainz Medal and the Nestroy Ring for Viennese Satire. The prize honours ...

, Award for Lifetime Achievement

Filmography

*''Gasparone'' (1955) *''

Kurzer Prozess ''Kurzer Prozess'' is a 1967 German crime film directed by Michael Kehlmann. Cast * Helmut Qualtinger - Inspektor Pokorny * Gudrun Thielemann - Karin Nieburg * Alexander Kerst - Wolfert * Bruni Löbel - Fräulein Schebesta * Franz Stoss - Mini ...

'' (1967) as Brenner *''Bomber & Paganini'' (1976) as Simulant *' (1976) as Maurer *''Den Tüchtigen gehört die Welt'' (1981) as Kramml – Gemüsehändler *' (1984) *'' Nocturne indien'' (1989) as Peter Schlemihl *'' Abraham's Gold'' (1990) as Pfarrer *' (1994) as Isaak Aufrichtig *'' La Reine Margot'' (1994) as Mendès *''Die Schuld der Liebe'' (1997) as Auracher *''

'' (1998) as Samy *''Black Flamingos – Sie lieben euch zu Tode'' (1998) *''Nobel'' (2001) as Gustav *'' Everyman's Feast'' (2002) as Jan Jedermann's father *''

Gebürtig ''Gebürtig'' is a 2002 Austrian drama film directed by Robert Schindel and Lukas Stepanik. It was selected as the Austrian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 75th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. Cast * Peter Simonische ...

'' (2002) as Alter Mann beim Casting *''Epsteins Nacht'' (2002) as Karl Rose *'' SuperTex'' (2003) as Van Gelder *'' Poor Relatives'' (2005) as Samuel *'' Love Comes Lately'' (2007) as Max Kohn *''Das Vaterspiel'' (2009) as Großvater *'' Berlin 36'' (2009) as Leo Löwenstein

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tausig, Otto 1922 births 2011 deaths Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Austrian male film actors Austrian Jews Austrian male stage actors Austrian male television actors Male actors from Vienna Place of death missing 20th-century Austrian male actors 21st-century Austrian male actors