Karl Markovics (born 29 August 1963) is an Austrian actor and film director. He was born in Vienna, Austria. He starred in

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

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

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 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'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 television series created by Peter Hajek and Peter Moser. Originally an Austrian series aired from 1994 to 2004 on ORF 1, in ...

", 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. Plot Herbert and Margit Krcal are a middle-class couple living in Vien ...

", "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 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#Avant-garde, French avant-garde th ...

. Markovics starred as Salomon Sorowitsch in

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

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 black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

'' 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 ''

''. His character from ''Inspector Rex'' had his own spin-off series, '' Stockinger''. He also played the role of Ferdinand aus der Fünten 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, directed, and co-produced by Wes Anderson. Ralph Fiennes leads a seventeen-actor ensemble cast as Monsieur Gustave H., famed concierge of a twentieth-century mountainside resort ...

''. 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 Volker Kutscher. The series premiered on 13 October 2017 o ...

''. 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 ' (Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns, J. 277, Opus number, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Johann Fried ...

'' 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 prim ...

. 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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, 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