Since the early 1970s, Klaus Maria Brandauer has been one of the most sought-after actors on German-language stages. His most important roles include Shakespeare’s Romeo, Schiller’s Fiesco, Büchner’s Leonce and the Prince in Lessing’s Emilia Galotti, which he played in Fritz Kortner’s legendary production. Since 1972 he has been a member of the Vienna Burgtheater – of which he is now an honorary member – and where he has appeared as Don Carlos, as Ferdinand, as Tartuffe, over a hundred times as Hamlet and as Lessing’s Nathan the Wise.
In 2007, Klaus Maria Brandauer played Wallenstein in Peter Stein’s ten-hour production at the Berliner Ensemble. With Sophocles’ “Oedipus on Colonus” he returned to the Salzburg Festival in summer 2010, where he had played Jedermann from 1983 to 1989. Together with Peter Stein he also worked on the role of the village judge Adam in Heinrich von Kleist’s “Der zerbrochne Krug”, the Krapp in “Das letzte Band” by Samuel Beckett, as well as Shakespeare’s “King Lear”.
In addition to his acting work, Klaus Maria Brandauer regularly directs plays. In recent years he has directed Esther Vilar’s “Speer” in Berlin and London, “Hamlet” at Vienna’s Burgtheater, Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Cologne Opera and Bertolt Brecht’s “Die Dreigroschenoper” at Berlin’s Admiralspalast.
Klaus Maria Brandauer is one of the few German-speaking actors to have gained worldwide recognition. In 1970 he made his film debut in the Hollywood production “The Salzburg Connection”. In the course of the years followed the James Bond flick “Never Say Never Again”, “Out Of Africa”, “White Fang”, “Streets Of Gold”, “Rembrandt”, “Introducing Dorothy”, as well as “Tetro” directed by Francis Ford Coppola. With his friend István Szabó he created the film trilogy “Colonel Redl”-“Mephisto”-“Hanussen”. As a director he filmed “Georg Elser – One from Germany” and “Mario and the Magician” by Thomas Mann.
Klaus Maria Brandauer’s work has been honoured and awarded many times. These include honorary citizenship of his hometown Altaussee and an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University. He has been awarded the New York Film Critics Circle Award, the Golden Globe, the Federal Film Prize, the Nestroy Theatre Prize for his life’s work, the Stanislawski Prize, the Peace Prize of German Film – Die Brücke, the Ring of Honour of the Province of Styria and the Ring of Honour of the Burgtheater, among others.
