This page uses content from the Maximilian Schell biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Maximilian Schell (born December 8, 1930) is an Austrian actor. His late elder sister, Maria Schell, was also an actress, as are his two other far less well-known siblings, Carl and Immy (Immaculata) Schell.

Career

Born in Vienna and raised in Zurich, Switzerland, he made his Hollywood debut in 1958 in the World War II film The Young Lions. In 1961, he took the role of the defense attorney in Judgment at Nuremberg, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, a role he had initiated in a live television performance. 1974's The Pedestrian, which Schell wrote, produced, directed, and starred in, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

Schell has refused to be typecast. Although he was top billed in a number of Nazi-era themed films as The Man in the Glass Booth, A Bridge Too Far, Cross of Iron, The Odessa File, Julia, and Judgment at Nuremberg, he has also appeared in Topkapi, The Black Hole, The Freshman, Stalin, Deep Impact, Candles in the Dark, and Erste Liebe.

Among fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Schell is best known for his appearance in Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark, a German language version of Hamlet screened on the show.

Schell has also served as a writer, producer and director for a variety of films. In 2002 he released My Sister Maria, a documentary about the career of and his relationship with Maria Schell.

In 2000, he collapsed and was diagnosed with pancreatitis related to his diabetes. At the time, he was starring on Broadway in the premiere of the stage version of Judgment at Nuremberg, changing roles from the defense lawyer to the lead judge on trial for crimes against humanity.

Since the 1990s, Schell has appeared in many German language made-for-TV films, such as the 2003 film Alles Glück dieser Erde (All the Luck in the World) opposite Uschi Glas and in the mini-series The Return of the Dancing Master (2004), which was based on Henning Mankell's novel.

He is the godfather of Angelina Jolie, daughter of Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand.

In the mid 1960s, Schell reportedly was engaged to marry the African American fashion model Donyale Luna, though the wedding never happened.

Filmography (incomplete)

• 1958 - The Young Lions with Marlon Brando
• 1961 - Judgment at Nuremberg
• 1962 - The Reluctant Saint
• 1964 - Topkapi with Peter Ustinov
• 1968 - Heidi
• 1971 - Erste Liebe with Dominique Sanda, based on the novella First Love, by Ivan Turgenev
• 1974 - The Odessa File with Jon Voight
• 1975 - Der Richter und sein Henker as Regisseur
• 1976 - Cross of Iron with James Coburn
• 1977 - Julia with Jane Fonda
• 1977 - A Bridge Too Far with Sean Connery, Michael Caine
• 1979 - The Black Hole
• 1981 - The Chosen with Rod Steiger and Robby Benson, based on the Chaim Potok novel of the same name
• 1985 - The Phantom of the Opera with Jane Seymour (actress) and Michael York
• 1990 - The Freshman with Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick
• 1994 - Little Odessa
• 1996 - The Eighteenth Angel
• 1998 - John Carpenter's Vampires
• 1998 - Deep Impact with Elijah Wood, Tea Leoni, Morgan Freeman
• 2004 - Coast To Coast with Selma Blair, Richard Dreyfuss

Academy Awards and nominations

• 1978 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Julia
• 1976 - Nominated Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Man in the Glass Booth
• 1961 - Won Best Actor in a Leading Role - Judgment at Nuremberg

External link

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.