Til Schweiger

Date of Birth

19 December 1963, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Birth Name

Tilman Valentin Schweiger

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Actor, producer, writer and director Til Schweiger is Germany's most successful filmmaker and biggest movie star. With more than 51 Million admissions no other German filmmaker drew more people to the cinemas. He runs his own production company Barefoot Films in Berlin.

Born in Freiburg, Germany on December 19th in 1963, Til Schweiger was raised along with his two brothers in his hometown Giessen, Germany. Schweiger went on to attend University, where he studied German and Medicine. Collecting first acting experiences during this time, he decided to give up University for drama school in 1986. After graduation in 1989 he played at several theaters in Cologne and Bonn.

In front of the screen, Schweiger first appeared as an actor in 1991 in Manta, Manta (1991). Supported by his mentor, Germanys biggest Filmproducer Bernd Eichinger, he had his breakthrough role in Maybe... Maybe Not (1994). Following this role, Schweiger developed quite a fan base and began appearing on lists everywhere. His film career continued with big roles in several successful German movies.

In 1995 Schweiger married American model Dana Carlson on June 19th. A few months later their first child Valentin Florian was born.

In 1996 Schweiger was the first foreign actor who won the "Polish Oscar" at the International Warsaw Filmfestival for his performance in Bandyta (1997). In 1997 Schweigers first daughter, Luna Marie was born. In the same year, short before Christmas, Schweiger went to a bookstore to buy presents for his family. The same did Thomas Jahn who had written several scripts. They started talking and ended up making a movie together. Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997) was Schweiger's debut as a producer and (uncredited) director. The film remains a cult favorite for audiences worldwide.

In 1998 his and Danas third child, Lilli Camille was born. In the same year Schweiger appeared in two remarkable international productions The Replacement Killers (1998) and SLC Punk! (1998). A wide range of American films were following. In 2002 his youngest daughter Emma was born.

Shooting successfully all over the world, Til and Dana Schweiger separated in 2005, but have not divorced.

In the same year Schweiger won numerous Awards for Barfuss (2005) in 2005 which he wrote, directed and starred in.

This absolute artistic freedom became a prosperous model for his following projects. The most famous one was Rabbit Without Ears (2007) which was also written, produced and directed by Schweiger and became the most successful film in German Theaters in 2008 with a box office result of USD 58.000.000. The film won a Bambi Award, a Bavarian Film Award, the German Comedy Award, two DIVA Awards, a Jupiter Award and the Ernst Lubitsch Award.

As an actor he received much attention on his big screen appearance as the legendary Hugo Stieglitz in Quentin Tarantinos Inglourious Basterds (2009). During this year he achieved more admissions than any other German actor since 1968, when the FFA started counting.

His latest film and seventh work as a director, co-writer, producer and actor is called Kokowääh (2011). The film is co-starring his youngest daughter Emma and a huge success in when it started in February 2011. IMDb Mini Biography By: Barefoot Films GmbH

Spouse

Dana Carlsen

(19 June 1995 - present) (separated) 4 children

Trivia

He and his wife Dana Carlsen have 4 children: Valentin Schweiger (born in 1995), Luna Schweiger (born in 1997), Lilli Schweiger (born in 1998) and Emma Schweiger (born in October 2002).

After studying German at the university for two years to become a teacher, he attended acting lessons at a drama school in Cologne.

Turned down the role of the German soldier, who shoots Tom Hanks's character (Captain John H. Miller) in Saving Private Ryan (1998) because he had reservations about the role's effect on his image at the American audience.

Lives in Berlin, Germany (2007).

First non-Polish actor who received the Best Actor Award at the Polish Film Festival (1998) for his role in Bandyta (1997).

After the separation from his wife Dana, he moved to Berlin (2006).

Attended acting lessons at "Der Keller" in Cologne and graduated in 1989.

His parents both were teachers.

Although being a box office hit in Germany, his movie Rabbit Without Ears (2007) wasn't nominated for a German Film Award. The reason for this was that the German Film Academy didn't accept watermarked DVDs for the jury. But Warner Bros. does not distribute copies to juries without anti-piracy measures. Thus, he angrily left the German Film Academy, but finally decided to re-enter some weeks later (2008).

He runs his own production company Barefoot Films in Berlin.