Early life

Waltz was born in Vienna, the son of German-born Johannes Waltz and Austrian-born Elisabeth Urbancic, set and costume designers. His maternal grandfather, Rudolf von Urban, was a psychiatrist and psychologist who wrote the book Sex Perfection and Marital Happiness. His maternal grandmother was Burgtheater actress Maria Mayen, and his step-grandfather was actor Emmerich Reimers. His great-grandparents also worked in theatre.

Career

Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. In the late 1970s, Waltz spent some time in New York City where he studied method acting with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler. He started as a stage actor, performing at venues such as Zurich's Schauspielhaus Zürich, Vienna's Burgtheater, and the Salzburg Festival. He became a prolific television actor in the years 1980 to 2000. In 2000, he made his directorial debut, with the German television production Wenn man sich traut. Before coming to the attention of a larger audience in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds he had played Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann in the British TV series The Gravy Train in 1990. The show is a story of intrigue and misdeeds set in the offices of the European Union in Brussels.

In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa, aka "The Jew Hunter". Clever, courteous, and multilingual — but also self-serving, cunning, implacable, and murderous — the character of Landa was such that Tarantino feared he "might have written a part that was un-playable". Waltz received the Best Actor Award for the performance at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and received acclaim from critics and the public. In 2009, he began sweeping critics' awards circuits, receiving awards for Best Supporting Actor from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and for Best Supporting Actor at the 67th Golden Globe Awards and the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2010.

The following month, he won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. As of 2015, he is the only actor to have won an Academy Award for playing a character in a Tarantino film. Tarantino acknowledged the importance of Waltz to his film by stating: "I think that Landa is one of the best characters I've ever written and ever will write, and Christoph played it to a tee. It's true that if I couldn't have found someone as good as Christoph I might not have made Inglourious Basterds".

Waltz played gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet (2011); that same year, he starred in Water for Elephants and Roman Polanski's Carnage. He played German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), a role Tarantino wrote specifically for Waltz. During a training accident prior to filming, Waltz injured his pelvis. His role garnered him awards acclaim once again, with Waltz winning the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, and ultimately the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Waltz has been cast as the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the film Reykjavik, based on the 1986 peace talks between the United States and USSR. In April 2013, he was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. In late 2013, he directed a production of the opera Der Rosenkavalier at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, Belgium. In 2014, he was selected as a member of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. He starred as Walter Keane in Tim Burton's Big Eyes, which opened on 25 December 2014, and appeared as the villain in Spectre, the 24th film in the James Bond franchise.

In 2015, it was announced that Waltz will direct and star in the film The Worst Marriage in Georgetown, which is based on the true crime story of the murder of Viola Drath. In July 2016 he will portray the lead villain Captain Leon Rom, a corrupt Belgian captain in the upcoming reboot The Legend of Tarzan.

Personal life

Waltz has three children with his former wife. He is raising a daughter (b. 2005) with his second wife, costume designer Judith Holste. They divide their time among Berlin, London, and Los Angeles.

Waltz's native language is German and he is fluent in English and French. He speaks all three of these in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, and although his character in Inglourious Basterds also spoke Italian, Waltz stated on the Adam Carolla Podcast that he does not speak it fluently. He is his own voice actor for both the French and German dubs of each film.

Waltz was born in Vienna to a German father who applied for him to become a citizen of Germany after his birth. He received Austrian citizenship in 2010, thus holding citizenships of both Austria and Germany, but considers his German passport a "legal, citizenship law banality". Asked whether he felt Viennese, he responded: "I was born in Vienna, grew up in Vienna, went to school in Vienna, graduated in Vienna, studied in Vienna, started acting in Vienna - and there would be a few further Viennese links. How much more Austrian do you want it?"

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Kopfstand	Markus
1982	Fire and Sword	Tristan
1986	Wahnfried	Friedrich Nietzsche
1988	Quicker Than the Eye	Police Chief
1991	Życie za życie. Maksymilian Kolbe	Jan Tytz	Credited as Chistopher Waltz
1995	Ein Anfang von etwas	Herbert
1997	Our God's Brother	Maksymilian Gierymski
1998	Sieben Monde	Kommissar Becker
	Love Scenes from Planet Earth	Charly
1999	Die Braut	Duke Karl August
2000	Wenn man sich traut		writer and director
	Death, Deceit and Destiny Aboard the Orient Express	Tarik
	Ordinary Decent Criminal	Peter
	Falling Rocks	Louis
2001	She	Leo Vincey's father
	Queen's Messenger	Ali Ben Samm
2003	Angst	Psychoanalyst
	Gun-shy	Johannsen
	Berlin Blues (also known as Herr Lehmann)	Doctor
2004	Pact with the Devil (also known as Dorian)	Rolf Steiner
2006	Lapislazuli - im Auge des Bären	Czerny
2009	Inglourious Basterds	Standartenführer Hans Landa	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture London Film Critics' Circle Award for Supporting Actor of the Year Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2011	Green Hornet, TheThe Green Hornet	Benjamin Chudnofsky
	Water for Elephants	August Rosenbluth
	Three Musketeers, TheThe Three Musketeers	Cardinal Richelieu
	Carnage	Alan Cowan
2012	Django Unchained	Dr. King Schultz	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
2013	Epic	Mandrake	Voice
	The Zero Theorem	Qohen Leth	Also co-producer
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	Himself	Cameo
	Horrible Bosses 2	Burt Hanson
	Big Eyes	Walter Keane	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
2015	Spectre	Ernst Stavro Blofeld
2016	The Legend of Tarzan	Captain Rom	Completed
	Tulip Fever	Cornelis Sandvoort	Completed
2017	Downsizing		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Am dam des	(singer)
1977	Der Einstand		Television film
1979	Feuer!	Karl Albrecht Schlick	Television film
	Parole Chicago	Eduard "Ede" Bredo	13 episodes
1982	The Mysterious Stranger	Ernst Wasserman	Television film
	Dr. Margarete Johnsohn	Rainer	Television film
1983	Der Sandmann	Nathanael	Television film
1985	Ein Fall für zwei	Alf	Episode: "Blutsbande"
1986	The Old Fox	Hans Baumeister	Episode: "Zwei Leben"
	Derrick	Eberhard Bothe	Episode: "Schonzeit für Mörder"
	Lenz oder die Freiheit	Franz Sigel	Television miniseries
1987	Tatort	Inspektor Passini	Episode: "Wunschlos tot"
	Das andere Leben	Stefan	Television film
1988	Alien Years, TheThe Alien Years	Stefan Mueller	Television film
	Derrick	Schumann	Episode: "Mord inklusive"
1989	Goldeneye	German spy	Television film
1990	The Gravy Train	Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann	4 episodes
	The Old Fox	Christian Kamp	Episode: "So gut wie tot"
1991	The Gravy Train Goes East	Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann	4 episodes
1992	5 Zimmer, Küche, Bad	Hartwig Klemmnitz	Television film
	Die Angst wird bleiben	Manfred	Television film
1993	König der letzten Tage (also known as A King for Burning)	John of Leiden	Television film
1994	Tag der Abrechnung - Der Amokläufer von Euskirchen	Erwin Mikolajczyk	Television film
	Jacob	Morash	Television film
	Die Staatsanwältin	Andreas Doepke	Television film
1995	The All New Alexei Sayle Show	Weak Moustache	Episode #2.3
	Prinz zu entsorgen	Roman	Television film
	Man(n) sucht Frau	Christoph	Television film
	Catherine the Great	Mirovich	Television film
1996	Der Tourist	Stephan Görner	Television film
	Du bist nicht allein - Die Roy Black Story	Roy Black	Television film
	Rosa Roth	Wietze	Episode: "Nirgendwohin"
	Rex: A Cop's Best Friend	Martin Wolf	Episode: "Der Puppenmörder"
1997	Maître Da Costa	Walter Mueller	2 episodes
	Faust	Gerhardt Schulze-Leitner	Episode: "Villa Palermo"
	Schimanski	Klaus Mandel	Episode: "Blutsbrüder"
1998	Vickys Alptraum	Johnny	Television film
	Schock - Eine Frau in Angst	Kommissar Kaul	Television film
	Final Game, TheThe Final Game	Kant	Television film
	Rache für mein totes Kind	Paul	Television film
	Mörderisches Erbe - Tausch mit einer Toten	Moritz Fink	Television film
1999	Dessine-moi un jouet	Klaus Hermann	Television film
2000	The Beast (also known as Das Teufelsweib)	Herbert Fink	Television film
2001	Engel sucht Flügel	Caspari	Television film
	Riekes Liebe	Ice dancing coach Karlhoff	Television film
	Der Tanz mit dem Teufel	Dieter Cilov	Television film
2002	Dienstreise - Was für eine Nacht	Klaus-Dieter Lehmann	Television film
	Weihnachtsmann gesucht	Johannes Böhmke	Television film
2003	Jagd auf den Flammenmann	Brisky	Television film
	Der Mörder ist unter uns (also known as Der Fall Gehring)	Martin Bach	Television film
	Zwei Tage Hoffnung	Michael Berg	Television film
	Jennerwein	Pföderl	Television film
	Tigeraugen sehen besser	Dr. Thilo Rylow	Television film
2004	Scheidungsopfer Mann	Benedikt von Arn	Television film
	Mörderische Suche	Richard Benedek	Television film
	Schöne Witwen küssen besser	Jean-France	Television film
2005	Die Patriarchin	Wolf Sevening	3 episodes
	Der Elefant: Mord verjährt nie	Richard Seemann	Episode: "Verlorene Jahre"
2006	SOKO Rhein-Main	Andreas Senner	Episode: "Schuld und Sühne"
	Polizeiruf 110	Dr. Juris Gríns	Episode: "Die Lettin und ihr Lover"
	Stolberg	Paul Büttner	Episode: "Kreuzbube"
	Tatort	Prof. Robert Henze	Episode: "Schlaflos in Weimar"
	Franziskas Gespür für Männer	Karl Löwen	Television film
2007	Der Staatsanwalt	Dr. Claudius Tressen	Episode: "Glückskinder"
	Der letzte Zeuge	Dr. Martin York	Episode: "Martinspassion"
	Unter Verdacht	Thomas Sell	Episode: "Hase and Igel"
	Die Zürcher Verlobung - Drehbuch zur Liebe	Frank "Büffel" Arbogast	Television film
	Die Verzauberung	Dr. Helmut Bahr	Television film
2008	Das Geheimnis im Wald	Hans Kortmann	Television film
	Todsünde	Sebastian Flies	Television film
	Das jüngste Gericht	Peters	Television film
	Die Anwälte	Herbert Jahn	Episode: "Leben und Tod"
	Tatort	Gerd Weißenbach	Episode: "Liebeswirren"
2013	Saturday Night Live	Host	Episode: "Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes"

As director

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Wenn man Sich traut
2016	The Worst Marriage in Georgetown

Accolades

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Christoph Waltz

[ Source: Wikipedia ]