Christoph Waltz Movies and Career Information

Christoph Waltz (German pronunciation: [ˈvalts]; born 4 October 1956) is an Austrian-German actor. He has received international acclaim for his portrayal of SS Colonel Hans Landa in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and the Best Supporting Actor at the 82nd Academy Awards in 2010. Waltz studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. He also attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York. He started as a stage actor, performing at venues such as Zurich's Schauspielhaus Zürich, Vienna's Burgtheater, or the Salzburg Festival. He became a prolific actor on television. In 2000, he directed his first film, the TV production Wenn man sich traut. In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed Standartenführer Hans Landa of the Schutzstaffel (SS) aka "The Jew Hunter." For this character who is courteous and speaks four languages but is self serving, cunning and callous, 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 has received acclaim from critics