Photo:Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images
Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images
Peter Simonischek, an Austrian actor best known for his role in theOscar-nominated 2016 filmToni Erdmann,died at 76 overnight on Tuesday.
“The Burgtheater loses a loving, caring colleague, a friend, a man of the heart, an outstanding personality,” the statement reads of Simonischek’s death, describing the actor as “a person who took a stand, who was interested in the issues of the time and stood up for his opinion.”
Simonischek, who was born in Graz, Austria, in 1946, began his acting career in Switzerland and worked as an ensemble member at the Schaubühne Theater in Berlin from 1979 to 1999, according to the Burgtheater’s website.
The actor then joined the Burgtheater’s ensemble in 1999 and was made an honorary member of the country’s national theater in 2019, playing a wide variety of classic roles in his time on the stage, according to the theater’s obituary.
Gisela Schober/Getty Images
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Matthias Rader/picture alliance via Getty Images
“The Burgtheater loses a complex, versatile and great artist. Our thoughts and sympathy are with his family,” the theater finished in its statement concerning Simonischek’s death Tuesday.
Simonischek was a regular performer at Austria’s annual music and theater festival Salzburg Festival, where he frequently starred in performances of the playJedermann (Everyman), according toThe Hollywood Reporter. He also made a minor appearance in the most recentFantastic Beastsmovie,The Secrets of Dumbledore, as a prison warden who briefly interacts with protagonist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) while he rescues his brother Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner).
source: people.com
