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Oskar Josef Bschliessmayer was born on November, 13, 1922, in Vienna Austria. He was born in the Marchettigbasse 1A in Vienna Gumpendorf, a part of the 6th district of the city, not far from the place where Johann Strauss was born.
His parents were divorced when he was 6, and his mother supported them by working in a hat factory. During his childhood, he spent much of his time with his grandmother who told him stories of the Burgtheater, the Austrian State Theater.
Oskar attended grade school and the six-form high school ("Realschule"); his first stage role was in a school play. Before he went onstage he thought that, since he wanted to become an actor, he should remember his first line. He played a fireman and his only line was "Where's the fire?". Except for his brief role in this play, he had no acting instruction.
Oskar’s Uncle Franz provided some small "walk-on" parts for the aspiring actor in such films as Geld fällt von Himmel, Hotel Sacher (in which he played a bellhop) and Leinen aus Irland. For some speaking roles on the radio he received speech instruction from Helmuth Krauss. He appeared in the cabaret "Der Beisskorb" and in the theater "Die Komödie".
He left school without graduating. At the age of 18 he was accepted by Lothar Müthel to the Burgtheater. He was the youngest actor ever to have received such an honor. He made his debut under the stage name "Oskar Werner" on the 11th of October, 1941.
On December 3rd, following his 19th birthday, Oskar was drafted into the Wehrmacht. A dedicated pacifist and anti-Nazi, he hated his uniform and hated himself. In what may have been the greatest performance of his life, he convinced his superiors that he lacked the capability to become an officer by pretending to fall from his horse and making deliberate mistakes in operating cannons. So, instead of sending him as an officer to the Russian front, the army put him to work peeling potatoes and cleaning latrines. So, despite military service, Oskar was able to gain further experience on the stage of the Burgtheater.
His marriage to a fellow performer, Elisabeth Kallina had to be kept
secret because she was half Jewish. The Gestapo was watching them closely. In 1944 their daughter, Eleanore, was born.
During the Allied bombing of Vienna at this time he saw many friends killed. Afterwards he would say he knew the exact number of bombs dropped on his native city. He himself was buried for three days under rubble. On December 8, 1944 he took his wife and baby and deserted from the Wehrmacht. Until the end of the war they hid in a shack in the Vienna Woods, as he always said afterwards, "Without Johann Strauss."
When the Russians began their advance into the city, he and his wife, carrying their baby between them in a basket, ran from the Russians right into Oskar‘s old regiment. In the confusion they successfully escaped behind the lines. This was followed by many months of terrible depravation. At one point, he recalled his wife sold her valuable watch for "a can of filthy dirty grease."
Back on the Burgtheater stage, nearly starving, Oskar would nearly fall over from weakness. He recalled he "might have have weighed 110 pounds wearing my winter coat." After this, he made many appearances at the Burg- and Akademietheaters, in the Ronacher, Redoutensaal of the Hofburg, and at the Salzburg festivals. He also appeared in the Volks- and Raimundtheater and The Theater in der Josefstadt. In all, he appeared in 30 roles. Learning his craft by often playing old men and other character parts, he always said afterwards
"that is the way to learn your craft."
Oskar signed with Karl Hartl for the film Der Engel mit der Posaune, in 1948 the story of a Viennese family of piano makers. He played the dissolute "black sheep" of the family.
Also in 1948 Oskar made his debut as a combination of director and star with the theatre plays, Jugend and Der Feigling, to benefit the reconstruction of the Burgtheater. Then the following year he played the part of "Karl", Beethoven's nephew, in the film Eroica.
In 1950, Oskar went to England to play his part for Alexander Korda's English version of The Angel With The Trumpet. Having left the Burgtheater without permission, he was dismissed from the Burgtheater Federation without notice.
He and Elisabeth Kallina were divorced at about this time but remained lifelong friends nonetheless.
Early in 1951 he played the part of the student in the film Ruf aus dem Äther. In the same year Oskar appeared in the films Ein Lächeln im Sturm and The Wonder Kid. At this point, having been discovered at a party by director, Anatole Litvak, he signed a contract with 20th Century Fox to play the lead in his first American film Decision Before Dawn, opposite Hildegard Knef (Hildegarde Neff).
Decision Before Dawn was well-received, and both Oskar and Hildegard were honoured with a place in the walk of fame at the Grauman’s Theatre. After this film, he returned to the stage of The Theater in der Josefstadt, playing a prince in Leocadia. He appeared as a guest artist at the Burgtheater in Gesang im Feuerofen. He stated in a broadcast at this time Max Reinhardt's "speech over the actor" and this became his artistic Credo.
Following an unproductive stay in Hollywood as a result of his work in Decision Before Dawn, he dissolved his contract with 20th Century Fox in favor of a return to the stage to play Shakespeare's Hamlet.
With an architect friend, Oskar designed and built his home in Triesen, Liechtenstein. It was there, in seclusion, that he learned his lines for Hamlet while hiking the mountain paths. He felt "that in Hamlet I had found a twin." He signed the contract on his 30th birthday (1952). Hamlet was to become, to most of his devoted fans, his greatest role.
He appeared in the Zurich Schauspielhaus in Dantons Tod. Then made his first appearance in 1953 as Hamlet in Frankfurt/Main to superb reviews: "He does not perform "Hamlet". He IS "Hamlet.!" He also appeared in Der Prinz von Homburg.
In 1954, Oskar married Anne Power, daughter of French actress, Annabella, and adopted daughter of American actor, Tyrone Power. On the occasion of the reopening of the Burgtheater in 1955 he played the title role in Don Carlos, and, again appeared as Hamlet in The Theater in der Josefstadt under the direction of Lothar Müthel.
Having abandoned the movies for 4 years Oskar Werner came back to the screen in 1955 with four movies incl. Mozart and Der letzte Akt. br>
He established the "Theater Ensemble Oskar Werner" and starred in Bacchus. He also toured with Hamlet in 1957-1958. Then he wrote, directed and starred in Ein gewisser Judas (1958) under the alias "Erasmus Nothnagel."
In 1959 the "Theater Ensemble Oskar Werner" went to the Innsbruck Drama Festival with the pieces, Kabale und Liebe as well as Weh dem der lügt. Following the festival the group went on tour with both productions.br>
It was in 1960 when Oskar was called to return to the Burgtheater by Ernst Haeussermann. There he played "Prince Hal" in Shakespeare's Henry IV., the title part in Torguato Tasso and starred as Thomas Becket in Becket oder die Ehre Gottes. He played the title role in Shakespeare's Henry V. (1961) and settled the Burgtheater contract.
Werner starred as Orpheus by Felix Braun with the Bregenzer Festivals. Later he took his Ensemble on tour with Torquato Tasso.
The success of Francois Truffaut’s movie Jules et Jim, made in 1962, in which Oskar played the part of sensitive Jules, led to several roles in international movies. Biggest success of such movies like Fahrenheit 451 (again with Truffaut), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Interlude and The Shoes of the Fisherman was Stanley Kramer’s Ship of Fools. Featuring Oskar Werner in the part of Dr. Schumann, earned him an Étoile Crystal and NYFCC Award as well as nominations for both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award.
br>
During this period, his marriage to Anne Power ended in divorce. In 1966 Felix Florian, Oskar's son from a liason with American model, Diane Anderson, was born.
However, in 1970, he returned to his first love, the stage, starring in and directing Hamlet with his Theater Ensemble at the Salzburg Festival.
Most of the 1970's, he spent much time traveling to Israel, Italy, Malta, France and the USA. He was coming out of retirement only to do readings of "poems against the war" annually, while he was living in Vienna and his summer home in Thallern in the Wachau. His last role in films was the one of Dr. Kreisler in Voyage of the Damned in 1976.
Oskar starred in a play for the last time in 1983 in Der Prinz von Homburg in Krems.
Sadly the alcoholism that Werner was a victim of through his life was, by now, slowly ending it. His last appearances were readings in the Palais Auersperg; a commemoration ceremony for the Jews; and a reading in the large Mozart Hall in Salzburg just ten days before his death.
At the start of a projected reading tour of Germany, in the Hotel Europäischer Hof in Marburg an der Lahn, on October 22, 1984, Oskar announced that he felt ill, and cancelled that night's reading. The next morning, October 23, 1984, he was found dead of a heart attack.
Oskar was buried in his adopted country of Liechtenstein.
His parents were divorced when he was 6, and his mother supported them by working in a hat factory. During his childhood, he spent much of his time with his grandmother who told him stories of the Burgtheater, the Austrian State Theater.
Oskar attended grade school and the six-form high school ("Realschule"); his first stage role was in a school play. Before he went onstage he thought that, since he wanted to become an actor, he should remember his first line. He played a fireman and his only line was "Where's the fire?". Except for his brief role in this play, he had no acting instruction.
Oskar’s Uncle Franz provided some small "walk-on" parts for the aspiring actor in such films as Geld fällt von Himmel, Hotel Sacher (in which he played a bellhop) and Leinen aus Irland. For some speaking roles on the radio he received speech instruction from Helmuth Krauss. He appeared in the cabaret "Der Beisskorb" and in the theater "Die Komödie".
He left school without graduating. At the age of 18 he was accepted by Lothar Müthel to the Burgtheater. He was the youngest actor ever to have received such an honor. He made his debut under the stage name "Oskar Werner" on the 11th of October, 1941.
On December 3rd, following his 19th birthday, Oskar was drafted into the Wehrmacht. A dedicated pacifist and anti-Nazi, he hated his uniform and hated himself. In what may have been the greatest performance of his life, he convinced his superiors that he lacked the capability to become an officer by pretending to fall from his horse and making deliberate mistakes in operating cannons. So, instead of sending him as an officer to the Russian front, the army put him to work peeling potatoes and cleaning latrines. So, despite military service, Oskar was able to gain further experience on the stage of the Burgtheater.
His marriage to a fellow performer, Elisabeth Kallina had to be kept
secret because she was half Jewish. The Gestapo was watching them closely. In 1944 their daughter, Eleanore, was born. During the Allied bombing of Vienna at this time he saw many friends killed. Afterwards he would say he knew the exact number of bombs dropped on his native city. He himself was buried for three days under rubble. On December 8, 1944 he took his wife and baby and deserted from the Wehrmacht. Until the end of the war they hid in a shack in the Vienna Woods, as he always said afterwards, "Without Johann Strauss."
When the Russians began their advance into the city, he and his wife, carrying their baby between them in a basket, ran from the Russians right into Oskar‘s old regiment. In the confusion they successfully escaped behind the lines. This was followed by many months of terrible depravation. At one point, he recalled his wife sold her valuable watch for "a can of filthy dirty grease."
Back on the Burgtheater stage, nearly starving, Oskar would nearly fall over from weakness. He recalled he "might have have weighed 110 pounds wearing my winter coat." After this, he made many appearances at the Burg- and Akademietheaters, in the Ronacher, Redoutensaal of the Hofburg, and at the Salzburg festivals. He also appeared in the Volks- and Raimundtheater and The Theater in der Josefstadt. In all, he appeared in 30 roles. Learning his craft by often playing old men and other character parts, he always said afterwards
"that is the way to learn your craft."
Oskar signed with Karl Hartl for the film Der Engel mit der Posaune, in 1948 the story of a Viennese family of piano makers. He played the dissolute "black sheep" of the family.
Also in 1948 Oskar made his debut as a combination of director and star with the theatre plays, Jugend and Der Feigling, to benefit the reconstruction of the Burgtheater. Then the following year he played the part of "Karl", Beethoven's nephew, in the film Eroica.
In 1950, Oskar went to England to play his part for Alexander Korda's English version of The Angel With The Trumpet. Having left the Burgtheater without permission, he was dismissed from the Burgtheater Federation without notice.
He and Elisabeth Kallina were divorced at about this time but remained lifelong friends nonetheless.
Early in 1951 he played the part of the student in the film Ruf aus dem Äther. In the same year Oskar appeared in the films Ein Lächeln im Sturm and The Wonder Kid. At this point, having been discovered at a party by director, Anatole Litvak, he signed a contract with 20th Century Fox to play the lead in his first American film Decision Before Dawn, opposite Hildegard Knef (Hildegarde Neff).
Decision Before Dawn was well-received, and both Oskar and Hildegard were honoured with a place in the walk of fame at the Grauman’s Theatre. After this film, he returned to the stage of The Theater in der Josefstadt, playing a prince in Leocadia. He appeared as a guest artist at the Burgtheater in Gesang im Feuerofen. He stated in a broadcast at this time Max Reinhardt's "speech over the actor" and this became his artistic Credo.
Following an unproductive stay in Hollywood as a result of his work in Decision Before Dawn, he dissolved his contract with 20th Century Fox in favor of a return to the stage to play Shakespeare's Hamlet.
With an architect friend, Oskar designed and built his home in Triesen, Liechtenstein. It was there, in seclusion, that he learned his lines for Hamlet while hiking the mountain paths. He felt "that in Hamlet I had found a twin." He signed the contract on his 30th birthday (1952). Hamlet was to become, to most of his devoted fans, his greatest role.
He appeared in the Zurich Schauspielhaus in Dantons Tod. Then made his first appearance in 1953 as Hamlet in Frankfurt/Main to superb reviews: "He does not perform "Hamlet". He IS "Hamlet.!" He also appeared in Der Prinz von Homburg.
In 1954, Oskar married Anne Power, daughter of French actress, Annabella, and adopted daughter of American actor, Tyrone Power. On the occasion of the reopening of the Burgtheater in 1955 he played the title role in Don Carlos, and, again appeared as Hamlet in The Theater in der Josefstadt under the direction of Lothar Müthel.Having abandoned the movies for 4 years Oskar Werner came back to the screen in 1955 with four movies incl. Mozart and Der letzte Akt. br>
He established the "Theater Ensemble Oskar Werner" and starred in Bacchus. He also toured with Hamlet in 1957-1958. Then he wrote, directed and starred in Ein gewisser Judas (1958) under the alias "Erasmus Nothnagel."
In 1959 the "Theater Ensemble Oskar Werner" went to the Innsbruck Drama Festival with the pieces, Kabale und Liebe as well as Weh dem der lügt. Following the festival the group went on tour with both productions.br>
It was in 1960 when Oskar was called to return to the Burgtheater by Ernst Haeussermann. There he played "Prince Hal" in Shakespeare's Henry IV., the title part in Torguato Tasso and starred as Thomas Becket in Becket oder die Ehre Gottes. He played the title role in Shakespeare's Henry V. (1961) and settled the Burgtheater contract.
Werner starred as Orpheus by Felix Braun with the Bregenzer Festivals. Later he took his Ensemble on tour with Torquato Tasso.
The success of Francois Truffaut’s movie Jules et Jim, made in 1962, in which Oskar played the part of sensitive Jules, led to several roles in international movies. Biggest success of such movies like Fahrenheit 451 (again with Truffaut), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Interlude and The Shoes of the Fisherman was Stanley Kramer’s Ship of Fools. Featuring Oskar Werner in the part of Dr. Schumann, earned him an Étoile Crystal and NYFCC Award as well as nominations for both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award.
br>
During this period, his marriage to Anne Power ended in divorce. In 1966 Felix Florian, Oskar's son from a liason with American model, Diane Anderson, was born.
However, in 1970, he returned to his first love, the stage, starring in and directing Hamlet with his Theater Ensemble at the Salzburg Festival.
Most of the 1970's, he spent much time traveling to Israel, Italy, Malta, France and the USA. He was coming out of retirement only to do readings of "poems against the war" annually, while he was living in Vienna and his summer home in Thallern in the Wachau. His last role in films was the one of Dr. Kreisler in Voyage of the Damned in 1976.
Oskar starred in a play for the last time in 1983 in Der Prinz von Homburg in Krems.
Sadly the alcoholism that Werner was a victim of through his life was, by now, slowly ending it. His last appearances were readings in the Palais Auersperg; a commemoration ceremony for the Jews; and a reading in the large Mozart Hall in Salzburg just ten days before his death.
At the start of a projected reading tour of Germany, in the Hotel Europäischer Hof in Marburg an der Lahn, on October 22, 1984, Oskar announced that he felt ill, and cancelled that night's reading. The next morning, October 23, 1984, he was found dead of a heart attack.
Oskar was buried in his adopted country of Liechtenstein.
Biography was mostly written by Ms. Pamela Hall.
Edited and revised by Sarah Messick and Nicole Huber.
Edited and revised by Sarah Messick and Nicole Huber.
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