Peter Simonischek was a picture of a man and a heavyweight of an actor, one of the great, versatile character actors in the theatre. However, he only became really famous and world-famous outside of Austria when he was very old, thanks to a role in a film that has since been immediately and forever associated with him: that of the humorous terrorist father in “Toni Erdmann”. Disguised in a Neanderthal wig and a monster set of teeth, he follows his workaholic manager’s daughter to her operational area in Bucharest and takes her from one embarrassing situation to the next. How he fumbled his way through the film, ugly and panting, trying to break open his daughter’s business shell, was great theater and, in interaction with the great Sandra Hüller, an event. The film by Maren Ade was a hit in Cannes in 2016, was later awarded the German and European Film Awards and was even nominated for an Oscar.
Actor Peter Simonischek died – culture
