How Maximilian Schell became a world star

Born in Vienna on December 8, 1930, Maximilian Schell stood in front of cameras for the first time in 1955. He made his Hollywood debut three years later. Then in 1961, he won the Oscar for best actor, for his role as a sharp defense lawyer in the movie "Judgment at Nuremberg" (picture), a drama recounting the Nazi war-crime trials in Germany.

It was US director Edward Dmytryk who brought the young Austrian-Swiss actor Schell to Hollywood. Typically for that time, he gave the German-speaking actor the role of a Nazi. In the 1958 anti-war film "The Young Lions," set during the Second World War, the young Schell had a great celebrity right at his side: Marlon Brando.

Like so many actors in those years, Schell also started acting on the theater stage. It remained a passion of his throughout his life, even after he had achieved world fame. One of his most famous roles was Shakespeare's Hamlet, which he played several times, including in a TV version in 1961, shown here.

After winning an Oscar, Schell was able to choose his own film roles. Considered a top film star, he also remained faithful to the European cinema of the time. In 1962, he worked together with Italian director Vittorio de Sica in the film adaptation of the Jean-Paul Sartre play "The Condemned of Altona." Once again, he had a celebrity at his side; this time around it was Sophia Loren.

Of course Maximilian Schell was also a sought-after actor in one of the most popular genres of the 1960s: the spy film. Directed by US filmmaker Sidney Lumet, the British espionage-thriller "The Deadly Affair" from 1966 had a star-studded cast: Schell was joined by Simone Signoret (picture), Harriet Andersson and James Mason.

Maximilian Schell was a man of the arts and the mind. He loved theater, translated Shakespeare, played famous stage roles — and also brought literature to the cinema. In 1968, he was the producer of the first feature film adaptation of Franz Kafka's novel "The Castle." And for the leading male role, there was obviously only one possible candidate: Schell himself.

It was only a matter of time before this actor would plant himself behind the cameras. Maximilian Schell's career as a director took off in the 1970s. In 1974, he won the Golden Globe for "The Pedestrian" and was nominated for an Academy Award. The film looks at the Federal Republic of Germany in the post-war period and is also an attempt at coming to terms with the past.

Schell had so many talents that, later in his career, he was involved in many different projects. He wrote and translated, performed in television and cinema films, appeared in talk shows, staged operas and directed documentaries, including "Marlene," his 1984 portrait of Dietrich, who co-starred with him in "Judgment at Nuremberg." Maximilian Schell died at the age of 83 on February 1, 2014.