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Peter Simonischek, Austrian Actor and 'Toni Erdmann' Star, Dead at 76

Austria's national theater the Burgtheater announced Peter Simonischek died 'surrounded by his family at home in Vienna' overnight Tuesday

<p>Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images</p>

Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images

Peter Simonischek, an Austrian actor best known for his role in the Oscar-nominated 2016 film Toni Erdmann, died at 76 overnight on Tuesday.

Austria's national theater, the Burgtheater, announced Simonischek's death in a statement shared to its website Tuesday, noting that the actor died "surrounded by his family at home in Vienna," according to a translation of the German-language website. A cause of death was not immediately made available.

"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.

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<p>Gisela Schober/Getty Images</p>

Gisela Schober/Getty Images

Simonischek supplemented his active theater career with work on screen beginning in the 1970s, working largely in German-language television and movies. He was best known for his performance in the 2016 German-Austrian-Romanian comedy Toni Erdmann, in which he starred as a father who attempts to reconnect with his adult daughter by donning a ridiculous disguise and joining her at social events.

Toni Erdmann, directed by German filmmaker Maren Ade, received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. Though The Iranian movie The Salesman won the Oscar that year, Toni Erdmann "was an undisputed hit with the public at the Cannes Film Festival," and Simonischek broke new ground as the first Austrian actor to win the European Film Award for best actor for his lead performance in the film, according to the Burgtheater.

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<p>Matthias Rader/picture alliance via Getty Images</p>

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 play Jedermann (Everyman), according to The Hollywood Reporter. He also made a minor appearance in the most recent Fantastic Beasts movie, 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).

"With [Simonischek] we have lost a great and extraordinary colleague and friend," Austrian theater director Martin Kušej said of the actor's death in a statement provided by the Burgtheater Tuesday. "All of us, the Burgtheater, but also his audience and the people of this city and this country will say goodbye to him with a special funeral service in the Burgtheater.”

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