Maximilian Schell

Austrian actor, writer, director, and producer

Written by Melinda C. Shepherd

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: May 2, 2025 • Article History

Quick Facts

Born:: December 8, 1930, Vienna, Austria

Died:: February 1, 2014, Innsbruck, Austria (aged 83)

Married To:: Natalya Andreychenko (1985–2005); Iva Mihanovic (married 2013)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Little Odessa" (1994); "The Deadly Affair" (1967); "Krakatoa: East of Java" (1968); "The Black Hole" (1979); "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1967); "Through Roses" (1997); "The Brothers Bloom" (2008); "Erste Liebe" (1970); "The Rose Garden" (1989); "I Love You, Baby" (2000); "Reifende Jugend" (1955); "Der seidene Schuh" (1965); "Ein Mädchen aus Flandern" (1956); "Der Fußgänger" (1973); "The Odessa File" (1974); "Morgen in Alabama" (1984); "Kraft Mystery Theater" (1962); "Five Finger Exercise" (1962); "A Far Off Place" (1993); "The Doctor and the Devil" (1965); "Deep Impact" (1998); "Laughter in the Dark" (1986); "The Desperate Ones" (1967); "Festival in Cannes" (2001); "The Man in the Glass Booth" (1975); "Telling Lies in America" (1997); "Der 20. Juli" (1955); "Goodyear Theatre" (1960); "Arch of Triumph" (1980); "Topkapi" (1964); "Return from the Ashes" (1965); "Left Luggage" (1998); "The Shell Seekers" (2006); "Sunday Showcase" (1960); "The Freshman" (1990); "Avalanche Express" (1979); "Wiseguy" (1990); "Julia" (1977); "Counterpoint" (1968); "Ein Herz kehrt heim" (1956); "Kinder, Mütter und ein General" (1955); "Wer liebt, dem wachsen Flügel..." (1999); "The Assassination at Sarajevo" (1975); "Les îles" (1983); "Fisimatenten" (2000); "The Assisi Underground" (1985); "Liebe, Lügen, Leidenschaften" (2002); "Simón Bolívar" (1969); "The Reluctant Saint" (1962); "Giganten" (2007); "Der Fürst und das Mädchen" (2003–2007); "Das Haus der schlafenden Schönen" (2006); "Les brigands" (2015); "Amo non amo" (1979); "Taxichauffeur Bänz" (1957); "I sequestrati di Altona" (1962); "The Eighteenth Angel" (1997); "Kinder der Berge" (1958); "Alcoa Theatre" (1960); "St. Ives" (1976); "Buick-Electra Playhouse" (1960); "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961); "Flores negras" (2009); "Justiz" (1993); "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" (1959); "Vampires" (1998); "The Chosen" (1981); "The Young Lions" (1958); "Abraham" (1993); "Die Ehe des Dr. med. Danwitz" (1956); "Peter the Great" (1986); "Paulina 1880" (1972); "The Vampyre Wars" (1996); "Players" (1979); "A Bridge Too Far" (1977); "Biography" (1997); "An American Place" (1988); "Cross of Iron" (1977); "Playhouse 90" (1959); "Joan of Arc" (1999); "Pope Joan" (1972); "Terra X - Rätsel alter Weltkulturen" (2005); "Das Schloß" (1968); "Die Letzten werden die Ersten sein" (1957)

Movies/Tv Shows (Directed):: "An American Place" (1988); "Der Richter und sein Henker" (1975); "Meine Schwester Maria" (2002); "Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald" (1979); "Erste Liebe" (1970); "Der Fußgänger" (1973); "Marlene" (1984)

Maximilian Schell (born December 8, 1930, Vienna, Austria—died February 1, 2014, Innsbruck, Austria) was an Austrian actor and filmmaker who was most closely associated with the post-World War II courtroom drama Judgment at Nuremberg. Schell created the role of the accused Nazi war criminals’ eloquent defense attorney, Hans Rolfe, in the play’s original 1959 production on the TV anthology series Playhouse 90 and won the Academy Award for best actor for his re-creation of that role in the 1961 film adaptation; he later portrayed Ernst Janning, the chief defendant, on the Broadway stage.

Schell’s fiercely anti-Nazi family fled to Zürich after the 1938 Anschluss, in which Austria was annexed by Germany, and he served (1948–49) in the Swiss army. Schell began acting in West German films and onstage before following his older sister, actress Maria Schell, to Hollywood, where he made his debut as a German army officer in The Young Lions (1958).

Despite his rugged good looks, Schell eschewed leading-man roles in favour of more complex individuals, many of whom were drawn from the Nazi era. He earned Oscar nominations for his roles as a suspected Nazi war criminal in The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) and as an anti-Nazi patriot in Julia (1977) and received Emmy Award nominations in 1992 and 1993, respectively, for his portrayal of a Holocaust survivor in Miss Rose White and of the Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin in Stalin. Schell also wrote, produced, and directed several films, most notably documentaries on German actress Marlene Dietrich (1984) and on his sister Maria (2002).

Melinda C. Shepherd