Austrian actor Peter Simonischek, who played a whimsical patriarch in the prize-winning film "Toni Erdmann", died overnight in Vienna aged 76, a spokeswoman for the Austrian Federal Theatres said Tuesday.
Born in Graz on 6 August 1946, Simonischek received great acclaim in the German-speaking world for his performances, including numerous appearances at the famous Salzburg Festival.
In 2016, Simonischek made his international breakthrough in film in the comedy "Toni Erdmann", which won the International Federation of Film Critics award at Cannes.
The bittersweet father-daughter tale features Sandra Hueller and Simonischek, who created an indelible portrait of a sad clown.
Britain´s The Daily Telegraph newspaper gave the "exquisite" movie five out of five stars. "Not only does German humour exist, it might just save your life", it said.
Austria´s Secretary of State, Andrea Mayer, hailed Simonischek as "one of the big names of contemporary acting for decades in theatre as well as in film and television."
"Simonischek´s death is a huge loss for the entire art and culture scene," Mayer said.
Drake criticised by fans over forgetting lyrics to several of his songs during It’s All a Blur Tour stops
Taylor Swift spends time with Travis Kelce’s Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes wife Brittany Mahomes
Henry Cavill stars along Dua Lipa and much more star-studded cast of Apple’s ‘Argylle’
Cardi B takes on and struggles through the ‘wings of death’ challenge on ‘Hot Ones’ episode
Taylor Swift was recently seen with Travis Kelce’s mom at Chief’s game along with several outings
King Charles begins to implement his mission of slimming down and modernizing the monarchy