Maximilian Schell

Maximilian Schell is the godfather of Angelina Jolie, the actress who appeared with her father Jon Voight in The Odessa File (1974).

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In 1990, Maximilian Schell turned down the Honorary German Film Award because he felt he was too young to receive a lifetime achievement prize.

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Schell's striking documentary Marlene (1984), made as a part-time director, was nominated for an Oscar in 1985, and his last film, Meine Schwester Maria (2002), told the story of his famous actress sister Maria Schell's life, career and eventual declining capacity.

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Maximilian Schell appeared in four films with Vanessa Redgrave: Julia (1977), Young Catherine (1991), Little Odessa (1994) and Deep Impact (1998).

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Schell's interest in acting began at an early age. At 11 he appeared in a professional production of "William Tell," and that same year he wrote a play that his school produced.

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Like his sister Maria Schell, Maximilian Schell died of complications from pneumonia.

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Schell gave himself the title role in the English-language version of Hamlet (1960).

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Maximilian Schell appeared in only one film with his sister Maria: The Odessa File (1974).

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At the 1961 (1962) Academy Awards ceremony, Joan Crawford presented him with his Best Actor Oscar. The following year, he presented the Best Actress Oscar to Crawford, who accepted it on behalf of the absent winner, Anne Bancroft.

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Later in life Schell began directing opera productions. His first foray into the music world was a Swiss production of Verdi's "La Traviata." The passion was triggered when he appeared in the play "Jedermann" (or "Everyman") in Salzburg, Austria, between 1978 and 1982, which brought him into contact with many conductors, among them Leonard Bernstein, James Levine and Claudio Abbado.

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His father was a Swiss poet and his mother an Austrian actress.

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Maximilian Schell left Vienna just before Adolf Hitler's invasion.

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Maximilian Schell was the brother of Maria Schell, Carl Schell and Immy Schell.

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Schell directed two films nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film: First Love (1970) and The Pedestrian (1973).

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Maximilian Schell appeared in four films with Liv Ullmann: Pope Joan (1972), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Players (1979) and The Rose Garden (1989).

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His mother, Margarete Schell Noé, directed him in two films: The Pedestrian (1973) and End of the Game (1975).

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In addition to being an actor, Maximilian Schell was a pianist and a playwright.

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Schell appeared in the Old Vic's early 2006 production of Arthur Miller's play "Resurrection Blues," directed by Robert Altman in his first London theatre production. The play was largely panned by critics, partly because of the differing acting styles of the eclectic cast Altman had assembled, which included the urbane Englishman James Fox alongside Schell, who played the intellectual cousin of a Germanic dictator.

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Maximilian Schell was a stage producer in Germany.

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Maximilian Schell is the father of Nastassja Schell (born 1989).

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Maximilian Schell is the uncle of Oliver Schell and Marie Theres Relin.

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Maximilian Schell is the son of the actress Margarete Schell Noé.

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Maximilian Schell was among the actors considered for the role of Dr. Hans Fallada in the science fiction horror film Lifeforce (1985). Frank Finlay was cast instead.

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All three of Maximilian Schell's Oscar-nominated roles — in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), The Man in the Glass Booth (1975) and Julia (1977) — are in films where the Second World War and the Holocaust are major story components, though only the second is set primarily during the war's actual years.

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Maximilian Schell was portrayed by the actor Philip Boyd in the episode of the television series "Feud" about the rivalry between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

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