Currently German Til Schweiger is a successful actor, producer and director. But in his youth, he could not find himself for a long time, wandering from profession to profession.
Biography and career
Tilman Valentin Schweiger was born in Germany in 1963. Freiburg became his hometown. Both parents in the family were teachers, and Tillman Schweiger had long dreamed of following in their footsteps. His favorite subjects at school were German language and literature, for which he received exceptionally "excellent" in the classroom. After graduating from high school, Schweiger begins to study German in depth at a higher educational institution, in order to later become a teacher, like a father and mother. But dreams and ambitions were shattered by the harsh reality: during these years young teachers found work with enormous difficulties, and if they did, they received too little to feed even themselves. Til Schweiger left the second year of university because he did not want to live in poverty all his life.
Then his choice fell on medicine, because good doctors in Germany receive very good salaries. He became a medical student. It was not very difficult for him to study, but also not very interesting. He felt that he was simply not destined to become a doctor, because he was completely unsuitable for this profession. He did not quit school, so his first higher education was medical.
The young man arrived in despair, he did not know what professional activity he wanted (and could) devote his life to. One of his good acquaintances attended acting courses, and it was she who convinced Til Schweiger to start them too, because, as she believed, the young man had acting potential and good external data. Schweiger began his acting education in Cologne.
Despite all his knowledge, success, talent and external data, his first works were not entirely prestigious and successful. He has voiced German adult films. And only in 1989, at the age of twenty-six, the actor enters the big stage of the theater, and then - in the cinema.
Schweiger's real breakthrough was the 1997 film Knockin 'on Heaven, where he played the role of Martin Brest, dying from an incurable disease. The film has won numerous awards, and Til Schweiger himself received the award for Best Actor.
The fame and demand that fell on him allowed him to move to Hollywood. There he received many offers, played in "King Arthur", "Lara Croft", "The Magnificent Four", "Barefoot on the Pavement" and many other films, but he turned down a considerable part of the roles, as he was repeatedly offered to play a Nazi. So, he refused to play a Nazi in Fyodor Bandarchuk's "Stalingrad". During his career, he starred in more than 70 films.
The successful actor has already tried himself in other professions related to cinema more than once. In the movie "Barefoot on the Pavement", he not only played the main role, but also acted as a screenwriter, producer and director. Schweiger's films often feature his children.
Personal life
In 1995, at the age of thirty-two, the actor married the American model Dana Carlsen. Together with her husband, she played in the films "Knockin 'on Heaven" and "Barefoot on the Pavement". The star couple's marriage seemed perfect. For ten years of their life together, four children were born. But the constant employment of Til Schweiger in the filming led to their detachment from each other, and ultimately to divorce. But the former spouses maintain friendly relations, try to raise all their children in an atmosphere of love and care.
