Tilman Valentin Schweiger (German pronunciation: [tɪl ˈʃvaɪ̯ɡɐ] ^ⓘ; born 19 December 1963) is a German actor and filmmaker. He became known in the 1990s for films such as Manta, Manta, Der bewegte Mann and Knockin' on Heaven's Door. He went on to star in international film productions such as Inglourious Basterds and founded his own production company Barefoot Films.^[1] Films such as Rabbit Without Ears, Rabbit Without Ears 2, Kokowääh and Head Full of Honey, in which he was director, producer and actor, were seen by millions of moviegoers, making him the most commercially successful German filmmaker.^[2]

Schweiger was born in Freiburg, West Germany, to two teachers.^[3] He grew up in Heuchelheim near Giessen in Hesse, where he went to school. Later, he took acting lessons at Der Keller in Cologne.^[4]

Schweiger's debut as a producer and (uncredited) director came in 1997 with Knockin' on Heaven's Door. He also directed and produced Der Eisbär (The Polar Bear) in 1998. Schweiger won a Bambi Award for Barfuss (Barefoot) in 2005, which he wrote, directed, and starred in.^[5] He also won a Bambi for his lead role in Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1. In 2007, Keinohrhasen (this literally translates to "no ear rabbit" while the English title is Rabbit Without Ears), written, produced, and directed by Schweiger, became the most successful film in German theaters with a box office result of USD 62,000,000.^[6] The film won a Bambi, a Bavarian Film Award, the German Comedy Award, two DIVA Awards, a Jupiter Award and the Ernst Lubitsch Award. The sequel, Zweiohrküken (Rabbit Without Ears 2, literally "two ear chicks"), was released the following year with over 4.2 million viewers and a box office collection of USD 45,000,000. Schweiger then went on to direct, produce and star in 1½ Knights – In Search of the Ravishing Princess Herzelinde, which also proved a huge cinema hit on its release in 2008.

The movie Kokowääh debuted in German cinemas in February 2011. Schweiger's daughter Emma stars beside him, and the movie is also directed, co-written and produced by him. Schweiger and Emma reprised their roles as Henry and Magdalena, respectively, in its sequel, titled Kokowääh 2. The film was released on 7 February 2013. In 2012 Schweiger made a film alongside his daughter Luna named Schutzengel. In 2013 Schweiger also started to produce commercials with his daughters.(Watchever, VHV Group)^[7][8]

Onscreen, Schweiger first appeared as an actor in 1989 in the TV series "Lindenstraße". His first film role came in 1991 with Manta, Manta.^[9][10] Additional TV and film roles followed, including Der bewegte Mann (Maybe, Maybe Not), Männerpension (Jailbirds), Das Mädchen Rosemarie (A Girl Called Rosemary), Bastard (Bandyta), Der große Bagarozy (The Devil and Ms. D.), Was tun, wenn's brennt (What to Do in Case of Fire?), Les Daltons vs. Lucky Luke, The Red Baron, Wo ist Fred (Where is Fred?), Phantomschmerz (Phantom Pain), Männerherzen (Men in the City), and others.

Schweiger has also appeared as a supporting actor in American films, including Already Dead, King Arthur, In Enemy Hands, Magicians, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life, Driven, SLC Punk!, Investigating Sex, Joe and Max, The Replacement Killers and New Year's Eve. He wore a Nazi uniform for the first time in his career for his role in Inglourious Basterds but, as Quentin Tarantino revealed,^[11] "only because his character was killing Nazis."

Schweiger then appeared in the US productions The Courier with Mickey Rourke, This Means War (2012), with Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon and more recently in 2013 as Darko in The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman with Shia LaBeouf among others. He also made an appearance in 2014's Muppets Most Wanted. His latest big screen appearance was in David Leitch's Atomic Blonde.

Schweiger married American model Dana Carlsen on 19 June 1995. They have four children: Valentin Florian Schweiger (born 1995), Luna Marie Schweiger (born 1997), Lilli Camille Schweiger (born 1998), and Emma Tiger Schweiger (born 2002). Schweiger and Carlsen separated in 2005 and were divorced in 2014.^[12]

Schweiger lives in Mallorca, Spain, and his neighbour is former German cyclist Jan Ullrich. In August 2018, Ullrich was arrested for allegedly breaking onto Schweiger's property and threatening him.^[13]

• 1994: Bambi for Der bewegte Mann
• 1995: Bambi for Jailbirds
• 1997: Preis des Gdynia Film Festival for Bastard as Best Actor
• 1998: Bravo Otto as Best Actor
• 1998: Goldene Kamera for Knockin' on Heaven's Door as Best Actor
• 2003: Hessischer Kulturpreis
• 2008: Jupiter for Wo ist Fred? as Best German Actor
• 2008: Ehren-Bravo Otto
• 2008: Bambi for Keinohrhasen as Best National Film
• 2008: Deutscher Comedypreis for Keinohrhasen as Best Theatrical Comedy Film
• 2009: Jupiter for Keinohrhasen
• 2009: 2x DIVA-Award for Keinohrhasen
• 2010: Deutscher Comedypreis for Zweiohrküken as Best Theatrical Comedy Film
• 2011: Deutscher Comedypreis for the Most Successful German Comedy Film: Kokowääh
• 2011: Querdenker-Award
• 2012: Jupiter for Kokowääh as Best Actor
• 2013: Deutscher Comedypreis for the Most Successful German Comedy Film: Kokowääh 2
• 2015: Romy in the categories Best Direction and Best Production in a Theatrical Film for Honig im Kopf
• 2015: Deutscher Filmpreis in the category Most Popular Film for Honig im Kopf
• 2015: CIVIS-Publikumspreis for Honig im Kopf^[17]
• 2015: Deutscher Comedypreis for the Most Successful German Comedy Film: Honig im Kopf
• 2015: Bambi for Honig im Kopf in the category Ehrenpreis der Jury
• 2020: Golden Eye Award of the Zurich Film Festival