Tilman Valentin Schweiger (Germ. Tilman Valentin „Til“ Schweiger; was born on December 19, 1963 in Freiburg-im-Breisgau) is a German actor, director, producer and scriptwriter.
The childhood of Til Schweiger passed in Giessen. In 1977 his family moved to Heuchelheim (Giessen). Here he graduated from school with an average point “1,6” (“1” is an excellent mark, and “5” is an unsatisfactory mark in Germany). After graduation from school, Til followed his parents’ footsteps and entered the Faculty of the Germanic Studies, however he stopped his studying soon. Later Mr Schweiger decided to devote his life to medicine, but this attempt was unsuccessful again. His friend who studied at the drama school persuaded Til that he had an outstanding genius for acting and inspired him to enter the drama school in Cologne under the name “Der Keller” (“The Cellar”), from which he graduated successfully in three years and a half.
Schweiger’s career began from postsynchronization, as well as a small part in “Lindenstrasse” soap opera. Then he worked as a simultaneous interpreter synchronizing different films.
In 1989 he was invited for work to Contra-Kreis-Theater in Bonn.
“Knocking on Heaven’s Door” film brought the worldwide fame to the actor. He was awarded with the Prize of the Moscow Film Festival in 1997 for the best male part.