Emil Steinberger, commonly known as Emil (born 6 January 1933), is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, writer, director and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He is predominantly known as a comedian and actor in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. He has lived in New York City from 1993 to 1999, which inspired him for his book ''Emil via New York''.

Early life and education

He was born in

Luzern Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

to Rudolf and Creszentia Steinberger. He had one sister, Hannah 'Hanny' and one brother, Rudolf 'Ruedi'. Already during his schooling years he was known as the class comedian. In 1951, he started a commercial apprenticeship, with

Swiss Post Swiss Post Ltd ( ; ; ; ) is the national Mail, postal service of Switzerland. A public company owned by the Politics of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation, it is the country's second largest employer with about 54,000 employees. The group is ba ...

. After working as a counter clerk for nine years, he completed the Lucerne School of Design (today known as ''Fachklasse Grafik Luzern'') and became a certified graphic designer. Back then he started acting part-time in a theater society known as ''Cabaradiesli'' in Lucerne.

Career

He is well known as Emil in Switzerland and Germany for his acts on television in the 1970s and 1980s.

Partial filmography

Cinema

* The Sudden Loneliness of Konrad Steiner (1976) * The Swissmakers (1978) *

Messidor Messidor () was the tenth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was origin ...

(1979) * The Formula (1980) * Kassettenliebe (1981, Switzerland) * Videoliebe (1982, Germany) * Kaiser und eine Nacht (1985) * Ein Sonderling gerät in ein geheimnisvolles Milieu (1985) * Niklaus und Sammy (1991) * Typisch Emil (documentary about his live) (2024)

Television

* Emil auf der Post (1975) * Frisch, frech, fröhlich – frei? – Eine Olympische Kabarettsendung (1984) * Flucht mit Luzifer (Mini series, 1987)

Works

Records and CDs

* 1970: Geschichten, die das Leben schrieb * 1971: Geschichten, die das Leben schrieb, Teil 2 * 1972: EMIL improvisierte… * 1973: E wie Emil * 1976: Emil träumt… * 1981: Feuerabend * 2005: Eine kabarettistische Lesung (späterer Programmtitel: Drei Engel) * 2008: E wie Essen (schweizerdeutscher Titel: Suppe, Wurscht und Brot) as story teller: * 1999: Astrid Lindgren: ''Immer dä Michel'', 3 CDs * 2004: Astrid Lindgren: ''Karlsson vom Dach'' / ''Karlsson fliegt wieder'', 2 CDs * 2010: Hugo Loetscher: ''Der Waschküchenschlüssel oder Was – wenn Gott Schweizer wäre'' * 2014: Schwyzerdütsch mit The Grooves

Books

* ''Feuerabend''. Diogenes, Zürich 1985 * ''Wahre Lügengeschichten''. Kein & Aber, Zürich 1999; Ullstein, München 2000 ** erweiterte Neuauflage: Edition E, Territet 2004, * ''Emil via New York''. Edition E, Territet 2001; leicht überarb. A. 2009, * ''Lachtzig''. Knapp, Olten 2013, * Hans Fischer: ''Pitschi''. Ins translated to Swiss German by Emil Steinberger. NordSüd, Zürich 2016,

Awards

* 1970: Anerkennungspreis der Stadt Luzern für kulturelle Tätigkeiten * 1976: Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis in der Kategorie ''Kabarett'' * 1981: Prix Walo * 1986: Karl-Valentin-Orden * 1988: Hans Reinhart-Ring der Schweizer Gesellschaft für Theaterkultur * 1993: Morenhovener Lupe * 1996: Ehrennadel der Stadt Luzern * 1996: Goldene Schallplatten in Deutschland für die Videoalben ''Emil Steinberger – Volume 1'' und ''Emil Steinberger – Volume 2'' * 2003: Rose d’Or (Ehrenrose) * 2003: Oertli-Preis für seinen Sprachgrenzen überschreitenden Humor * 2004: Göttinger Elch für sein Lebenswerk * 2004: Deutscher Comedypreis (Ehrenpreis für sein Lebenswerk) * 2005: Salzburger Stier (Ehrenstier für sein Lebenswerk) * 2006: Bayerischer Kabarettpreis (Ehrenpreis) * 2007: Schweizer Kabarett-Preis Ehrencornichon * 2007: Goldener Akustikus Nürnberg * 2008: Ehrenbürger der Stadt Luzern anlässlich seines 75. Geburtstages * 2008: Das große Kleinkunstfestival Ehren-Preis * 2009: Anerkennungspreis der Stadt Montreux * 2009: Münchhausen-Preis, Bodenwerder * 2009: Stern der Satire Mainz * 2010: Arosa Humorfüller – Jurypreis des Arosa Humor-Festivals für sein Lebenswerk * 2011: SwissAward – Lifetime Award 2010 für sein Lebenswerk * 2012: Ehrenpreis für Zweisprachigkeit Biel-Bienne * 2012: Hall of Fame der German Speakers Association * 2013: Radio Pilatus Ehren-Rüüdige Lozärner * 2013: Preis für Menschenwürde * 2014: Friedestrompreis * 2019: Anerkennungspreis des Kantons Luzern * 2021: Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis (Ehrenpreis des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz) * 2022: Swiss Comedy Award Lifetime Award

Personal life

Steinberger married his first wife, Maya Rudin, in 1966 and divorced in 1989. He has one son from this marriage, Philipp (b. 1967), as well as one illegitimate son Martin (b. 1981), which was conceived while still being married to his first wife. Since 28 May 1999, he is married to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

-born Nicole 'Niccel' Steinberger (b. 1965), a native of

Wermelskirchen Wermelskirchen (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Wärmelßkirrshe'') is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, southeast of Remscheid. It is home to one of Europe's biggest live Christmas trees (measuring 26 ...

, whom he met in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. They currently reside in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

References

External links

* * * Swiss male comedians Swiss film directors Swiss male actors Swiss comedy musicians Kabarettists People from Lucerne 1933 births Living people {{Switzerland-actor-stub