Brigitte Karner

Austrian actress Brigitte Karner has performed extensively for both theater and cinema, primarily in German productions for domestic audiences. She studied at the Academy of Drama in Zurich before taking to the stage in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Some of her more significant roles of the time were in Arthur Schnitzler's "Anatol" and Nikolai Gogol's "The Marriage." She began her screen career in the early-1980s; her first parts were in German TV movies, and she quickly climbed the credits to key roles in pictures like the 1986 crime thriller "Hautnah," performing opposite Armin Mueller-Stahl. In the acclaimed British espionage series "Game, Set, and Match," adapted from Len Deighton's trilogy of novels and featuring Ian Holm, she held a strong supporting role. In an uncommon big-screen appearance, she played the doomed mother of the title character in the haunting 1989 mystery "Laurin." Additionally, she made numerous guest-starring appearances in such long-running crime dramas as "A Case for Two" and "Tatort." Back on the stage, she was nominated for the esteemed Nestroy Prize in 2003 for her turn as Gina in a Vienna production of Henrik Ibsen's "The Wild Duck." She married fellow Austrian actor Peter Simonischek and teaches acting when she's not performing.