Georg Stefan Troller



Georg Stefan Troller (born December 10, 1921, in Vienna, Austria) is an interviewer, director and screenwriter living in Paris. In 1938, Troller fled Austria from the Nazis, first to Czechoslovakia and from there on to France, where he was interned as an enemy alien. In 1941, he obtained a visa for the USA in Marseille. His parents were able to escape via Portugal. In the USA, he was drafted into military service in 1943 and participated in the liberation and documentation of the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, as well as the capture of Munich on May 1. He was stationed in Europe until 1946 and worked for the Rot-Weiß-Rot radio station operated by the US forces. Back in the USA, Troller studied English at the University of California and theater at Columbia University. In 1949, a Fulbright scholarship for the Sorbonne brought Troller to Paris, where he became a correspondent for RIAS. Troller rose to fame with his program Pariser Journal, which aired from 1962 to 1971 on ARD. In 1971, he launched his series of unconventional interviews Personenbeschreibung for ZDF. His screenplays, directed by Axel Corti, have all become cult films.

Awards

 * 1966: Goldene Kamera
 * 1967: Adolf-Grimme-Preis
 * 1967: Golden Nymph of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival
 * 1968: Berliner Kunstpreis
 * 1969: Adolf-Grimme-Preis
 * 1973: Adolf-Grimme-Preis
 * 1975: Dr. Erich Salomon Award
 * 1986: Award of the Eduard Rhein Foundation
 * 1987: Golden Nymph of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival
 * 1987: Adolf-Grimme-Preis
 * 1987: Academy Award (nomination)
 * 1990: Bambi Award
 * 1991: Special Honour of the Adolf-Grimme-Preis
 * 1991: Honorary professorship of the State of Bavaria
 * 2002: Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1st Class
 * 2014: Schiller Prize of the City of Mannheim
 * 2017: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
 * 2021: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1st Class