Among the plays in which he starred were Schiller's Don Carlos, Shakespeare's Othello and Richard III and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera.

The actor's last roles were in Wallenstein, Franz Lehár's Das Land des Lächelns and in an ORF TV series.

He had roles in the 1960s at the Freien Volksbühne in Berlin under Erwin Piscator and the city's Theater am Kurfürstendamm under Leonard Steckel.

The actor also had roles in the TV series Kommisar Rex and Ringstraßenpalais, in the films Franz Schubert – ein Leben in zwei Sätzen and Der Bockerer, and worked with the Austrian filmmaker Franz Antel.

[2] Schweiger married former MEP and current Vienna first district leader Ursula Stenzel in 1983.