This is a list of notable Austrians.
Actors/actresses
Helmut Berger (1944–2023), actor Senta Berger (born 1941), actress Klaus Maria Brandauer (born 1943), actor Wolfgang Cerny (born 1984), actor Marie Geistinger (1836–1903), actress and opera singer Gilla (born 1950), also known as Gisela Wuchinger; singer and actor from the disco era Käthe Gold (1907–1997), stage actress Liane Haid (1895–2000), first Austrian movie star Attila Hörbiger (1896–1987), actor Christiane Hörbiger (1938–2022), actress Paul Hörbiger (1894–1981), actor Maria Hofstätter (born 1964), actress Boris Kodjoe (born 1973), actor Melanie Kogler (born 1985), television and theatre actress Brigitte Kren (born 1954), actress Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000), actress; also co-inventor of spread spectrum radio technology; became U.S. citizen Karl Merkatz (1930–2022), actor (most notable for his role as a Viennese in "Mundl") Birgit Minichmayr (born 1977), actress Hans Moser (1880–1964), comedy actor Reggie Nalder (1907–1991), actor Nina Proll (born 1974), actress Maximilian Schell (1930–2014), actor Arnold Schwarzenegger (born 1947), bodybuilder, actor, became U.S. citizen, governor of the U.S. state of California (2003–2011) Ursula Strauss (born 1974), actress Erich von Stroheim (1885–1957), actor and film director Christoph Waltz (born 1956), actor Maria Weiss, mezzo-soprano and actress Oskar Werner (1922–1984), actor Sybil Danning (born 1950) Actor, producer, writer
Artists/architects
Maria Auböck (born 1951), landscape architect Bernhard Cella (born 1969), conceptual artist Johann Georg Danninger, 19th-century bronzesmith Karl Duldig (1902–1986), Austrian-Australian sculptor Albin Egger-Lienz (1868–1926), painter Karl Ehn (1884–1957), architect, designer of the Karl-Marx-Hof Trude Fleischmann (1895–1990), photographer Ernst Fuchs (1930–2015), artist Xenia Hausner (born 1951), painter Gottfried Helnwein (born 1948), artist, born in Vienna Kurt Hentschlager (born 1960), new media artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928–2000), artist Gustav Klimt (1862–1918), artist, helped found Vienna Secession Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980), painter Alfred Kubin (1877–1959), graphic artist Adolf Loos (1870–1933), architect, born in Brno (Moravia, present-day Czech Republic) Josef Lorenzl (1892–1950), sculptor Hans Makart (1840–1884), history painter, designer and decorator Inge Morath (1923–2002), photographer Richard Neutra (1892–1970), architect Josef Pögl (1867–1956), painter, winner of the Vienna Arts Prize Wolf Prix (born 1942), architect, co-founder of Coop Himmelb(l)au Willy Puchner (born 1952), photographer Arnulf Rainer (1929–2025), painter Johann Michael Rottmayr (1656–1730), Baroque painter Egon Schiele (1890–1918), painter Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897–2000), architect and political activist De Es Schwertberger (born 1942), artist Harry Seidler (1923–2006), architect Helmut Swiczinsky (1944–2025), architect, co-founder of Coop Himmelb(l)au Aloys Wach (1892–1940), painter Otto Wagner (1841–1918), Jugendstil architect behind much of turn-of-the-century Viennese architecture Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793–1865), painter Felix de Weldon (1907–2003), sculptor Franz West (1947–2012), artist Olga Wisinger-Florian (1844–1926), painter
Composers/musicians
Wolfgang Ambros (born 1952), pop musician Louie Austen (born 1946), composer and musician Ernst Bachrich (1892–1942), composer and conductor Caroline Bayer (1758–1803), 18th-century violinist and composer Alban Berg (1885–1935), composer Alfred Brendel (1931–2025), pianist Anton Bruckner (1824–1896), composer Friedrich Cerha (1926–2023), composer and conductor Carl Czerny (1791–1857), pianist and composer Anton Diabelli (1781–1858), publisher, editor and composer Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739–1799), composer Karlheinz Essl (born 1960), composer and electronic musician Falco (1957–1998), pop musician Christian Fennesz (born 1962), electronic musician Bernhard Gál (born 1971), composer and artist Georg Friedrich Haas (born 1953), composer Natascha Hagen (born 1974), singer-songwriter Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1929–2016), conductor Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), composer Michael Haydn (1737–1806), composer, younger brother of Joseph Haydn Yung Hurn (born 1995), hip-hop musician Udo Jürgens (1934–2014), singer-songwriter Herbert von Karajan (1908–1989), conductor Bernhard Lang (born 1957), composer Thomas Lang (born 1967), drummer and composer Joseph Lanner (1801–1843), composer Left Boy (born 1988), singer Elisabeth Leonskaja (born 1945), pianist, Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class, in 2006 Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), composer Marianne von Martinez (1744–1812), composer, singer Penny McLean (born 1948), singer with the disco group Silver Convention Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), musician and composer Olga Neuwirth (born 1968), composer Gerhard Potuznik, electronic musician César Sampson (born 1983), singer Franz Schmidt (1874–1939), composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951), composer Franz Schubert (1797–1828), composer and musician Parov Stelar (born 1974), electronic musician Eduard Strauss (1835–1916), composer Johann Strauss Jr. (1825–1899), composer Johann Strauss Sr. (1804–1849), composer Josef Strauss (1827–1870), composer Franz von Suppé (1819–1895), composer Nathan Trent (born 1992), singer Anton Webern (1883–1945), composer Franz Welser-Möst (born 1960), conductor Hugo Wolf (1860–1903), composer Conchita Wurst (born 1988), pop musician Joe Zawinul (1932–2007), jazz musician, composer Eric Zeisl (1905–1959), composer Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871–1942), composer
Entrepreneurs Hannes Androsch (1938–2024), former minister of finance in the government of Bruno Kreisky Hikmet Ersek (born 1961), CEO of The Western Union Company, a Fortune 500 company Ignaz Glaser (1853–1916), entrepreneur Gaston Glock (1929-2023), inventor, founder of Glock Ges.m.b.H. Niki Lauda (1949–2019), Formula One race car driver and aviation entrepreneur Richard Lugner (1932–2024), entrepreneur and society figure Dietrich Mateschitz (1944–2022), businessman behind the Red Bull brand Ludwig (Louis) von Nathaniel (1882–1955), banker Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951), automotive engineer, designed the Volkswagen (the "people's car"), born in Vratislavice nad Nisou (Austria-Hungary, Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic) Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche (1909–1998), automotive engineer and entrepreneur, he expanded the sports car manufacturer Porsche AG to what it is now Johann Puch (1862–1914), inventor, mechanic, co-founder of Steyr-Daimler-Puch Albert Salomon von Rothschild (1844–1911), banker Anselm von Rothschild (1803–1874), banker Ferdinand James von Rothschild (1839–1898), investor Nathaniel Mayer Anselm von Rothschild (1836–1905), banker Salomon Mayer von Rothschild (1774–1855), banker Robert Schlumberger (1814–1879), entrepreneur Frank Stronach (born 1932), entrepreneur, born in Austria Daniel Swarovski (1862–1956), founder of Swarovski AG, world-famous crystals, born in Jiřetín pod Bukovou, (Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic)
Filmmakers
Barbara Albert (born 1970), film director, producer and writer Franz Antel (1913–2007), director, actor and writer Axel Corti (1933–1993), director Elfi von Dassanowsky (1924–2007), film producer, singer, pianist Andrea Maria Dusl (born 1961), film director and writer Amir Esmann (born 1965), director, director of photography, writer Max Fleischer (1883–1972), animator Michael Haneke (born 1942), film director (born in Germany, however lives and works in Austria) Fritz Lang (1890–1976), film director Francis Lawrence (born 1971), Austrian-American film director Otto Preminger (1905–1986), film director Stefan Ruzowitzky (born 1961), film director and writer Arnold Schwarzenegger (born 1947), actor and politician Ulrich Seidl (born 1952), film director and writer Josef von Sternberg (1894–1969), film director Erich von Stroheim (1885–1957), film director Wolfgang Suschitzky (1912–2016), director of photography Edgar G. Ulmer (1904–1972), film director Hans Weingartner (born 1977), film director, producer and writer Virgil Widrich (born 1967), film director, producer and writer Billy Wilder (1906–2002), film director, born in Austria-Hungary Fred Zinnemann (1907–1977), film director
Mountaineers
Peter Aufschnaiter (1899–1973), mountaineer and co-traveller of Heinrich Harrer (Seven Years in Tibet) Karl Blodig (1859–1956), mountaineer (first to climb all alpine mountains above 4,000 m) Hermann Buhl (1924–1957), first ascent of Nanga Parbat on the 1953 German–Austrian Nanga Parbat expedition, first ascent of Broad Peak Kurt Diemberger (born 1932), first ascents of Broad Peak (1957) and Dhaulagiri (1960) Peter Habeler (born 1942), first ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen (together with Reinhold Messner) Heinrich Harrer (1912–2006), mountaineer (first ascent of the Carstensz Pyramid) and writer (Seven Years in Tibet) Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner (born 1970), first woman to ascend all eight-thousanders without oxygen (2011) Fritz Moravec (1922–1997), first ascent of Gasherbrum II (1956) Ludwig Purtscheller (1849–1900), first ascent of Kilimanjaro in 1889 Marcus Schmuck (1925–2005), first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957 as expedition leader Herbert Tichy (1912–1987), geologist, journalist and mountaineer (first ascent of Cho Oyu) Luis Trenker (1892–1990), mountaineer, film director and writer (born in the southern part of Tyrol, then in Austria-Hungary) Fritz Wintersteller (1927–2018), first ascent of Broad Peak in 1957
Military leaders
Haim Bar-Lev (1924–1994), Israeli general and government minister Leopold Josef Graf Daun (1705–1766), field marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz (1766–1858), military leader Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736), general in the war against the Turks (17th–18th century) Philipp von Stadion und Thannhausen (1799–1868), field marshal Wilhelm von Tegetthoff (1827–1871), admiral Georg von Trapp (1880–1947), navy officer Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz (1787–1862), general Archduke Charles of Austria (1771–1847), fought against Napoleon
Politicians
Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni (1846–1909), statesman and diplomat Leopold Graf Berchtold (1863–1942), foreign minister at the outbreak of the First World War Brigitte Bierlein (1949–2024), Chancellor 2019–2020 Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi (1894–1972), politician and writer Engelbert Dollfuß (1892–1934), Chancellor 1932–1934 (First Republic), established Austrofascism Leopold Figl (1902–1965), Chancellor 1945–1953, foreign minister 1953–1959 Heinz Fischer (born 1938), former President Werner Faymann (born 1960), former Chancellor Jörg Haider (1950–2008), politician, governour of Carinthia until his death in 2008 Adolf Hitler (1889–1945), leader of Nazi Germany 1933–1945, gained German citizenship in 1932, and became German Chancellor in 1933. In 1938, he annexed Austria with the Anschluß Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg (1781–1848), statesman and historian Theodor Innitzer (1875–1955), cardinal archbishop of Vienna 1932–1955, minister of social affairs 1929–1930 Ernst Kaltenbrunner (1903–1946), NSDAP politician Wenzel Anton Graf Kaunitz (1711–1794), statesman Christian Kern (born 1966), Chancellor 2016–2017 Rudolf Kirchschläger (1915–2000), judge, diplomat and President 1974–1986 Thomas Klestil (1932–2004), diplomat, President 1992–2004 Teddy Kollek (1911–2007), Israeli Mayor of Jerusalem Bruno Kreisky (1911–1990), Chancellor 1970–1983, foreign minister 1959–1966 Sebastian Kurz (born 1986), Chancellor 2017–2019, 2020–2021 Klemens Wenzel von Metternich (1773–1859), diplomat and statesman Julius Raab (1891–1964), Chancellor 1953–1961 (1773–1859) Adolf Schärf (1890–1965), President 1957–1965 Anton von Schmerling (1805–1893), statesman (liberal movement of the 19th century)