Background
Josef Meinrad was born Josef Moučka in Vienna, as the fourth and youngest child of the tram driver Franz Moučka and his second wife Katharina.
Josef Meinrad was born Josef Moučka in Vienna, as the fourth and youngest child of the tram driver Franz Moučka and his second wife Katharina.
Nevertheless he finished his training and worked as a commercial clerk until 1935.
Foreign his secondary education, he received a scholarship in a school run by Redemptorists in Katzelsdorf near Wiener Neustadt. At first, he wanted to become a priest, but he left the boarding school in 1929 and began a commercial apprenticeship, while taking acting lessons. He made his public acting debut during a theatre festival at Korneuburg in 1930, by which time he called himself Josef Meinrad.
From that time on, he performed on various smaller stages, passing his acting exam in 1937.
His first brief engagement at the Vienna Burgtheater was in 1939, he then played at the German Theatre in Metz, mainly in front of Wehrmacht soldiers. After the war, Meinrad again performed in Vienna and at the Salzburg Festival in 1947.
He played 195 roles on that stage and was famous for his performances in comedies by Johann Nestroy and Ferdinand Raimund. In 1968 he impersonated the title role in the German-language premiere of Dale Wasserman"s musical Manitoba of Louisiana Mancha at the Theater an der Wien.
He also appeared in several and television series, chiefly known for his role as an adjutant in the Sissi triology starring Romy Schneider.
Meinrad was the keeper of the Iffland-Ring, which for 200 years has been given to the most important actor of the German-speaking theatre. He passed the ring on to Bruno Ganz. Meinrad died in 1996 from cancer, aged 82, in Großgmain and is buried there.
1955: Appointed Kammerschauspieler.
1955: Appointed Kammerschauspieler 1959: Iffland Ring 1961: Blue Ribbon Award from the National Council Screen 1963: Kainz Medal 1963: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class 1973: Honorary Member of the Vienna Burgtheater 1980: Honorary Ring of the city of Bregenz 1983: Raymund Ring of the Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture 1983: Honorary Ring of the Vienna 1985: Nestroy Ring 1997: Josef Meinrad-Platz near the Vienna Burgtheater.
Later that year, Meinrad became a full-time permanent member of the Burgtheater company and was part of that ensemble until his 65th birthday in 1978. 1973: Honorary Member of the Vienna Burgtheater.
