August Zirner (* 1956) is an Jewish-American-Austrian actor who was born in Illinois. Zirner’s parents emigrated to the United States after the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany. In 1973 Zirner returned to Europe where he continues to live. After completing his acting training at Vienna’s Max Reinhardt Seminar Zirner made his stage debut at the Volkstheater Wien. He has gone on to perform at theaters in Hanover, Wiesbaden, and the Münchner Kammerspiele. Zirner became known to a wider audience through roles in numerous film, television, and audiobook productions. He received the Grimme Prize as a member of the ensemble of the film Wut and a Special Recognition from the German Academy of the Performing Arts. Zirner was also a member of the cast of the feature film The Counterfeiters, which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In addition to his work as an actor, Zirner performs as a jazz flutist and – together with his daughter Ana – has published a non-fiction book about climate change.