August Zirner was born January 7, 1959, in Urbana, Illinois as his parents had emigrated from Austria to the United States. In 1973, Zirner went to Vienna and attended actor"s training at Max-Reinhardt-Seminar for three years. He then became a cast member of several well-known theatres such as Wiener Volksbühne, Schauspielhaus Zürich, or Munich"s Kammerspiele. Initially, Zirner starred only occasionally in movies but from the end of the 1980s on, he took more and more TV and movie roles. With his "inconspicious yet striking features", Zirner starred in several significant supporting roles in films such as Volker Schlöndorff"s "Homo Faber" ("Voyager"), or in TV series like "Ein Fall für zwei".

In 1994, Zirner made his breakthrough performance in "Das Versprechen" ("The Promise"), Margarethe von Trotta"s ambivalent drama about the political history of East and West Germany. With parts in films as diverse as Rainer Kaufmann"s "Stadtgespräch" ("Talk of the Town",1995), where Zirner plays his signature role, the textbook softie, or von Trotta"s relationship melodrama "Winterkind" (1997), Zirner has made a name as one of the most versatile and intense actors of German cinema. Zirner has played in over 90 TV and movie productions that range from family entertainment such as "Das Sams" ("Das Sams") oder "Bella Martha" ("Mostly Martha") to Arthouse productions such as "Gebürtig" und "Die Fälscher" ("The Counterfeiters").