Simonischek was born in Graz, Austria in 1946 and had his international breakthrough with the film released in 2016. The bittersweet tale of the relationship between a practical joke-loving father and his daughter was nominated for both BAFTA and Oscar and took home the Fipresci Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
In his home country, Peter Simonischek was best known for his work on the country's theater stages. He also spent a long time in Germany, as a permanent employee at Berliner Schaubühne between 1979 and 1999. Every summer he played major roles at the famous Salzburger Festspielen.
In parallel, Simonischek had a film career and appeared in a number of mainly German-language films during his career. The last, "Der vermessene Mensch" had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February this year.
Peter Simonischek died at home in Vienna after a short illness. He was 76 years old.
Austrian Culture Minister Andrea Mayer said in a statement that he was "one of the great names in theatre, film and television for decades. His death is a great loss to the cultural world."