Austrian actor Karl Merkatz died on Sunday at the age of 92.

His family told the German Press Agency that he fell asleep peacefully at home in Straßwalchen in the state of Salzburg.

During his career, Merkatz has appeared in more than 250 film and television productions.

He became known, among other things, for his role in the television series "Ein Echter Wiener geht nicht unter", which was broadcast from 1975 to 1979.

As the loud-mouthed electrician Edmund Sackbauer (“Mundl”), he embodied a screen character unforgotten in Austria.

The film series “Der Bockerer”, about a butcher with rebellious traits during the Nazi era, was also popular.

In his more than 150 stage roles, Merkatz played mainly Nestroy, Raimund and Shakespeare characters.

Merkatz was a "character actor of a unique format", said Austria's Secretary of State for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer.

"With him we are losing a true king of the art of acting." Hardly any series character like "Mundl" polarized the audience in such a way, according to Vienna's Mayor Michael Ludwig on Sunday.

In this role, Merkatz was something of an early "angered citizen" who, despite his grumpiness, had his heart in the right place.

From craft to acting

At the request of his parents, Merkatz, born in Wiener Neustadt in 1930, learned a trade and completed an apprenticeship as a carpenter.

Even as a child, he was fascinated by acting.

Instead of going to the workshop, his path led to the stage.

Merkatz took acting lessons in Vienna, among other places, and graduated from the Mozarteum in Salzburg with distinction.

Stage engagements followed, including in Nuremberg, Hamburg and Munich.

He met his future wife while performing in Heilbronn.

In Vienna he played at the Theater in der Josefstadt and the Burgtheater, among others.

He was also successful in operettas and musicals, for example as the frog in Johann Strauss' "Fledermaus" and at the Theater an der Wien as the milkman Tewje in "Anatevka".

His interpretation of the Kafka story "A Report for an Academy" about a monkey that adopts the average European education is considered ingenious.

At the Salzburg Festival he was seen on stage in "Jedermann".

One of his favorite pieces was Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

In 2009, Merkatz announced his departure from the theater stage - his great wish to play King Lear had not come true.

After he successfully staged his cabaret program “Der Blunzenkönig” from 2008, the play also came to local cinemas in 2015 with Merkatz in the leading role.