Biography
Nora Heschl is an actress of Austrian descent. She was born in a small town in the southeast of Austria. Nora was a dancer before she got into acting. She took her first ballet classes at age four. Her first professional success was on stage of the Theatre Akzent in Vienna, when she was cast as one of the lead characters in the musical 'X-mas a nice surprise!' , at age 12. The musical was inspired by the movie 'Nightmare Before Christmas' and featured some of the most promising, young talents in Austria. Shortly after, she became part of the musical company KMC and more musical productions followed. Nora received extensive dance and musical training in Vienna's Performing Centre Austria. She was selected to compete in national and international dance competitions with the Performing Centre' s competition division, which resulted in national and international champion titles in Hip Hop and Modern Dance.
When she was 14 years old, director Harald Sicheritz discovered Nora for his comedy feature 'Poppitz'. She played Patritzia Schartl, one of the lead characters of the picture, alongside a high profile cast, comprised of Austrian and German A List actors and comedians. 'Poppitz' became a huge success. Up to this day, it is the second most successful Austrian feature at the box office in Austria. It won the Golden Ticket, the Austrian Film Award as Best Film and the Platinum DVD Award for exceptionally high DVD sales.
The producers approached Nora to write for the book 'Poppitz', which was released alongside the movie. Her satiric essay 'Is this possible?' was published in the book including behind the scenes photos she took on set while filming on the Canary Islands.
After 'Poppitz', Nora appeared in some of Austria's most successful productions of the respective years. She worked on four movies with director Xaver Schwarzenberger (DOP for Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' and 'Lilli Marleen'). Schwarzenberger's movies reached exceptionally high ratings (over 40% market share) in Austria and where also broadcast across Europe. Zuckeroma won the European Film Award Prix Europa.
Director Leo M. Bauer saw her in POPPITZ and cast Nora for the sitcom 'Novotny and Maroudi'. It became the most viewed sitcom on Austrian National Television.
Nora went on to play the lead Neele in the experimental short film 'Träumereien'. 'Träumereien' premiered at the Solothurner Film Festival in Switzerland, was screened during the Cannes Film Festival and other festivals throughout Europe. She guest-starred in some of Austria's and Germany's most successful crime series such as 'Trautmann', directed by Thomas Roth, or 'Inspector Rex'. Furthermore, she worked with director Wolfgang Murnberger on the socio-critical film 'The Black Lion', a true story about Nigerian refugees in Austria. 'The Black Lion' premiered at the Festival of Austrian Film (Diagonale).
Nora reunited with her mentor, director Harald Sicheritz, to work on the historical TV series '11er Haus' (set between 1950 and 1980). They also worked together on an episode of '4 Frauen und ein Todesfall' in which Nora guest-starred.
Director and producer Reinhard Schwabenitzky offered Nora a part as a series regular in the prime time TV series 'Oben Ohne' after seeing her in other productions. Nora played Judith Schnabel, a young singer. She worked with producer Andy Radovan on original songs for the show, she sang and performed all of them herself. 'Oben Ohne' became a hit. It was shot from 2006 - 2012 and aired on Austrian National Television, including several spin-off movie specials. The show was set in Salzburg, Vienna, Italy and Turkey.
Renowned Austrian film critic Rudolph John, nominated Nora as Best Actress for an UNDINE AWARD for her performance in Oben Ohne. The UNDINE AWARD recognizes exceptional performances in Film and TV in the German speaking market (Germany - Austria - Switzerland).
Nora's work as voice-over artist includes campaigns for P&G directed by Allistair Abell, which were recorded in Vancouver, BC.
Nora is a member of the Austrian Academy of motion pictures.
