Born in Vienna, Erwin Steinhauer studied History and German language and literature in his home city and until 1992 appeared as a political cabaret artist in German and Austrian theatres, including in Vienna, Munich and Düsseldorf.
Theatre engagements have taken him to the Vienna Burgtheater and Volkstheater, the Volksoper and the Theater in der Josefstadt. In addition, he has appeared as a guest artist with the Berliner Ensemble, among others, and from 1995 to 1998 performed the role of Mammon in Hofmannsthal’s Jedermann at the Salzburg Festival.
He has appeared as an actor in numerous film and television productions, among them the Oscar-nominated film Das finstere Tal (The Dark Valley).
As an audio-book performer Erwin Steinhauer has appeared in more than forty radio plays for ORF, including voicing the private detective Brenner in the cult crime series of the same name. In 2014 he recorded the audio book Die letzten Tage der Menschheit.
Since 2010 he has increasingly devoted himself to music and literature, touring with his band Erwin Steinhauer & Seine Lieben, which features Georg Graf, Joe Pinkl and the percussionist Peter Rosmanith. Their joint stage projects include the acclaimed cabaret programme Hand aufs Herz at the Vienna Kammerspiele.
Erwin Steinhauer’s other important programmes include Ihnen zuliebe, which combines evergreen numbers by Ralph Benatzky and Hermann Leopoldi with klezmer music, and Alles Gute und alles Erfolgreiche, featuring re-arrangements of his favourite songs over four decades. In summer 2022 he presented Joseph Roth’s novella The Leviathan at Kultur.Sommer.Semmering, accompanied by the accordionist Andrej Serkov. In 2023 he returned there with Chris Lohner for a programme including the correspondence between Marlene Dietrich and the publicist Friedrich Torberg. In November 2023 he appeared with Herbert Föttinger in the world premiere of Peter Turrini’s Bis nächsten Freitag at the Theater in der Josefstadt.
In 2017 Erwin Steinhauer was awarded the title of Kammerschauspieler.
