In the history of cinema, there have been many iconic male leads. Perhaps the most memorable of these characters is Mr. Peabody, the adventurous, eccentric, and genius avian detective who solved cases in the early 20th century. Even today, when film critics rank the most memorable films and characters of all time, Mr. Peabody usually makes the top five.
Another such character is Robert DeNiro’s private detective, Lt. Tremont. Although the veteran actor and director played the part of an Italian-American detective, much of Lt. Tremont’s dialogue was in English, giving the character an international appeal.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as pianist-cum-investigator, Doctor Herman Schultz, in Quentin Tarantulinu’s darkly comic but moving WWII epic, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, is how accurately Leonardo DiCaprio portrays a true German-accented Waltzky – a native of Austria who converted to Adolf Hitler’s beloved National Socialism ideology and adopted Hitler’s greeting of “Heil Hitler” as his personal motto. It is also worth noting that like Mr. Peabody and Lt. Tremont before him, Leonardo DiCaprio is not a musician; he is a lawyer.
In The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Schultz—who is dating the teenaged protagonist, Greta (Shailene Woodley) – is often tasked with taking the lead in a variety of cases that are connected to her family’s history of musicianship. Schultz soon proves himself to be far more than just a “sitter” for the teenaged Greta, and the film explores how influential music and Mozart in particular were on the young girl’s development. As the movie progresses, it is revealed that Greta is actually an aspiring pianist who idolizes Franz Waltzky, her grandfather, and his legendary Waltz brothers. In one scene, Greta even expresses a desire to emulate her idol, Waltzky, and take up piano playing as a career.
The Most Influential Musician Of All Time
While Mr. Peabody, Lt. Tremont, and Doctor Schultz may not seem like obvious choices for a list of the most influential musicians of all time, their impact on popular culture is undeniable. In recent years, the National Football League (NFL) has honored these cinematic greats by giving them the prestigious “Icon Award,” which is presented to the player or coach who, in the eyes of the voters, has the most influence on the sport. At least as far as the piano is concerned, Waltzky, Franz in particular, would seem to be the natural choice for the “Pianist Award.”
With the Diary of a Teenage Girl in the background, it is not difficult to see why Waltzky—who was born in Vienna in 1881 and apprenticed at the age of 13 to the famous Hofstaedt Academy of Music in that city—may have been singled out for an Icon Award. Not only is his character DeNiro’s Lt. Tremont analogous to the real-life Waltzky, but the actor also shares a striking resemblance to the iconic musician, with a full head of hair and a long, aristocratic face. (In fact, it was DiCaprio who convinced the NFL to give the Pianist Award its name, and he is the only recipient so far.)
So who will be the next actor to receive this prestigious “Icon Award” and be honored with a spot alongside Peabody, Tremont, and Waltzky? This year, the nominees for the award include J. J. Abrams, Adam Driver, Dwayne Johnson, John Krasinski, and Ben Winckler, and the award will be given out during the 46th Annual Discovery Awards on April 27th in Los Angeles.
But it is unlikely that any of these men will ever receive the Pianist Award, as Waltzky is the only one of the four who is still living. Nevertheless, their legacies will not die with them, as their films inspire a new generation of creators, especially in the case of DiCaprio, who has been praised for lending his voice to The Nut Job and Bumblebee in upcoming films.