Austrian actor Maximilian Schell, who won the best actor Oscar in 1961 for his portrayal of a defence attorney in the drama Judgment At Nuremberg, has died aged 83.

His agent, Patricia Baumbauer, said yesterday that Schell died overnight at a hospital in Innsbruck following a "sudden and serious illness".

Vienna-born Schell went on to be nominated for the best actor Oscar for The Man In The Glass Booth in 1975, and for best supporting actor in Julia in 1977, the year he also featured in A Bridge Too Far and Cross Of Iron.