- Godfather of actress Angelina Jolie
- In 1990, he declined an Honorary German Film Award, feeling he was too young to receive an award for lifetime achievement.
- He was the first actor to win an Oscar (for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)) for a role he originally performed on television (in a 1959 episode of Playhouse 90 (1956)). The only other actor to accomplish that feat was Cliff Robertson, who won an Oscar for Charly (1968) after first playing the role in "The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon" on The United States Steel Hour (1953).
- A part-time director, his compelling documentary Marlene (1984) was nominated for an Oscar in 1985 and his last film Meine Schwester Maria (2002) chronicled the life, career and eventual diminished capacity of his noted actress sister Maria Schell.
- He appeared in four films with Vanessa Redgrave: Julia (1977), Young Catherine (1991), Little Odessa (1994) and Deep Impact (1998).
- He dubbed himself in the English version of Hamlet (1960).
- At the Academy Awards presentation for 1961 (1962), Joan Crawford presented Schell with his "Best Actor" Oscar; the following year, Schell, as presenter of the "Best Actress" award, presented the Oscar to Joan Crawford, who was accepting for absent winner Anne Bancroft.
- His interest in acting began at early age. When age 11, he appeared in a professional production of "William Tell" and the same year wrote a play which was produced by his school.
- He only appeared in one film with his sister, Maria, The Odessa File (1974).
- In later life, he began directing operatic productions. His first foray in the musical medium was a Swiss production of Verdi's "La Traviata". This passion was triggered when he was performing in the play "Jedermann" (or "Everyman") in Salzburg, Austria from 1978-1982, and he came into contact with several musical conductors including Leonard Bernstein, James Levine and Claudio Abbado.
- Received the "Actor of the Millennium" award at The Baltic Pearl Film Festival in Latvia. He collapsed at the festival and was been diagnosed with acute pancreatitis which is related to his diabetes. (August 2000)
- He appeared in four films with Liv Ullmann: Pope Joan (1972), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Players (1979) and The Rose Garden (1989).
- He directed his mother Margarete Schell Noé in two films: The Pedestrian (1973) and End of the Game (1975).
- Uncle of Oliver Schell and Marie Theres Relin.
- Just like his sister Maria Schell, he also died from complications from pneumonia.
- He directed 2 films that were Oscar nominated for Foreign Language Film: First Love (1970) and The Pedestrian (1973).
- His father was a Swiss poet and his mother an Austrian actress.
- Father of Nastassja Schell (born in 1989).
- He was a stage producer in Germany.
- Son of actress Margarete Schell Noé.
- Had appeared in the Old Vic's early 2006 production of the Arthur Miller play "Resurrection Blues", which was directed by Robert Altman in his London theatrical debut, The play was widely panned by critics, partly due to the divergent acting styles of the eclectic cast assembled by Altman, which included the urbane Englishman James Fox playing the intellectual cousin of Schell's Germanic dictator.
- Was among the actors in the running for Dr. Hans Fallada in the science fiction horror film Lifeforce (1985). Frank Finlay was cast instead.
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