Christoph Waltz

Christoph Waltz (German: [ˈkrɪstɔf ˈvalts]; born 4 October 1956) is a German-Austrian actor and director, since 2009 mainly active in the United States.[1][2][3]

Christoph Waltz
Waltz at the Vienna International Film Festival in 2017
Born	(1956-10-04) 4 October 1956 Vienna, Austria
Citizenship	Austrian German
Alma mater	Max Reinhardt Seminar
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Jacqueline Waltz (née Rauch) (divorced) Judith Holste (married)
Children	4
Awards	Full list

His breakout American role came in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, where he played SS officer Hans Landa. He would later collaborate with Tarantino once again in 2012, where he played bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained. For each performance, he earned an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Waltz also received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Landa.[4]

Waltz portrayed computer genius Qohen Leth in the science fiction film The Zero Theorem (2013), American plagiarist Walter Keane in the biographical film Big Eyes (2014), and James Bond's nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2020).[5] For his role as Walter Keane, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

In 2020, he starred in the web series Most Dangerous Game, for which he garnered his first Primetime Emmy nomination, for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. He also provided the voice of Mandrake in Epic (2013) and is set to voice the Fox and the Cat in the 2021 Pinocchio adaptation.

Early life

Waltz was born on 4 October 1956 in Vienna, Austria,[6] the son of Johannes Waltz, a German set designer, and Elisabeth Urbancic, an Austrian costume designer.[7][8] Waltz is of Slovenian descent through his mother. His maternal great grandfather was Dr. Viktor Urbantschitsch, the son of Dr. Alois Urbantschitsch/ Alojz Urbancic, who was born in Preddvor, today Slovenia, then part of Kingdom of Illyria, Austria.[9] Through Alojz, Waltz is related to Josipina Urbančič, Alojz's first cousin, one of the first Slovene female poets and composers. Waltz comes from a family of theatrical heritage: his maternal grandmother was Burgtheater and silent film actress Maria Mayen, and his step-grandfather, Emmerich Reimers, and his great-grandfather, Georg Reimers, were both stage actors who also appeared in silent films.[7][10] Waltz's maternal grandfather, Rudolf von Urban, was a psychiatrist and a student of Sigmund Freud.[11]

Waltz's father died when he was seven years old,[7] and his mother later married composer and conductor Alexander Steinbrecher.[12][13] Steinbrecher was previously married to the mother of director Michael Haneke; as a result, Waltz and Haneke shared the same stepfather.[14]

Waltz had a passion for opera as a youth, having seen his first opera (Turandot with Birgit Nilsson in the title role) at around the age of ten. As a teenager, Waltz would visit the opera twice a week.[13] He was uninterested in theatre,[7] and had wished to become an opera singer.[11]

After graduating from Vienna's Theresianum,[7] Waltz went to study acting at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar.[15] At the same time, he also studied singing and opera at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, but eventually decided that his voice was not good enough for an opera career.[10][16] In the late 1970s, Waltz spent some time in New York City where he trained with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler. He studied script interpretation under Adler, and credits his analytical approach to her teaching.[10]

Career

Waltz in 2012

On his return to Europe, Waltz found work as a stage actor, making his debut at the Schauspielhaus in Zurich.[17] He also performed in Vienna, Salzburg, Cologne and Hamburg.[10][11] He became a prolific television actor in the years 1980 to 2000. In 2000, he made his directorial debut, with the German television production Wenn man sich traut.[18] Before coming to the attention of a larger audience in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, he had played Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann in the British TV series The Gravy Train in 1990. The show is a story of intrigue and misdeeds set in the offices of the European Union in Brussels.[19]

In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa, also known as "The Jew Hunter". Clever, courteous, multilingual—but also self-serving, cunning, implacable and murderous—the character of Landa was such that Tarantino feared he "might have written a part that was un-playable".[20] Waltz received the Best Actor Award for the performance at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and received acclaim from critics and the public. In 2009, he began sweeping critics' awards circuits, receiving awards for Best Supporting Actor from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics,[21] Los Angeles Film Critics Association,[21] and for Best Supporting Actor at the 67th Golden Globe Awards and the 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2010.

The following month, he won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor,[22] and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[23] Tarantino acknowledged the importance of Waltz to his film by stating: "I think that Landa is one of the best characters I've ever written and ever will write, and Christoph played it to a tee. It's true that if I couldn't have found someone as good as Christoph I might not have made Inglourious Basterds".[24]

Waltz played gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet (2011); that same year, he starred in Water for Elephants and Roman Polanski's Carnage. He played German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), a role Tarantino wrote specifically for Waltz.[25] During a training accident prior to filming, Waltz injured his pelvis.[26] His role garnered him acclaim once again, with Waltz winning the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, and ultimately the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Waltz has been cast as the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the film Reykjavik, based on the 1986 peace talks between the United States and USSR.[27] In April 2013, he was selected as a member of the main competition jury at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.[28] He directed a production of the opera Der Rosenkavalier at the Vlaamse Opera, in Antwerp in late 2013, and in Ghent early 2014.[29] In 2014, he was selected as a member of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.[30] He starred as Walter Keane in Tim Burton's Big Eyes, which opened on 25 December 2014,[31] and appeared as Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Spectre, the 24th film in the James Bond franchise.[32] In July 2019, it was reported that Waltz would reprise the role in No Time to Die (2020).[33]

In 2015, it was announced that Waltz would direct and star in the film Georgetown (formerly titled The Worst Marriage in Georgetown), which is based on the true crime story of the murder of Viola Drath.[34] In July 2016, he portrayed lead villain Captain Leon Rom, a corrupt Belgian captain, in the reboot The Legend of Tarzan.

In 2017, Waltz appeared in the films Tulip Fever and Downsizing. In 2019, Waltz appeared in the action fantasy Alita: Battle Angel. He directed a production of the opera Falstaff, again at the Vlaamse Opera, in Antwerp in late 2017, and in Ghent in early 2018.

Personal life

Waltz and wife Judith Holste at the 82nd Academy Awards, March 2010

Waltz has three children with his former wife, Jacqueline (née Rauch), a dance therapist originally from New York.[10][35] The two lived in London and their marriage lasted 17 years.[10][8] Waltz married his second wife, German costume designer Judith Holste, with whom he has a daughter. They divide their time between Berlin and Los Angeles.[36][37]

Waltz's native language is German, and he also speaks both English and French fluently.[38] He speaks all three of these in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, and although his character in Inglourious Basterds also spoke Italian, Waltz said on the Adam Carolla Podcast that he is not fluent in Italian.

Waltz was born in Vienna to a German father who applied for him to become a citizen of Germany after his birth.[39] He received Austrian citizenship in 2010, thus holding citizenships of both Austria and Germany, but considers his German passport a "legal, citizenship law banality"[3] despite the fact that he had not previously been able to vote in Austria's national elections. Asked whether he felt Viennese, he responded: "I was born in Vienna, grew up in Vienna, went to school in Vienna, graduated in Vienna, studied in Vienna, started acting in Vienna – and there would be a few further Viennese links. How much more Austrian do you want it?"[40]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Language	Director	Notes
1979	Breakthrough	Paramedic	English	Andrew V. McLaglen	Uncredited
1981	Headstand	Markus	German	Veith von Fürstenberg
1982	Fire and Sword	Tristan	English	Veith von Fürstenberg
1986	Wahnfried	Friedrich Nietzsche	German	Peter Patzak
1988	Quicker Than the Eye	Police Chief	English	Nicolas Gessner
1991	Life for Life: Maximilian Kolbe	Jan Tytz	Polish	Krzysztof Zanussi	Credited as Chistopher Waltz
1995	The Start of Something	Herbert	German	Nikolaus Leytner
1997	Our God's Brother	Maksymilian Gierymski	English	Krzysztof Zanussi
1998	Seven Moons	Kom. Becker	German	Peter Fratzscher
1998	Love Scenes from Planet Earth	Charly	German	Marc Rothemund
1999	The Bride	Karl August	German	Egon Günther
2000	Ordinary Decent Criminal	Peter	English	Thaddeus O'Sullivan
2000	Falling Rocks	Louis	German	Peter Keglevic
2000	Death, Deceit and Destiny Aboard the Orient Express	Ossama / Tarik	English	Mark Roper
2001	Queen's Messenger	Ali Ben Samm	English	Mark Roper
2001	She	Michael Vincey	English	Timothy Bond
2003	Angst	Psychoanalyst	German	Oskar Roehler
2003	Gun-Shy	Johannsen	German	Dito Tsintsadze
2003	Berlin Blues	Doctor	German	Leander Haußmann
2004	Pact with the Devil	Rolf Steiner	English	Allan A. Goldstein
2006	Lapislazuli: In the Eyes of the Bear	Czerny	German	Wolfgang Murnberger
2009	Inglourious Basterds	Col. Hans Landa	English	Quentin Tarantino	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2011	The Green Hornet	Benjamin Chudnofsky / Bloodnofsky	English	Michel Gondry
2011	Water for Elephants	August Rosenbluth	English	Francis Lawrence
2011	The Three Musketeers	Cardinal Richelieu	English	Paul W. S. Anderson
2011	Carnage	Alan Cowan	English	Roman Polanski
2012	Django Unchained	Dr. King Schultz	English	Quentin Tarantino	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2013	Epic	Mandrake	English	Chris Wedge	Voice
2013	The Zero Theorem	Qohen Leth	English	Terry Gilliam	Also co-producer
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	Himself	English	James Bobin	Cameo
2014	Horrible Bosses 2	Burt Hanson	English	Sean Anders
2014	Big Eyes	Walter Keane	English	Tim Burton
2015	Spectre	Ernst Stavro Blofeld	English	Sam Mendes
2016	The Legend of Tarzan	Léon Rom	English	David Yates
2017	Tulip Fever	Cornelis Sandvoort	English	Justin Chadwick
2017	Downsizing	Dusan Mirkovic	English	Alexander Payne
2019	Alita: Battle Angel	Dr. Dyson Ido	English	Robert Rodriguez
2019	Georgetown	Ulrich Mott	English	Himself	Directorial debut
2019	QT8: The First Eight	Himself	English	Tara Wood	Documentary film[41]
2020	The French Dispatch	Boris Schommers	English	Wes Anderson	Post-production
2020	No Time to Die	Ernst Stavro Blofeld	English	Cary Joji Fukunaga	Post-production
2021	Pinocchio	The Fox and the Cat	English	Guillermo del Toro Mark Gustafson	Post-production; Voice
TBA	Rifkin's Festival	TBA	English	Woody Allen	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes
1977	Am dam des	(singer)	German
1977	Der Einstand	Gunther Vesley	German	Television film
1979	Feuer!	Karl Albrecht Schlick	German	Television film
1979	Parole Chicago	Eduard "Ede" Bredo	German	13 episodes
1982	The Mysterious Stranger	Ernst Wasserman	English	Television film
1982	Dr. Margarete Johnsohn	Rainer	German	Television film
1983	Der Sandmann	Nathanael	German	Television film
1985	Ein Fall für zwei	Alf	German	Episode: "Blutsbande"
1986	The Old Fox	Hans Baumeister	German	Episode: "Zwei Leben"
1986	Derrick	Eberhard Bothe	German	Episode: "Schonzeit für Mörder"
1986	The Lenz Papers	Franz Sigel	German	Television miniseries
1987	Tatort	Inspektor Passini	German	Episode: "Wunschlos tot"
1987	Das andere Leben	Stefan	German	Television film
1988	The Alien Years	Stefan Mueller	English	Television series
1988	Derrick	Schumann	German	Episode: "Mord inklusive"
1989	Goldeneye	German spy	English	Television film
1990	The Gravy Train	Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann	English	4 episodes
1990	The Old Fox	Christian Kamp	German	Episode: "So gut wie tot"
1991	The Gravy Train Goes East	Dr. Hans-Joachim Dorfmann	English	4 episodes
1992	5 Zimmer, Küche, Bad	Hartwig Klemmnitz	German	Television film
1992	Die Angst wird bleiben	Manfred	German	Television film
1993	König der letzten Tage (a.k.a. A King for Burning)	John of Leiden	German	Television film
1994	Tag der Abrechnung – Der Amokläufer von Euskirchen	Erwin Mikolajczyk	German	Television film
1994	Jacob	Morash	English	Television film
1994	Die Staatsanwältin	Andreas Doepke	German	Television film
1995	The All New Alexei Sayle Show	Weak Moustache	English	Episode #2.3
1995	Prinz zu entsorgen	Roman	German	Television film
1995	Man(n) sucht Frau	Christoph	German	Television film
1995	Catherine the Great	Mirovich	English	Television film
1996	Der Tourist	Stephan Görner	German	Television film
1996	Du bist nicht allein – Die Roy Black Story	Roy Black	German	Television film
1996	Rosa Roth	Wietze	German	Episode: "Nirgendwohin"
1996	Rex: A Cop's Best Friend	Martin Wolf	German	Episode: "Der Puppenmörder"
1997	Maître Da Costa	Walter Mueller	French	2 episodes
1997	Faust	Gerhardt Schulze-Leitner	German	Episode: "Villa Palermo"
1997	Schimanski	Klaus Mandel	German	Episode: "Blutsbrüder"
1998	Vickys Alptraum	Johnny	German	Television film
1998	Schock – Eine Frau in Angst	Kommissar Kaul	German	Television film
1998	The Final Game	Kant	German	Television film
1998	Rache für mein totes Kind	Paul	German	Television film
1998	Mörderisches Erbe – Tausch mit einer Toten	Moritz Fink	German	Television film
1999	Dessine-moi un jouet	Klaus Hermann	French	Television film
2000	The Beast (also known as Das Teufelsweib)	Herbert Fink	German	Television film
2001	Engel sucht Flügel	Caspari	German	Television film
2001	Riekes Liebe	Pair skating coach Karlhoff	German	Television film
2001	Der Tanz mit dem Teufel	Dieter Cilov	German	Television film
2002	Dienstreise – Was für eine Nacht	Klaus-Dieter Lehmann	German	Television film
2002	Weihnachtsmann gesucht	Johannes Böhmke	German	Television film
2003	Jagd auf den Flammenmann	Brisky	German	Television film
2003	Der Mörder ist unter uns (also known as Der Fall Gehring)	Martin Bach	German	Television film
2003	Zwei Tage Hoffnung	Michael Berg	German	Television film
2003	Jennerwein	Pföderl	German	Television film
2003	Tigeraugen sehen besser	Dr. Thilo Rylow	German	Television film
2004	Scheidungsopfer Mann	Benedikt von Arn	German	Television film
2004	Mörderische Suche	Richard Benedek	German	Television film
2004	Schöne Witwen küssen besser	Jean-France	German	Television film
2005	Die Patriarchin	Wolf Sevening	German	3 episodes
2005	Der Elefant: Mord verjährt nie	Richard Seemann	German	Episode: "Verlorene Jahre"
2006	SOKO Rhein-Main	Andreas Senner	German	Episode: "Schuld und Sühne"
2006	Polizeiruf 110	Dr. Juris Gríns	German	Episode: "Die Lettin und ihr Lover"
2006	Stolberg	Paul Büttner	German	Episode: "Kreuzbube"
2006	Tatort	Prof. Robert Henze	German	Episode: "Schlaflos in Weimar"
2006	Franziskas Gespür für Männer	Karl Löwen	German	Television film
2007	Der Staatsanwalt	Dr. Claudius Tressen	German	Episode: "Glückskinder"
2007	Der letzte Zeuge	Dr. Martin York	German	Episode: "Martinspassion"
2007	Unter Verdacht	Thomas Sell	German	Episode: "Hase and Igel"
2007	The Zurich Engagement	Frank "Büffel" Arbogast	German	Television film
2007	Die Verzauberung	Dr. Helmut Bahr	German	Television film
2008	Das Geheimnis im Wald	Hans Kortmann	German	Television film
2008	Todsünde	Sebastian Flies	German	Television film
2008	Das jüngste Gericht	Peters	German	Television film
2008	Die Anwälte	Herbert Jahn	German	Episode: "Leben und Tod"
2008	Tatort	Gerd Weißenbach	German	Episode: "Liebeswirren"
2013	Saturday Night Live	Host	English	Episode: "Christoph Waltz/Alabama Shakes"
2017	Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee	Guest	English	Episode: "Champagne, Cigars and Pancake Batter"
2020	Most Dangerous Game	Miles	English

As director

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Wenn man sich traut
2019	Georgetown[42]	Ulrich Mott

Accolades

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Christoph Waltz

See also

• List of German Academy Award winners and nominees

References

1. "Pass-Hickhack: Christoph Waltz wird im Eilverfahren zum Österreicher – Nachrichten Kultur" (in German). Welt.de. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
2. "Österreichische Staatsbürgerschaft für Christoph Waltz'". Der Standard. 8 August 2010.
3. "Waltz fühlt sich definitiv als Österreicher – Boulevard". Focus.de. 21 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
4. "Christoph Waltz Wins The Academy Award For Best Actor In A Supporting Role". stories99.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
5. Miller, Ross (4 December 2014). "The next James Bond film is called Spectre: new car, poster, and full cast confirmed". The Verge. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
6. Gettell, Oliver (2 December 2014). "Christoph Waltz". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
7. Badia, Alex; Windolf, Jim (9 December 2014). "M: Good Day, Christoph Waltz". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
8. Chalmers, Robert (15 May 2015). "We've been expecting you, Mr Waltz". GQ. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
9. https://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl/oebl_U/Urbantschitsch_Viktor_1847_1921.xml
10. Lim, Dennis (12 August 2009). "'Inglourious' Actor Tastes the Glory". New York Times. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
11. Rafanelli, Stephanie (21 December 2017). "A Merry Dance With Mr Christoph Waltz". MR PORTER. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
12. Lemke-Matwey, Christine (12 December 2013). "Christoph Waltz". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 2 February 2020.
13. da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna (11 December 2017). "Christoph Waltz, Directing Opera, Moves From Tarantino to Verdi". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
14. Rose, Steve (13 March 2014). "Zero Theorem: the world according to Christoph Waltz". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
15. Hitz, Julia (4 October 2016). "Hollywood's favorite bad guy Christoph Waltz turns 60". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
16. Gross, Terry (18 December 2012). "'Unchained' Admiration Between Actor And Director". NPR. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
17. "Christoph Waltz und der Sprayer von Zürich". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). 27 September 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
18. "IMDB". Retrieved 17 December 2011.
19. "4oD Drama". Retrieved 27 January 2013.
20. Fleming, Michael (17 May 2009). "Tarantino Reflects On 'Basterds'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2010.
21. "BSFC Award Winners – Recent". Thebsfc.org. Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
22. Film Awards Winners in 2010 - Film Awards - Film - The BAFTA site Archived 27 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
23. "2015 Oscars: Nominees - 87th Academy Awards Nominations". Oscar.com.
24. "''Inglorious Basterds feature". Network.nationalpost.com. The National Post. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
25. Ordoña, Michael (27 December 2012), "Christoph Waltz admires Tarantino's to-the-heart style", Los Angeles Times, retrieved 12 January 2016
26. Borys Kit (30 September 2011). "Christoph Waltz Dislocates Pelvic Bone During 'Django Unchained' Training". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
27. "Christoph Waltz Signs to Star Opposite Michael Douglas in Reykjavik". The Hollywood Reporter. 15 October 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
28. Saperstein, Pat (23 April 2013). "Nicole Kidman, Christoph Waltz, Ang Lee Among Cannes Jury Members". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
29. "Vlaamse Opera | Vlaamse Opera". Vlaamseopera.be. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
30. "Berlinale 2014: International Jury". Berlinale. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
31. Sepinwall, Alan (2 May 2014). "Weinstein sets awards season dates for Big Eyes, Imitation Game and Eleanor Rigby". Hitfix.com. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
32. Polowy, Kevin (7 November 2015). "So Who Does Christoph Waltz Play in 'SPECTRE'? (Spoilers!)". Yahoo!. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
33. Kroll, Justin (12 July 2019). "Christoph Waltz to Return as Blofeld in 'Bond 25'". Variety.
34. Andrews, Helena (6 May 2015). "Actor Christoph Waltz will direct and star in 'The Worst Marriage in Georgetown'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
35. Husband, Stuart (28 October 2015). "Christoph Waltz: 'Facebook is a step toward facism'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
36. Freydkin, Donna (26 January 2010). "At long last, movie stardom shines on Christoph Waltz". USA Today.
37. "Waltz unchained for Jerusalem wedding". The Times of Israel. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
38. Billington, Alex (20 August 2009). "Interview: Col. Hans 'The Jew Hunter' Landa – Christoph Waltz". First Showing. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
39. "Waltz to become Austrian citizen". Wiener Zeitung Online. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
40. "Waltz to become an Austrian citizen". 26 August 2010.
41. McNary, Dave (13 February 2019). "Director Reclaims Rights to Documentary '21 Years: Quentin Tarantino' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
42. Ritman, Alex. "Cannes: Christoph Waltz's Directorial Debut Adds Vanessa Redgrave". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 8 May 2017.

Audiobooks

• 2007: Robert M. Sapolsky: Mein Leben als Pavian. Random House Audio, ISBN 978-3-8371-7809-8

External links

• Christoph Waltz on IMDb
• Christoph Waltz interviews on Charlie Rose
• Christoph Waltz at the German Dubbing Card Index

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Heath Ledger (posthumous) for The Dark Knight	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 2009 for Inglourious Basterds	Succeeded by Christian Bale for The Fighter
Preceded by Christopher Plummer for Beginners	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 2012 for Django Unchained	Succeeded by Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club