August Schmölzer was born on 27 June 1958 into a farming family in St. Stefan ob Stainz (Western Styria, Austria). Already as a pupil he showed musical talent, took guitar and singing lessons, wrote poems in Styrian dialect and tried his hand at sculpture. After graduating from school, he first trained as a cook and at the same time founded a folk music group, with which he performed at folk festivals in Austria and Germany. In 1979 he began studying acting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz; in New York he attended courses in role study at the renowned Herbert Berghoff Studio.  

After graduating in Graz in 1982, he made his stage debut at the Heilbronn Theatre; in 1985 he received an engagement from Boy Gobert at the Vienna Theater in der Josefstadt. In the following years he also appeared on stage at the Salzburg Festival and the Munich Residenztheater.   

In addition to his work on stage, Schmölzer also established himself as a screen and TV actor from the late 1980s onwards. His first appearances in front of the camera included a leading role in the award-winning drama "Tunnelkind" (AT 1990) and the title role in Robert Dornhelm's "Requiem für Dominic" ("Requiem for Dominic", AT 1990), about the story of the Romanian Dominic Paraschiv, who was denounced as an alleged torturer and 'Butcher of Timisoara' after the fall of the Ceauşescu regime in 1989. 

Schmölzer had smaller parts in Gerhard Polt's "Herr Ober!" (1992), Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" (US 1993) and the German-Austrian political thriller "Der Fall Lucona" ("The Lucona Affair", 1993). In Robert Dornhelm's satirical social study "Der Unfisch" ("The Unfish", AT 1997) he was a village mayor, in Katja von Garnier's "Bandits" (1997) a prison guard, and in Til Schweiger's directorial debut, the action film "Der Eisbär" ("The Polar Bear", 1998), a dull-witted pub regular.   

August Schmölzer has appeared on television in a large number of films and series, such as the historical multi-part "Der Salzbaron" ("A Perfect Soundrel", AT 1993), as the shady guy in Urs Egger's new adaptation of "Die Halbstarken" (1996) and alongside Iris Berben as commissioner in the psychodrama "Vergewaltigt - Eine Frau schlägt zurück" ("Ultimate Trespass" 1998). He had a recurring serial role as a farmer in "Julia - Eine ungewöhnliche Frau" (1999-2000). 

Schmölzer also remained active as a stage actor. In 1999, for example, he played the Bärenjosef in the "Geierwally" at the Stuttgart State Theatre, in spring 2000 he became a freelance member of the Munich Kammerspiele.   

On the big screen, he impersonated the painter Gustav Klimt in the internationally cast Alma Mahler film biography "Bride of the Wind" (GB/DE/AT); in Michael Glawogger's shrill comedy "Nacktschnecken" ("Slugs", AT 2004) he played a pimp. After a smaller role in Oliver Hirschbiegel's "Der Untergang" ("Downfall", 2004), Schmölzer played a leading role as an unfaithful husband in the ensemble drama "Oktoberfest" (2005).   

After that Schmölzer continued to work for TV productions. In the series "Die Familienanwältin" (2006-2007) he played the husband of Mariele Millowitsch's title character; in "Die Landärztin" with Christine Neubauer he could be seen as a grumpy farmer from 2005 to 2013. He was nominated for the Bavarian Television Award 2007 for his roles in the crime thriller melodrama "Vom Ende der Eiszeit" (2006) and the comedy "Franziskas Gespür für Männer" (2006).  

Schmölzer had further television roles in the successful three-parter "Afrika, mon amour" (director: Carlo Rola) alongside Iris Berben, in the family comedy "Alle meine Lieben" ("All My Loved Ones", 2009), in "Der Winzerkrieg" (2011) and the crime thriller "Steirerblut" (AT 2014). In the TV adaptation of the fairy tale "Das kalte Herz" ("The Cold Heart", 2014) he was the rich businessman Ezechiel, in the two-parter "Das Sacher. In bester Gesellschaft" ("Hotel Sacher", 2016) he played the famous confectioner Franz Sacher (inventor of the Sachertorte). His TV filmography includes over 150 titles.   

Besides his work as an actor, August Schmölzer has also published several books, such as "Der arme Ritter - ein erotisches Kochbuch" (2005) and the novel "Der Totengräber im Buchsbaum" (2014). Furthermore, he is strongly involved in charity work. In 2005, he founded the "Initiative zur Herzensbildung" (Initiative for the Education of the Heart), which supports and promotes children and young people in and out of school, focusing on aspects such as empathy, tolerance and humanity. In 2011 his non-fiction book "Herzensbildung: Über die Kunst, sich im Anderen wiederzuerkennen" was published. In 2012 Schmölzer was honoured for his 'Humanitarian Commitment' as Austrian of the Year; in 2016 he received the Decoration of Honour of the Province of Styria, also for his 'Humanitarian Commitment'.   

On the big screen, Marie Noëlle and Peter Sehr cast him in "Ludwig II." (DE/AT 2012) as Bernhard von Gudden, the king's psychiatrist. A few years later he was part of the cast of the much-praised drama "Erik and Erika" (DE/AT 2018), about the Carinthian-born ski racer Erik Schinegger, who in 1966 became the downhill world champion of the Alpine Ski World Championships in Portillo, Chile, as Erika Schinegger.   

In 2020, two films featuring August Schmölzer were released in cinemas: In the Austrian action thriller "Marlene" he impersonated a merciless godfather dressed in traditional costume in the Styrian hinterland. The psychodrama "Schlaf" ("Sleep") showed him as a friendly but mysterious hotel owner.