It was awesome! Basically Columbo with a dog. It was the only day in the week I was allowed to stay up late as a kid

Yes and no. He was an actor in Germany/Austria loooong before QT introduced him to the world.

I for one am German and know him from a German/Austrian show called „Kommissar Rex“ about a German Shephard that helps the police solve cases (yup, that show was hugely successful). And in one episode Waltz place a crazy puppet-maker who dresses up women as dolls and kills them when they don‘t comply. Gave me nightmares as a small kid