German actor and director of comedies, in films from 1924. Began on the stage in 1926 and worked in Berlin cabarets (including "Kabarett der Komiker" and "Die Katakombe") and theatres (Metropoltheater, Admiralspalast, Theater am Kurfürstendamm) during the 1930s. After the was he, co-founded and led the Munich cabaret "Die Schaubude". Became popular as funny or eccentric old men in comedies, operettas and Heimatfilms of the 1950s and '60s. Also was occasionally seen in international productions, notably in
The Exorcist (1973) (as the servant Karl). Forced to wind down his career by the early 1980s due to the onset of blindness.