Tall, blond and blue-eyed Austrian leading actor of somewhat limited range, usually seen in clean-cut romantic or heroic roles. Trained in Vienna, he began his career on stage at the Volkstheater. Staal entered films in 1935, soon becoming an important contract player at Ufa, partnering on screen many of the big name stars, including Zarah Leander, Anny Ondra and Hansi Knoteck (whom he married). After the war, he joined the ensemble of the Brecht Theater in Berlin. His screen career in the 50's, however, had lost much of its impetus.
