Tall, imposing character actor, on stage from 1925. Initially a member of the ensemble of the Hamburg Kammerspiele. On-screen from 1935 and from 1942 under contract to Bavaria Studios. Worked prolifically in films and on television, his bearing and gravitas being suited to portraying authority figures--often coldly laconic or with a hint of arrogance--aristocrats, senior public servants, barristers, judges, professors and generals. He also provided the German voice for foreign stars such as
James Stewart,
Henry Fonda,
Gregory Peck,
Melvyn Douglas ,
Vittorio De Sica and
Rex Harrison.
