Trivia

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.

In the '70s and '80s he usually worked in TV.

Came late to films, but soon became a popular actor and played high-class gentlemen as well as crafty or dogged characters.

Finished an agricultural education, but was already interested in the theater in those years. He gave up his secure occupation and took the plunge into the world of the theater.

Due to his stature and popularity in both film and theater, he was exempted from military service in Germany during World War II.

He took acting lessons and made his theater debut in 1925 in Hamburg. Later he continued his theater career in Munich.

After the war ended he continued his career in the theater until the film industry began to recover in the late '40s.