Joseph Fürst (13 February 1916 – 29 November 2005) was an Austrian-born international film and television actor known for his English language roles in Britain and Australia, after first appearing on the Canadian stage.[1]

Joseph Fürst
Born
Joseph Fürst

(1916-02-13)13 February 1916
Died29 November 2005(2005-11-29) (aged 89)
OccupationActor
Years active1953–1986

Career

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Fürst was regularly featured in UK television drama series of the 1960s and early 1970s with appearances in The Saint, The Champions, Doomwatch, The Persuaders!, and as the mad (and well remembered) Professor Zaroff in the Doctor Who story The Underwater Menace.[2] Many people believe his accent in this role to have been put on; this is incorrect, it was in fact his real accent.[3] He also played the role of Schneider in the Armchair Theatre play "A Magnum for Schneider", which launched Edward Woodward as the character of Callan. (The play led to the highly regarded Callan TV series.)[4]

Fürst's notable film appearances included 55 Days at Peking (1963), The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966), the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever (1971) as Dr Metz,[5][6] and Inn of the Damned (1975).[1]

He emigrated to Australia and, starting in the mid-1970s, acted in several guest roles on Australian television drama series. They included several appearances in the top-rated police drama Division 4, produced by Crawford Productions in the 1970s. He played an ongoing role in soap opera Number 96 in 1976 as deli owner Carlo Lenzi, who was introduced to the series as a new Italian family alongside Arianthe Galani[7] and Harry Michaels, his character romanced wine bar proprietor Norma Whittaker (Sheila Kennelly). He also played Heinrik Smeaton in The Young Doctors in 1979, and was a guest on situation comedy Kingswood Country, again opposite Kennelly.[8][9] He guest starred in four episodes of A Country Practice in the early 1980s.[10] In 1984, he starred in the ABC TV film The Schippan Mystery.[11]

Shortly before his death, Fürst was interviewed by Dwayne Bunney and Dallas Jones for "Loose Cannon" and spoke about his career. The interview was an extra feature in the reconstruction of the missing Doctor Who story "The Underwater Menace".[12][13]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1960 Exodus Avidan Film debut
1961 Very Important Person Luftwaffe Interrogator
Offbeat Paul Vama
1962 Freud: The Secret Passion Herr Jacob Koertner
1963 55 Days at Peking Capt. Hanselman
1964 The High Bright Sun Dr. Andros
1966 The Brides of Fu Manchu Otto Lentz
Drop Dead Darling German Brasshat
1967 Theatre of Death Karl Schiller
1968 Hammerhead Count Ortega
1970 Eyewitness Local Police Sergeant
Goodbye Gemini Georgiu
1971 Diamonds Are Forever Professor Dr. Metz
1973 And Millions Will Die Franz Kessler
1975 Inn of the Damned Lazar Straulle
Plugg Judge, Fraudenheist Final film

Television Roles

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Year Title Role Notes
1960-7 Armchair Theatre Various roles Three episodes
1961 Ghost Squad Koster Episode: "Assassin"
Maigret Gastin Episode: "The Liars"
One Step Beyond Judge Episode: "The Sorcerer"
1963-6 The Saint Various roles Three episodes
1964 Espionage Von Elm Episode: "Medal for a Turned Coat"
The Wednesday Play General Fritz Fromm Episode: "The July Plot"
1966 The Baron Colonel Jan Bucholz Episode: "Enemy of the State"
1967 Doctor Who Professor Hermann Zaroff Serial: "The Underwater Menace"
1968 The Champions Various roles Two episodes
1970 Doomwatch Dr. Charles Goldsworthy Episode: "Re-Entry Forbidden"
Callan Sabovski Episode: "A Village Called "G""
1971 The Persuaders! Yelker Episode: "The Ozerhov Inheritance"
1982 A Country Practice Alex Popovich Four episodes

References

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  1. ^ a b "Joseph Furst". Archived from the original on 6 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Joseph Fürst". www.aveleyman.com.
  3. ^ "BBC - Doctor Who - Classic Series - Photonovels - The Underwater Menace". www.bbc.co.uk.
  4. ^ "BFI Screenonline: Magnum for Schneider, A (1967)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  5. ^ "Joseph Furst - Movies and Filmography - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  6. ^ "Diamonds Are Forever - TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  7. ^ Giles, Nigel "NUMBER 96: Australian TV's Most Notorious Address" 2007 by Melbourne Books ISBN 978-1-925556-00-1
  8. ^ "Stars of The Young Doctors back 50,000+ fans for DVD release". 19 September 2014.
  9. ^ "Kingswood Country – There's No Place Like Rome". australianscreen.
  10. ^ "Australian Television: A Country Practice: episode guide: 1982". www.australiantelevision.net.
  11. ^ "The Schippan Mystery (1984) - The Screen Guide - Screen Australia". www.screenaustralia.gov.au.
  12. ^ "The Nethersphere Vol 1 No 3". issuu. 8 November 2015. p. 22. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  13. ^ "The Underwater Menace (TV)". 16 December 2013.
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