| Gert Fröbe | |
|---|---|
Gert Fröbe on a 2000 German stamp |
|
| Born | Karl Gerhart Fröbe 25 February 1913 Oberplanitz [now Zwickau] , Saxony, Germany |
| Died | 5 September 1988 (aged 75) Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1948–1988 |
| Spouse | Karin Kuderer-Pistorius (1970-?) Beate Bach (1962-1968) Hannelore Görtz (1953-1959) Tatjana Iwanow (?-?) 1 child Clara Peter (?-?) (divorced) 1 child |
Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɛɐt ˈfʁøːbə]) (25 February 1913 – 5 September 1988) was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.
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Born in Zwickau, Fröbe was a member of the Nazi Party before World War II. He joined the NSDAP in 1929 at the age of 16 and left it again in 1937.[1] However, he aided two German Jews by hiding them from the Gestapo. Because of his former membership in the Nazi Party, the film Goldfinger was initially banned in Israel until the family came forward and thanked him for saving their lives.[2]
Fröbe gained fame in one of the first German movies made after World War II, called Berliner Ballade (The Ballad of Berlin, 1948). His role as "Otto Normalverbraucher" (lit. Otto Standardconsumer), became a German term equivalent to Average Joe or Fred Bloggs.[3] In 1958 he was cast as the villain in the Swiss-German film Es geschah am hellichten Tag (It Happened in Broad Daylight), which was novelized by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt. His role as a serial killer of children drew the attention of the producers of the James Bond movie Goldfinger, (1964) and he was chosen to play one of the most well-remembered villains of the series, gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger.
Fröbe made several appearances in all-star casts in the 1960s, including the films The Longest Day, Is Paris Burning?, Monte Carlo or Bust, and Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines. Because of his thick German accent, Fröbe was dubbed in some of his classic roles, including by British actor Michael Collins in Goldfinger. He also appeared in $ (1971) with Goldie Hawn and Warren Beatty. During the 1980s Fröbe played small parts in Mercedes Benz W123 commercials, helping to promote the coupe and the sedan.
Besides acting, Fröbe was a prolific reciter of lyric poetry, especially that of Christian Morgenstern and Joachim Ringelnatz.
Fröbe died in Munich in September 1988 at age 75 from a heart attack.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | Berliner Ballade | ||
| 1954 | The Eternal Waltz | Gawriloff | |
| 1955 | Dunja | ||
| 1956 | Winter in the Woods | Gerstenberg | |
| 1957 | Typhon sur Nagasaki | ||
| He Who Must Die | Patriarcheos | ||
| 1958 | Nasser Asphalt | Jupp | |
| 1960 | The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse | Inspector Kras | |
| 1961 | Auf Wiedersehen | Angelo Pirrone | |
| 1962 | The Longest Day | Unteroffizier Kaffeekanne | |
| Redhead | Kramer | ||
| 1964 | Greed in the Sun | Castigliano dit 'La betterave' | |
| Goldfinger | Auric Goldfinger | Dubbed into English by Michael Collins. | |
| Tonio Kröger | |||
| 1965 | Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines | Colonel Manfred von Holstein | |
| A High Wind in Jamaica | Dutch Captain | ||
| 1966 | Is Paris Burning? | Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz | |
| Triple Cross | Col. Steinhager | ||
| 1967 | Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon | Professor von Bulow | |
| I Killed Rasputin | Grigori Rasputin | ||
| 1968 | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang | Baron Bomburst | |
| 1969 | Monte Carlo or Bust (Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies) | Willi Schickel & Horst Muller | |
| 1971 | $ | Mr. Kessel | |
| 1972 | Ludwig | Father Hoffmann | |
| 1974 | And Then There Were None | Wilhelm Blor | Dubbed into English by Robert Rietti. |
| 1976 | Death Rite | Vestar | |
| 1977 | The Serpent's Egg | Inspector Bauer | |
| 1979 | Bloodline | Inspector Max Hornung | |
| 1980 | The Umbrella Coup | Otto Krampe aka Whale | |
| 1985 | The Little Vampire (Television series) | Hans-Heinrich Geiermeier |