Eric Braeden

Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden at the 2013 Monte-Carlo Television Festival
Born	Hans-Jörg Gudegast (1941-04-03) April 3, 1941 Bredenbek, Germany
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1963–present
Spouse(s)	Dale Russell Gudegast (1966–present; 1 child)
Website
www.ericbraeden.com

Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941)^[1] is a German-American film and television actor, best known for his role as Victor Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series The Rat Patrol, and as John Jacob Astor IV in the 1997 film Titanic. Braeden won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1998 for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the role of Victor Newman.^[1][2]

Early life

Braeden was born Hans-Jörg Gudegast in Bredenbek, Germany (near Kiel),^[1] where his father was once mayor. He immigrated to the USA in 1959. In the United States, Braeden attended The University of Montana in Missoula.

Career

Braeden accumulated many TV and film credits during his first two decades in America. In 1966 he guest-starred (credited as Hans Gudegast) as Luftwaffe Major Bentz in episode 28, "Day of Reckoning", of season two of the TV series Twelve O'Clock High, very loosely based on the classic 1949 war film with the same name. He played German Hauptmann (Captain) Hans Dietrich on the TV series The Rat Patrol (1966–1968), and had a starring role in the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), in which he first took the stage name of Eric Braeden. Lew Wasserman of Universal Pictures told him that no one would be allowed to star in an American film if they had a German name. After much thought he took the name Braeden from his hometown of Bredenbek.^[3]

In the 1970s he took a supporting role in the 1971 film Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Throughout the 1970s, he guest-starred in a variety of television shows including The Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show and also appeared in several episodes of the long-running CBS western series Gunsmoke. In 1977 he appeared in Walt Disney's Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo as the arrogant but formidable race car driver, Bruno von Stickle. He also appeared, uncredited, as Bradford Dillman's de facto stunt double in the 1978 film Piranha—Braeden had originally been cast to play Dillman's character, Paul Grogan, and had shot some underwater swimming footage before the role was recast; Braeden's stunt footage ended up in the finished film anyway.

In 1980, he was offered the role of self-made business magnate Victor Newman on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless for a 26-week run. His character imprisoned his wife's lover, and became so popular the character became a love-to-hate villain, and his contract was renewed. Still on the show today, Braeden won a Daytime Emmy for his work in 1998.

In 1997, he played Colonel John Jacob Astor IV in the blockbuster film Titanic, cast because he strongly resembled the powerful millionaire.^{[citation needed]} Braeden told Cindy Elavsky that the scene in which his character drowned "was one of the scariest moments in this business for me."^[4]

In 2008, Braeden starred in "The Man Who Came Back", an independent Western film, which was written and directed by Louisiana's Glen Pitre.

Also in 2008, Braeden guest-starred in an episode of How I Met Your Mother as Robin Sr., Robin's father, trying to make his daughter act like the son he never had.

Braeden announced on October 18, 2009, in an article by Dan J. Kroll that after almost 30 years on The Young and the Restless, he was leaving the show. "We reached an impasse in the negotiations", Braeden said in an exclusive interview with celebrity news website EW.com. Braeden's last airdate was scheduled to be November 2; however, on October 23, 2009, CBS announced that Braeden had inked a new three-year deal and would remain with the soap, even agreeing to take a pay cut, which was the original issue.^[5]

Personal life

Braeden is regarded as a very good tennis player.^[6] He and his wife, Dale Gudegast, were witnesses at the wedding of Bob Crane and Sigrid Valdis while on the set of Hogan's Heroes. Their son, Christian Gudegast, is a screenwriter who co-wrote the film A Man Apart, which starred Vin Diesel and was nominated for a Teen Choice Award in 2003.^[7]

Actor Clarence Williams III and former boxer Ken Norton are two of his best friends.^[6]

Awards, honors and nominations

Braeden won Distinguished German-American of the Year, in 1990.

On July 20, 2007, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Braeden received the Gilmore Award from the Pacific Pioneers, a radio and television industry group, in 2007.^[6]

He received the 2009 Friend of German Award from the American Association of Teachers of German.

Roles

See also

• Victor Newman and Nikki Reed
• Supercouple
• Distinguished German-American of the Year

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eric Braeden.

• Eric Braeden at the Internet Movie Database
• Eric Braeden at AllRovi
• Eric Braeden's Official Website
• Eric Braeden interview video at the Archive of American Television
• Interview at Talk Humor