Wilhelm von Brincken

Wilhelm von Brincken, also known as Wilhelm L. von Brincken, William Vaughn, William von Brinken and William Vaughan, was a German spy during World War I, who would go on to become an American character actor of the silent and sound film eras.

Early life

Von Brincken was born in Flensburg, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany on May 27, 1881. A German national, he was a reservist in the German Army, and he came to the United States as a military attaché to their embassy in Washington D.C., sometime around 1910. Once here he met his first wife, Alice L Roedel; they married and would have two children: Carlchen Von Brincken (1911 - 1911) and Philip Morgan Roedel (1913 - 1985). Carl would die several hours after his birth.^[1] While on the east coast he made his debut acting in American films in 1914's The Redemption of David Corson.^[2]

Espionage activity

In 1915, he was transferred to the west coast, and assigned to the consulate in San Francisco.^[3] While working at the San Francisco consulate, he was arrested at the beginning of World War I on espionage charges, due to his alleged involvement in a bomb-plot with his co-conspirators, C.C. Crowley, who worked at the German Consulate and an agent of a German shipping line, Robert Capelle.^[4] In February 1916, he was indicted, along with dozens of others, including the German Consul General and his vice-Consul, Franz Bopp and Baron E.H. von Schack, respectively.^[5] He would be convicted, and sentenced to prison, spending his time in Alcatraz Prison.^[6][7]

Film career

After his release from prison in 1920, von Brincken would become an American citizen in 1921. A fellow German ex-patriot, Erich Von Stroheim, included him in a group of former German military men who he invited to Hollywood to work on films.^[8] Due to his military background, he would be called upon as military expert as a technical advisor on films, including the Academy Award winning All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).^[8]

Von Brincken returned to acting in Von Stroheim's 1928 film, Queen Kelly, starring Gloria Swanson.^[9] Over the course of his career, he would appear under several different variants of his name, such as von Brinken, as well as going under Anglicized versions of his name, such as William Vaughn and Vaughan, when it was politically correct to do so.^[8] In 1929 and 1930 he would have small roles in several films before receiving featured roles such as in the Eddie Foy and Irene Dunne film, Leathernecking,^[10] and playing the German ace, Baron von Richtofen in Howard Hughes' 1930 classic, Hells Angels.^[11] Most of the rest of the 1930s would see him appear in numerous films, in both minor and featured roles.^[12]

With the outbreak of hostilities in Europe in 1939, von Brincken was often cast in the role of a Nazi, such as in 1939's Confessions of a Nazi Spy;,^[13] the Fay Wray film Navy Secrets (1939);^[14] and 1941's So Ends Our Night, which stars Fredric March, Margaret Sullavan, Frances Dee, and Glenn Ford.^[15] Not only would von Brincken appear in dramas and suspense films, but he would also do comedies such as The Ritz Brothers' 1939 film, Pack Up Your Troubles,^[16] and Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers.^[17]

Filmography

(Per AFI database)^[12][18]

Personal life

Von Brincken would re-marry, this time to socialite Milo Abercrombie. In January 1946, while in New York City, von Brincken would suffer a ruptured artery. He was rushed to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he died on January 18, 1946.^[6] He would be buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.^[1]

External links

• Article on German spy rings in the United States during World War I

References