Gert Fröbe

Gert Fröbe
Fröbe in 1965
Born	Karl Gerhart Fröbe (1913-02-25)25 February 1913 Oberplanitz (now Zwickau), Saxony, German Empire
Died	5 September 1988(1988-09-05) (aged 75) Munich, Bavaria, West Germany
Cause of death	Heart attack
Nationality	German
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1948–1988
Spouse(s)	Karin Kuderer-Pistorius (1970–?) Beate Bach (1962–1968) Hannelore Görtz (1953–1959) Tatjana Iwanow (one child) Clara Peter (one child)

Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe (German pronunciation: [ˈɡɛɐt ˈfʁøːbə]; 25 February 1913 – 5 September 1988), was a German film and stage actor. He is best known for his work as Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film Goldfinger, as Peachum in The Threepenny Opera, as Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and as Hotzenplotz in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz.

Early life

Karl Gerhart Fröbe was born in Oberplanitz, today part of Zwickau. He was initially a violinist, but he abandoned it for Kabarett and theatre work.^[1]

He joined the Nazi Party in 1929 at the age of 16 and left in 1937.^[2] During the Nazi regime, he aided two German Jews by hiding them from the Gestapo.^[3] In September 1944, the Nazis closed down theatres in Germany and he was drafted into the German Army, the Wehrmacht, where he served until the end of World War II.^[1]

Acting career

Fröbe gained fame in one of the first German films made after the Second World War, called Berliner Ballade (The Ballad of Berlin, 1948). His character's name, "Otto Normalverbraucher" (lit. Otto Average Consumer), became the German term equivalent to "Average Joe" or "Joe Bloggs".^[4]

In 1958, he was cast as the villain in the Swiss-German film Es geschah am hellichten Tag (It Happened in Broad Daylight), with the original screenplay written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. His role as a serial killer of children drew the attention of the producers of the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger and he was chosen to play one of the best remembered villains of the series, gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger. Due to his former membership in the Nazi Party, the film was initially banned in Israel until a Jewish family he had protected during the war came forward and thanked him for saving their lives.^[3][5]

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. During the 1980s, Fröbe played small parts in Mercedes Benz W123 commercials, helping to promote the coupé and the sedan. Aside from acting, Fröbe was a prolific reciter of lyric poetry, especially that of Christian Morgenstern and Joachim Ringelnatz.

Death

Fröbe died in Munich in September 1988 at age 75 from a heart attack.^[3] He was buried in Waldfriedhof cemetery, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausener, Bavaria.

Selected filmography

Notes

1. ↑ Also known as The Phantom Fiend.
2. ↑ Also known as Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies.

References

External links

• Gert Fröbe on IMDb
• Gert Fröbe at Find a Grave