Austrian-british stage, screen and television character actor.
Born Erich Pollak, he was a classically trained actor who studied at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar. He then appeared at the Raimund Theater, and supplemented his income by working as an entertainer in a bar. In 1938 he emigrated with his fiancée and later wife Liselotte to England. Settling in London, he took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC World Service and also he and his wife temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford as a cook and as butler. After the war, he got his first roles on the London stage, playing "Peachum" in "The Threepenny Opera", among others. From the late 1940s, he was increasingly present in British and european produced US film and television productions, initially in small parts, later more and more in important supporting roles. From the early 1960s on, he also worked professionally in his former homeland, taking over numerous prominent character roles in German and Austrian film and television productions.
Credits include "The Clouded Yellow" (1950), "Mogambo" (1953), "Quentin Durward" (1955), "Lust for Life" (1956), "Nor the Moon by Night" (1958), "Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee" (1962), "55 Days at Peking" (1963), "Die Frau in Weiß" (1970/TV), "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975), "Ashanti" (1979) and "Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald" (1979). He died of a heart attack. After cremation in Salzburg, his ashes were sent to London for burial.
Born Erich Pollak, he was a classically trained actor who studied at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar. He then appeared at the Raimund Theater, and supplemented his income by working as an entertainer in a bar. In 1938 he emigrated with his fiancée and later wife Liselotte to England. Settling in London, he took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC World Service and also he and his wife temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford as a cook and as butler. After the war, he got his first roles on the London stage, playing "Peachum" in "The Threepenny Opera", among others. From the late 1940s, he was increasingly present in British and european produced US film and television productions, initially in small parts, later more and more in important supporting roles. From the early 1960s on, he also worked professionally in his former homeland, taking over numerous prominent character roles in German and Austrian film and television productions.
Credits include "The Clouded Yellow" (1950), "Mogambo" (1953), "Quentin Durward" (1955), "Lust for Life" (1956), "Nor the Moon by Night" (1958), "Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee" (1962), "55 Days at Peking" (1963), "Die Frau in Weiß" (1970/TV), "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975), "Ashanti" (1979) and "Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald" (1979). He died of a heart attack. After cremation in Salzburg, his ashes were sent to London for burial.
Austrian-british stage, screen and television character actor.
Born Erich Pollak, he was a classically trained actor who studied at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar. He then appeared at the Raimund Theater, and supplemented his income by working as an entertainer in a bar. In 1938 he emigrated with his fiancée and later wife Liselotte to England. Settling in London, he took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC World Service and also he and his wife temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford as a cook and as butler. After the war, he got his first roles on the London stage, playing "Peachum" in "The Threepenny Opera", among others. From the late 1940s, he was increasingly present in British and european produced US film and television productions, initially in small parts, later more and more in important supporting roles. From the early 1960s on, he also worked professionally in his former homeland, taking over numerous prominent character roles in German and Austrian film and television productions.
Credits include "The Clouded Yellow" (1950), "Mogambo" (1953), "Quentin Durward" (1955), "Lust for Life" (1956), "Nor the Moon by Night" (1958), "Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee" (1962), "55 Days at Peking" (1963), "Die Frau in Weiß" (1970/TV), "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975), "Ashanti" (1979) and "Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald" (1979). He died of a heart attack. After cremation in Salzburg, his ashes were sent to London for burial.
Born Erich Pollak, he was a classically trained actor who studied at the renowned Max Reinhardt Seminar. He then appeared at the Raimund Theater, and supplemented his income by working as an entertainer in a bar. In 1938 he emigrated with his fiancée and later wife Liselotte to England. Settling in London, he took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC World Service and also he and his wife temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford as a cook and as butler. After the war, he got his first roles on the London stage, playing "Peachum" in "The Threepenny Opera", among others. From the late 1940s, he was increasingly present in British and european produced US film and television productions, initially in small parts, later more and more in important supporting roles. From the early 1960s on, he also worked professionally in his former homeland, taking over numerous prominent character roles in German and Austrian film and television productions.
Credits include "The Clouded Yellow" (1950), "Mogambo" (1953), "Quentin Durward" (1955), "Lust for Life" (1956), "Nor the Moon by Night" (1958), "Das Rätsel der roten Orchidee" (1962), "55 Days at Peking" (1963), "Die Frau in Weiß" (1970/TV), "The Return of the Pink Panther" (1975), "Ashanti" (1979) and "Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald" (1979). He died of a heart attack. After cremation in Salzburg, his ashes were sent to London for burial.
Bio by: Fritz Tauber
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