Actor. Best known to international audiences as prison campguard Werner “The Ferret” in the 1963 Hollywood blockbuster “The Great Escape,” he was an active part of the German film industry in the 1950s and 1960s before his untimely death from cancer. After obtaining his Abitur in 1942, he was drafted into the German army and sent to the Eastern Front. He was invalided out of military service in 1944 after being wounded. After the war, he studied acting in Munich, and became a player at the Munich Kammerspiele. He turned to German film and television movies in the mid-1950s. He was nominated for the German Gold Filmband award for Best Actor in 1957 for his role in “Jonas,” and won the German Silver Filmband for Best Young Actor in 1959 for his role as Bruno Tiches in “Buddenbrooks.”
Actor. Best known to international audiences as prison campguard Werner “The Ferret” in the 1963 Hollywood blockbuster “The Great Escape,” he was an active part of the German film industry in the 1950s and 1960s before his untimely death from cancer. After obtaining his Abitur in 1942, he was drafted into the German army and sent to the Eastern Front. He was invalided out of military service in 1944 after being wounded. After the war, he studied acting in Munich, and became a player at the Munich Kammerspiele. He turned to German film and television movies in the mid-1950s. He was nominated for the German Gold Filmband award for Best Actor in 1957 for his role in “Jonas,” and won the German Silver Filmband for Best Young Actor in 1959 for his role as Bruno Tiches in “Buddenbrooks.”
Bio by: Kenneth Gilbert
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