Karl Gerhart "Gert" Fröbe (; 25 February 1913 – 5 September 1988) was a German actor who appeared in over 100, mostly German-produced films. He was best known in English-speaking countries for his work as the title character in the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964). Other international films include his role as Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), as General Dietrich von Choltitz in Is Paris Burning? (1966), as Colonel Manfred von Holstein in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), and as Inspector Bauer in Ingmar Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977).
Fröbe was a three-time German Film Award nominee, twice for Best Leading Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor. In 1978, he won an honorary award for "outstanding individual contributions to the German cinema over the years."
Early life and education Karl Gerhart Fröbe was born on 25 February 1913 in Oberplanitz, today part of Zwickau. His father was a ropemaker. He was initially a violinist, but he abandoned it for Kabarett and theatre work.
He joined the Nazi Party in 1929 at the age of 16 and left in 1937, before the outbreak of the Second World War. After his party membership became known after the war, Israel banned Fröbe's films until Mario Blumenau, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, revealed just eight weeks later that his life and his mother's were probably saved when Fröbe hid them from the Nazis in his basement.
Fröbe became a stage decorator in the 1930s and made his acting debut in Wuppertal in 1937. In September 1944, theatres in Germany were closed down and Fröbe was drafted into the German Army, where he served until the end of the war.
Career Fröbe gained fame in one of the first German films made after the war, called Berliner Ballade (The Ballad of Berlin, 1948). His character's name, "Otto Normalverbraucher" ( Otto Average Consumer), became the German term equivalent to "Average Joe".
He was cast as the villain in the Swiss-West German-Spanish film Es geschah am hellichten Tag (It Happened in Broad Daylight, 1958), with the original screenplay written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. His role as a serial killer of children drew the attention of the producers of the James Bond movie Goldfinger (1964) and he was chosen to play one of the best remembered villains of the series, gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger. He later remarked, "The ridiculous thing is that since I played Goldfinger in the James Bond film there are some people who still insist on seeing me as a cold, ruthless villain – a man without laughs."
Fröbe made several appearances in all-star casts in the 1960s, including the films The Longest Day (1962), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), Is Paris Burning? (1966),Triple Cross (1966), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and Monte Carlo or Bust (1969).
During the 1980s, Fröbe was a spokesman in Mercedes Benz W123 commercials, helping to promote the coupé and the sedan.
Later life and death Fröbe had surgery for cancer in 1986 but continued to make limited television appearances. He was due to head the jury at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival in February 1988 but pulled out due to illness. He died in Munich on 5 September 1988 at age 75 from a heart attack. He was buried at the Waldfriedhof cemetery in Icking.
Filmography Year Title Role LanguageNotes 1948 Extra German Uncredited The Berliner Otto Normalverbraucher German 1949 After the Rain Comes Sunshine Konstantin German 1951 Decision Before Dawn German Corporal English Uncredited 1952 The Day Before the Wedding Rundfunkreporter German 1953 Man on a Tightrope Police Agent English Uncredited Salto Mortale Jan German A Heart Plays False Briefüberbringer German The Postponed Wedding Night Gondoliere German Arlette Conquers Paris Manager Edmond Duval German Wedding in Transit Herr Mengwasser German 1954 The Little Town Will Go to Sleep Oskar Blume German Daybreak Bit part German The Hunter's Cross Kobbe German They Were So Young Lobos English A Double Life Mittelmeier German The Eternal Waltz Gawriloff German 1955 Special Delivery Olaf English The Dark Star Deltorri German I Know What I'm Living For Pfeifer, Inspektor Jugendfürsorge German Mr. Arkadin Munich Detective English The Heroes Are Tired Hermann French The Forest House in Tyrol Bäuerle, Kaufmann German 1956 The Girl from Flanders Rittmeister Kupfer German Heubacher German Winter in the Woods Gerstenberg German 1957 Typhoon Over Nagasaki Ritter French The Girl and the Legend Mr. Gillis German He Who Must Die Patriarcheos French The Mad Bomberg Kommerzienrat Gustav-Eberhard Mühlberg German Charming Boys Edmond Petersen French The Heart of St. Pauli Jabowski German 1958 Not Delivered Hans French Nasser Asphalt Jupp German It Happened in Broad Daylight Schrott German Rosemary Willy Bruster German Titu Goritsch German The Crammer Freddy Blei German The Girl with the Cat's Eyes Tessmann German 1959 Nick Knatterton's Adventure Hugo German Prisoner of the Volga Professor English Twelve Hours By the Clock Blanche French Jons und Erdme Smailus German The Forests Sing Forever Dag German Menschen im Hotel Preysing German The Day the Rains Came Doctor Albert Maurer German Johannes Grohmann German Old Heidelberg Doctor Jüttner German 1960 The High Life Doctor Kölling German Between Love and Duty The General French Der Chef German The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse Inspector Kras German Until Money Departs You Jupp Grapsch German Paul Wittkowski German 1961 The Green Archer Abel Bellamy German Via Mala Jonas Lauretz German The Return of Doctor Mabuse Also known as The Phantom Fiend. Kommissar Lohmann German Auf Wiedersehen Angelo Pirrone German 1962 Redhead Kramer German The Testament of Dr. Mabuse Kommissar Lohmann German The Longest Day Sgt. Kaffeekanne English 1963 Enough Rope Melchior Kimmel French Alfred Paulsen German The Threepenny Opera Peachum German Banana Peel Raymond Lachard French 1964 Greed in the Sun Castigliano French Tonio Kröger Policeman Peterson German Backfire Karl Fehrman French Goldfinger Auric Goldfinger English 1965 A High Wind in Jamaica Dutch Captain English Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines Colonel Manfred von Holstein English Who Wants to Sleep? Emil Claasen German 1966 The Upper Hand Walter French Honour Among Thieves Importen-Paul German Is Paris Burning? General Dietrich von Choltitz English Triple Cross Colonel Steinhager English 1967 I Killed Rasputin Grigori Rasputin English Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon Professor von Bulow English 1968 Darling Caroline Doctor Belhomme French Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Baron Bomburst English 1969 Monte Carlo or Bust Also known as Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies. Willi SchickelHorst Muller English 1971 $ Mr. Kessel English 1972 Ludwig Father Hoffmann English 1974 Hotzenplotz German And Then There Were None Wilhelm Blore English Nuits Rouges Commissaire Sorbier French 1975 Max Orwall French 1976 Death Rite Vestar French 1977 Philip Brown German The Serpent's Egg Inspector Bauer English Graf von Buttlar German 1978 The Rider on the White Horse Tede Volkerts German Felix von Korn German 1979 Bloodline Inspector Max Hornung English 1980 The Umbrella Coup Otto Krampe ("Whale") French 1981 The Falcon Jug Bogdan Serbo-Croatian 1983 Emanuel Striese German TV film 1986–1987 The Little Vampire Detective Gurrmeyer German TV series, 13 episodes
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