Hans Meyer (21 July 1925 – 3 April 2020) was a South African-French actor and model. He was well-known for his role as Hauptmann Franz Ulmann on the British television series Colditz.

Early life and education Meyer was born to German parents in Paulpietersburg, Natal Province, South Africa in July 1925. Both of his parents were farmers, and Meyer initially followed in their footsteps, before deciding to move to Europe and pursue his own fortune.

He worked initially as a model where he posed for book covers until a friend in Germany working for an advertising agency lined up his first work as an actor, a television advert for Puschkin Vodka. The brand became Germany's best-selling vodka and Meyer became known as "Frank S. Thorn, the Puschkin Man". He also inspired the appearance of British comic strip hero Jeff Hawke.

Career Meyer was hired by Anatole Litvak as an extra for his film The Night of the Generals (1967). He went on the play supporting roles in French films alongside French cinema stars such as Lino Ventura, Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo. In 1966, he was engaged for La grande vadrouille, where he embodied an angry SS representative. In 1968 he played in the action thriller The Devil's Garden by Yves Boisset. In 1969, he took on the role of Sheriff Blade in the thriller Les Étrangers, shot in Spain.

In the 1970s, Meyer acted in the Western Cannon for Cordoba (1970), in the role of the Swedish major Svedborg, the leader of a private mercenary army. He played a continuous series role in the British television series Colditz (1972–1974). In 1975 he had a small role in Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Barry Lyndon. In 1978, he appeared in the miniseries Holocaust: The History of the Weiss Family, in which played the SS official Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

In the 1980s, Meyer's roles included an assassin, whom Yves Rénier and title heroine Claude Jade ultimately put to the test in the television movie The Girlfriend from Childhood (L'amie d'enfance, 1981), from the Commissaire Moulin series. Meyer portrayed Red Sonja's father in Red Sonja (1985) opposite Brigitte Nielsen.

In the 1990s, he appeared on The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes as Hebworth/Veitch in "The Master Blackmailer" (1992), and in a small part as a German Officer in Steven Spielberg's and George Lucas's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992).

In the 2000s, Meyer's roles included Marquis d'Apcher in the French cult movie Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Konrad Adenauer in the television movie How Much We Hated Each Other (2007), and Luis Aramchek in the Hitler in Hollywood (2010). His final screen appearance was in the thriller Cruel (2014).

Death Meyer died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France on 3 April 2020 at the age of 94.Hans Meyer: Biography

Filmography Film

1965: Pierrot le Fou - Gangster (uncredited) 1966: Culpable para un delito - Martín Baumer 1966: La Grande Vadrouille - Obergruppenführer S.S. Otto Weber 1966: Little Girls - Mike 1967: The Night of the Generals - Wehrmacht Adjutant (uncredited) 1967: The Last Adventure - Le mercenaire 1967: - Mike 1967: Réseau secret - Hermann Glöckel 1967: - Sorenson 1967: - Schrank 1968: Coplan Saves His Skin - Hugo 1969: - Varen 1969: - Blade 1970: Cannon for Cordoba - Svedborg 1970: - Marc 1970: Les enfants de Caïn 1971: Perched on a Tree - Colonel Muller 1971: - Helmut 1972: Pic et pic et colegram - Jeroboam 1973: Le Magnifique - Colonel Collins 1975: Barry Lyndon - Prussian Officer 1976: Blondie - Inspector 1977: - Général Von Richter 1979: La nuit claire - Pluton 1979: The Riddle of the Sands - Grimm 1979: La Gueule de l'autre - Richard Krauss 1980: Strangulation Blues (short) 1984: Boy Meets Girl - Le cosmonaute 1984: Tueur maison (Short) 1985: - Le responsible de la station Malabar 1985: Red Sonja - Red Sonja's Father 1986: The Night Is Young - Hans 1988: Ville étrangère - L'ambassadeur 1989: Céleri remoulade (Short) 1989: Roselyne and the Lions - Rainer 1989: La Révolution française - Le Duc de Brunswick 1989: Bunker Palace Hôtel - Le président 1989: - Nazi General 1992: John (Short) - John / Tarzan 1992: Une cuillerée pour papa (Short) 1993: Artcore oder Der Neger 1994: 1995: L'entretien (Short) 1997: Double Team - British Man 1997: K - Gûter 1997: Entre les vagues (Short) 2000: Le birdwatcher - Mitch Glassborough 2001: Le pacte des loups - Marquis d'Apcher 2002: Morteterre (Short) - Compt Klaus de Rexel 2003: The Dope - Rudolf Maier 2003: Baptiste (Short) 2003: Ripoux 3 - Van der Brook 2004: Albert est méchant - James Lord Cooke 2005: Sauf le respect que je vous dois - Lunel 2006: Final Sentence (Short) - The Inquisitor - The priest 2007: La piscine de maman (Short) 2010: Hitler à Hollywood - Luis Aramchek 2014: Cruel - Le libraire (final film role)

Television + Year Title Role Notes 1968 Koenigsmark Le grand Duc TV movie 1969 The Troubleshooters Joachim Schmitt-Klever 1 episode S.O.S. fréquence 17 Joseph Kieffer 1 episode Department S Lucky Le Beau 1 episode 1970 Codename General Hovaths 1 episode 1971 Paul Temple Brad 1 episode Kate Frohl Svenson 1 episode Jason King Angelo 1 episode 1972–74 Colditz Hauptmann Franz Ulmann 23 episodes 1973 La folie Almayer Le capitaine Linguard TV movie 1974 Thriller Karl Vorster 'The Next Scream You Hear', episode Heidi Grandfather TV miniseries 1975 Quiller Major Hardtmann 1 episode 1976 Les Monte-en-l'air Briefer TV movie The Howerd Confessions Lieutenant Gruber epidode 2 1977 L'agent des trafiquants TV miniseries 1978 Holocaust Ernst Kaltenbrunner TV miniseries Les grandes conjurations: Le connétable de Bourbon Frunsberg TV movie 1979 Quest of Eagles Sandor 2 episodes 1979, 1985 Minder Kurt Wengler / Maurice Bonnet 2 episodes 1980 Hans 1 episode 1981 BBC2 Playhouse Janos Almasy 1 episode Commissaire Moulin L'assassin au grenade Episode: "L'Amie d'enfance" Driscoll TV movie 1982 Von Postel 1 episode Inside the Third Reich Ernst Kaltenbrunner TV movie 1983 Les poneys sauvages TV miniseries 1983, 1992 Les Cinq Dernières Minutes Haltman / Hafner 2 episodes 1987, 1989 William Tell Tyroll / Tyrrol 2 episodes 1988 M'as-tu-vu ? 1 episode 1990 Counterstrike Kurtz Episode: "The Lady of the Rhine" Cantara TV miniseries 1991 Navarro Sauveur 1 episode Un privé au soleil 1 episode Renseignements généraux Baltar 1 episode 1992 The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes Hebworth (Alias Veitch) 1 episode The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles German Officer #2 1 episode Sniper 2: L'affaire Petracci Bababoum TV movie Lycée alpin The New Statesman Herr Wessel 1 episode 1993 La grande collection: Senso Le général Hautmann TV movie Le JAP, juge d'application des peines Pol Van Hesse 1 episode 1995 Machinations TV movie La Rivière Espérance Commandant du Duguay-Trouin TV miniseries 1997 Inspecteur Moretti Le Vieux 1 episode 2007 Konrad Adenauer TV movie 2008 Collection Fred Vargas Fulgence 2 episodes

References

External links

Official website