Walter Jack Gotell (born Walter Jacques Goettel; 15 March 1924 – 5 May 1997) was a German-British actor. He was well known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the Roger Moore era of the James Bond film seriesTom Vallance Obituary: Walter Gotell, The Independent, 20 June 1997. as well as having played the role of Morzeny, a supporting villain, in From Russia With Love. He also appeared as Gogol in the final part of The Living Daylights (1987), Timothy Dalton's debut Bond film.
Early life Gotell was born Walter Jacques Goettel in Bonn in 1924, to Jewish parents Margarete Wilhelmine (née Cohn) and Jakob Goettel. He was raised mainly in Berlin. Due to rising antisemitism and the growing influence of Nazism, Gotell and his family emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1938, and he was naturalised as a British citizen in 1948.
Gotell became interested in acting during secondary school, and he began acting in repertory theatre as a teenager.
Career Due to a shortage of young actors during World War II, Gotell began working in films starting in 1942. His bilingualism saw him cast as Nazi German villains and military men, such as in We Dive at Dawn (1943).
He began to have more established roles by the early 1950s, appearing in The African Queen (1951), The Red Beret (1953) for Albert R. Broccoli, Ice Cold in Alex (1958), The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Road to Hong Kong (1962), Lord Jim (1965), Black Sunday (1977), The Boys from Brazil (1978) and Cuba (1979).
His first role in the James Bond film series was in 1963, when he played the henchman Morzeny in From Russia with Love. From the late 1970s, he played the recurring role of KGB General Anatol Gogol in the series, beginning with The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Gotell gained the role of Gogol because of his resemblance to the former head of Soviet secret police Lavrentiy Beria. The character returned in Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), A View to a Kill (1985), and The Living Daylights (1987). As the Cold War neared its end, the role of leader of the KGB was seen to change attitudes to the West – from direct competitor to collaborator. Gotell is one of a few actors to have played a villain and a Bond ally in the film series (others being Charles Gray, Richard Kiel and Joe Don Baker).
Throughout his career, Gotell also made numerous guest appearances in television series including Danger Man, Knight Rider, The A-Team, Airline, Airwolf, The X-Files, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, MacGyver, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Miami Vice, Cagney & Lacey and The Saint among others. He played Chief Constable Cullen in Softly, Softly: Task Force (1969–75). Other television roles included that of Sam Baker, a KGB agent in the hard-hitting British police drama The Professionals (1978) – the episode titled "The Female Factor".
Personal life and death Gotell was married to actress Yvonne Hills from 1958, until her death in 1974. They had one daughter, born in 1960. Gotell married Celeste F. Mitchell in 1974.
Gotell was a businessman as well as an actor and used his acting salaries to fund his business interests. He managed several engineering firms, and he owned a cottage in Co. Galway, Ireland.
Gotell died from cancer on 5 May 1997, aged 73.
Filmography Film
The Day Will Dawn (1942) as German Soldier (uncredited) The Goose Steps Out (1942) as SS Guard (uncredited) Secret Mission (1942) as Lieutenant Langfeld (uncredited) Tomorrow We Live (1943) as Hans We Dive at Dawn (1943) as Luftwaffe Captain (uncredited) Schweik's New Adventures (1943) as Captured resistance member The Night Invader (1943) Two Thousand Women (1944) as German Soldier (uncredited) No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) as Joe – Nightclub Doorman (uncredited) Cairo Road (1950) as Prison Officer The Wooden Horse (1950) as The Follower Lilli Marlene (1950) as Direktor of Propaganda The Man Who Disappeared (1951) as Luzatto The African Queen (1951) as the Second Officer of the Königin Luise Desperate Moment (1953) as Ravitch's Servant-Henchman The Red Beret (1953) as German sentry Albert R.N. (1953) as Feldwebel Stryker of the Yard (1953) Duel in the Jungle (1954) as Jim Above Us the Waves (1955) as German Officer on Tirpitz. (uncredited) Dial 999 (1956) as Policeman (uncredited) 1984 (1956) as Guard (uncredited) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) as Matthews, Scotland Yard Patrol Car (uncredited) Ice Cold in Alex (1958) as 1st German Officer The Man Inside (1958) as Profuno I Was Monty's Double (1958) as German Colonel The Bandit of Zhobe (1959) as Azhad No Safety Ahead (1959) (uncredited) The Treasure of San Teresa (1959) as Hamburg inspector Sink the Bismarck! (1959) as Signals Officer Miller on the Bismarck (uncredited) Circus of Horrors (1960) as Baron Von Gruber (uncredited) The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960) as Heverton – Second Gambler (uncredited) Circle of Deception (1960) as Phoney Jules Ballard The Guns of Navarone (1961) as Oberleutnant Muesel The Devil's Daffodil (1961) as Oberinspektor Whiteside / Supt. Whiteside The Road to Hong Kong (1962) as Dr. Zorbb (3rd Echelon scientist) The Devil's Agent (1962) as Dr. Ritter The Longest Day (1962) as German Officer (uncredited) 55 Days at Peking (1963) as Capt. Hoffman The Damned (1963) as Major Holland Lancelot and Guinevere (1963) as Cedric From Russia with Love (1963) as Morzeny Lord Jim (1965) as Captain of Patna The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) as Holten (uncredited) Attack on the Iron Coast (1968) as Van Horst Cry Wolf (1969) The File of the Golden Goose (1969) as George Leeds Our Miss Fred (1972) as Schmidt Endless Night (1972) as Constantine Black Sunday (1977) as Colonel Riat The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as General Anatol Gogol The Assignment (1977) as Frankenheimer March or Die (1977) as Col. Lamont The Stud (1978) as Ben Khaled The Boys from Brazil (1978) as Mundt The Word (1978) as Hennig The London Connection (1979) as Simmons Moonraker (1979) as General Anatol Gogol Cuba (1979) as Don Jose Pulido Flygnivå 450 (1980) as Herbert Anchell For Your Eyes Only (1981) as General Anatol Gogol The Scarlet and the Black (1983) as SS-Obergruppenführer Max Helm (Karl Wolff) Octopussy (1983) as General Anatol Gogol Kalabaliken i Bender (1983) as Storvesiren Memed My Hawk (1984) as Sgt. Asim A View to a Kill (1985) as General Anatol Gogol KGB: The Secret War (1985) as Nicholai Basic Training (1985) as Nabokov The Living Daylights (1987) as General Anatol Gogol Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988) as Uncle John Wings of Fame (1990) as Receptionist Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge (1991) as General Müeller Prince Valiant (1997) as Erik the Old (final film role)
Television
Sherlock Holmes – episode – "The Man Who Disappeared (pilot)" (1951) as Luzatto The Saint – episode – "The Hi-jackers" (1964) as Hans Lasser Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color – 3 episodes – (1964 & 1979) as Benton / Simmons Sherlock Holmes – episode – "Wisteria Lodge" (1968) as Henderson The Zoo Gang – episode – "Revenge: Post-Dated" (1974) as Boucher Softly, Softly: Task Force (1969–1975) – 55 episodes – as Chief Constable Arthur Cullen Hallelujah! as Lt. Colonel Henderson The Professionals (6 January 1978), Series 1, episode 2 "The Female Factor" – as Baker Scarecrow and Mrs. King – episode – "Service Above and Beyond" (1983) as Kurt Hollander Airwolf – episode – "Fight Like a Dove" (1984) as Oberst Helmut Krüger / Hans Daubert Fantasy Island – episode – "Bojangles and the Dancer/Deuces Are Wild" (1984) as Edward C. Bass / Charles Childress The A-Team – episode – "Where Is the Monster When You Need Him?" (1985) as Ramon DeJarro One Life to Live – multiple episodes (1986) as Dirk Keller Spenser for Hire – episode – "A Madness Most Discreet" (1986) as Max Claus Knight Rider – episode – "Knight Sting" (1985) as Simon Carascas MacGyver – episode – "GX-1" (1987) as Starkoss Miami Vice – episode – "When Irish Eyes Are Crying" (1986) as Max Klizer Star Trek: The Next Generation – episode – "Home Soil" (1988) as Kurt Mandl MacGyver – episode – "Gold Rush" (1989) as General Barenov The X-Files – episode – "Paper Clip" (1995) as Victor Klemper
Other appearances Inside 'From Russia with Love' – Video documentary short (2000) – Himself / Morzeny
References
External links