Karl Stepanek
Known For
Acting
Born
1899-10-27 in Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]
Died
1980-12-25
Biography
Though born in Czechoslovakia, actor Karel Stepanek was generally regarded as a German actor due to his extensive film work in Germany (as Karl Stepanek) in the years before World War II. Stepanek fled to England in 1940, where, like many European refugee actors, he specialized in portraying Teutonic villains. He tried to stay away from out-and-out Nazi roles, but his predilection for wearing black uniforms and barking out guttural commands left little doubt as to the political preferences of Stepanek's screen characters. One of his most typical characterizations could be found in the 1946 POW drama, The Captive Heart; Stepanek also registered well as a friendlier foreigner in The Fallen Idol (1949). Commuting between London and Hollywood, Karel Stepanek continued to fight World War II, usually on the wrong side, into such '60s films as Sink the Bismarck! (1960), I Aim at the Stars (1960) and Operation Crossbow (1965).
Most Known For
No Hiding Place
as Professor Remi
Das Kriminalmuseum
as Dr. Robert Großmann
The Third Man
as Actor at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
Conspirator
as Radek
Counterblast
as Professor Inman
Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!
as Rubici
The Heroes of Telemark
as Hartmuller
Brainwashed
as Baranow
The Fallen Idol
as First Secretary
Sink the Bismarck!
as Admiral Lutjens - 'Bismarck'
Anastasia
as Mikhail Vlados
Operation Crossbow
as Prof. Hoffer
Pozdní láska
Affair in Trinidad
as Walters
The Cockleshell Heroes
as Assistant Gestapo Officer
Operation Amsterdam
as Diamond Merchant
Our Man in Havana
as Dr. Braun
The File of the Golden Goose
as Mueller
City Beneath the Sea
as Dwight Trevor
The Games
as Kubitsek