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Karl Stepanek

Acting Born Oct 27, 1899 Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic] 24 credits

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).

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Known for

Film

The Return of the Pink Panther

as Professor Remi

Das Kriminalmuseum

as Dr. Robert Großmann
Film

The Third Man

as Actor at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
Film

The Heroes of Telemark

as Hartmuller
Film

Sink the Bismarck!

as Admiral Lutjens - 'Bismarck'
Film

Operation Crossbow

as Prof. Hoffer

Physics or Chemistry

as First Secretary
Film

Shrek the Third

2007
Film

Our Man in Havana

as Dr. Braun

Busou Shinki: Armored War Goddess

as Major Lang

Full filmography

  • No Hiding Place (1959) as Professor Remi
  • Das Kriminalmuseum (1963) as Dr. Robert Großmann
  • Overseas Press Club - Exclusive! (1957) as Rubici
  • The Third Man (1949) as Actor at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
  • The Heroes of Telemark (1965) as Hartmuller
  • Sink the Bismarck! (1960) as Admiral Lutjens - 'Bismarck'
  • Operation Crossbow (1965) as Prof. Hoffer
  • Anastasia (1956) as Mikhail Vlados
  • The Fallen Idol (1948) as First Secretary
  • Armchair Theatre (1956)
  • State Secret (1950) as Dr. Revo
  • Conspirator (1949) as Radek
  • No Highway in the Sky (1951)
  • Our Man in Havana (1960) as Dr. Braun
  • Affair in Trinidad (1952) as Walters
  • The Cockleshell Heroes (1955) as Assistant Gestapo Officer
  • Never Let Me Go (1953) as Commissar
  • The Frozen Dead (1966) as General Lubeck
  • Brainwashed (1960) as Baranow
  • Secret Mission (1942) as Major Lang
  • The Traitor (1957) as Friederich Suderman
  • Operation Amsterdam (1959) as Diamond Merchant
  • The Games (1970) as Kubitsek
  • City Beneath the Sea (1953) as Dwight Trevor