Born on May 26th, 1923, in the city of Wuppertal, he embarked on a journey with the notorious Nazi German Waffen-SS during World War II.
Following his attendance of acting lessons at the prestigious theater in Stendal, where he also made his stage debut, he performed on numerous prominent stages across Germany, but it was his subsequent rise to fame as a cinema and television actor in the late 1950s and 1960s that truly cemented his legacy.
He is perhaps most famously known for his portrayal of the suave and sophisticated gentleman gangster in the 1966 film "The Great British Train Robbery".
However, it was his iconic role as Stephan Derrick, a Munich Chief Inspector, that catapulted him to international stardom and made him a household name worldwide. He brought this beloved character to life from 1974 to 1998, earning him numerous accolades, including the esteemed Golden Camera, Bambi, and the Italian Telegatto awards.
