Karl Stepanek
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1899-10-27
Day of Death
1980-12-25 (81 years old)
Place of Birth
Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]
Karl Stepanek
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).
Known For
Acting
(2003)
(1970)
The Games
as Kubitsek
(1969)
The File of the Golden Goose
as Mueller
(1969)
Before Winter Comes
as Count Kerassy
(1967)
Murderers Club of Brooklyn
as Dyers
(1966)
Sperrbezirk
as Inspector Wagner
(1966)
The Frozen Dead
as General Lubeck
(1965)
The Heroes of Telemark
as Hartmuller
(1965)
Operation Crossbow
as Prof. Hoffer
(1965)
Licensed to Kill
as Henrik Jacobsen
(1964)
Devil Doll
as Dr. Heller
(1963)
Aufstand der Gehorsamen
as Jawor Stranski
(1960)
Sink the Bismarck!
as Admiral Lutjens - 'Bismarck'
(1960)
Our Man in Havana
as Dr. Braun
(1960)
Brainwashed
as Baranow
(1959)
Operation Amsterdam
as Diamond Merchant
(1957)
The Traitor
as Friederich Suderman
(1957)
West of Suez
as Langford
(1956)
Anastasia
as Mikhail Vlados
(1956)
The Man in the Road
as Dmitri Balinkev
(1955)
The Cockleshell Heroes
as Assistant Gestapo Officer
(1955)
A Prize of Gold
as Dr. Zachmann
(1955)
Man of the Moment
as Lom
(1955)
Secret Venture
as Zelinsky
(1954)
Dangerous Cargo
as Pliny
(1954)
Tale of Three Women
as Alfred Dykemann (segment "Final Twist' story)
(1953)
City Beneath the Sea
as Dwight Trevor
(1953)
Rough Shoot
as Diss
(1953)
Never Let Me Go
as Commissar
(1952)
Affair in Trinidad
as Walters
(1952)
Walk East on Beacon
as Alexi Laschenkov / Gregory Anders
(1951)
(1951)
The Third Visitor
as Richard Carling
(1950)
State Secret
as Dr. Revo
(1950)
Cairo Road
as Edouardo Pavlis
(1949)
The Third Man
as Actor at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
(1949)
Conspirator
as Radek
(1949)
Give Us This Day
as Jaroslav
(1949)
Golden Arrow
as Schroeder
(1948)
The Fallen Idol
as First Secretary
(1948)
Broken Journey
as Swiss Officer (uncredited)
(1948)
Counterblast
as Professor Inman
(1946)
The Captive Heart
as Forster
(1943)
Tomorrow We Live
as Seitz
(1943)
Escape to Danger
as Franz von Brinkman
(1943)
They Met in the Dark
as Riccardo
(1942)
Secret Mission
as Major Lang
(1942)
Our Film
as Soviet Visitor
(1939)
Hotel Sacher
as Franz
(1939)
The Leghorn Hat
as Felix, Diener bei Farina
(1939)
War es der im 3. Stock?
as Georg Kilby
(1938)
Narren im Schnee
as Rolf Pinkenkötter
(1938)
(1937)
Die Fledermaus
as Attaché Baranoff / Orlovsky
(1936)
The Unknown
as Manager at Regina's
(1935)
Hermine and the Seven Upright Men
as Ruckstuhl
(1935)
Der Außenseiter
as Otto Burian
(1935)
(1935)
(1933)
Waltz War
as Kellner Leopold
(1933)
A Song for You
as Theo Bruckner
(1932)
Spione im Savoy-Hotel
as Jackson
(1932)
Here's Berlin
as Max
(1932)
Five from the Jazzband
as Jean
(1931)