Gert Fröbe

Gert Fröbe
Gert Fröbe on a 2000 German stamp
Born	February 25, 1913(1913-02-25)
Died	September 5, 1988 (aged 75)
Occupation	actor
Years active	1948–1988

Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe (German pronunciation: [ˈɡeɐt ˈfʁøːbə]) (February 25, 1913 – September 5, 1988) was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.

Born in Zwickau, Fröbe was a member of the Nazi Party before and during World War II. However, he aided German Jews by hiding them from the Gestapo. Because of his former membership in the Nazi Party, the film Goldfinger was initially banned in Israel until he was publicly thanked for his help by a Jewish family.^[1]

Fröbe gained fame in one of the first German movies made after World War II, called Berliner Ballade (The Ballad of Berlin, 1948). In 1958 he was cast as the villain in the Swiss-German film Es geschah am hellichten Tag (It Happened in Broad Daylight), which was novelised by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt. His role as an insane murderer of children drew the attention of the producers of the James Bond movie Goldfinger, (1964) and he was chosen to play one of the most remembered villains of the series, gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger.

Fröbe made several appearances in all-star casts in the 1960s, including the films The Longest Day, Is Paris Burning?, Monte Carlo or Bust and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. Because of his thick German accent, Fröbe was dubbed in some of his classic roles, including by British actor Michael Collins in Goldfinger. He also appeared in $ (1971) with Goldie Hawn and Warren Beatty.

Besides acting, Fröbe was a prolific reciter of lyric poetry, especially that of Christian Morgenstern and Joachim Ringelnatz.

Fröbe died in Munich in September 1988 at age 75 from a heart attack.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008)

• In the film Joe Dirt, actor Christopher Walken's character, protected by the United States witness protection program, changed his name to Gert B. Frobe. Both Fröbe and Walken have played Bond villains.

• Students on the campus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology annually celebrate Gert Fröbe Day on February 25 to mark the end of winter quarter final exams.

• Fröbe first appeared in the 1948 movie Berliner Ballade performing "Otto Normalverbraucher" (lit. Otto Standardconsumer), a German term equivalent to Average Joe or Fred Bloggs.

• Gert Fröbe starred in the movie The Longest Day with Bond Movie alumni Curd Jürgens and Sean Connery.

Filmography

References

External links

• Gert Fröbe at the Internet Movie Database