Curd Jürgens(1915-1982)
- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Curd Jürgens (commonly billed as "Curt Jurgens" in anglophone
countries) was one of the most successful European film actors of the
20th Century. He was born Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens on
December 13, 1915, in Solln, Bavaria, in Hohenzollern Imperial Germany,
a subject of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Of
Franco-German parentage, Jürgens -- who was born during the closing
days of the second year of the First World War -- would abandon the
country of his birth after the end of World War II: Jürgens became an
Austrian citizen in 1945 and lived part-time in France.
Jürgens entered the journalism profession after receiving his
education, and married Louise Basler, an actress. Basler, the first of
his five wives, encouraged him to switch careers and become an actor.
He learned his new profession on the Vienna stage, which retained his
loyalty even after he became an global film star. Jürgens was sent to a
concentration camp for "political unreliables" in 1944, due to his
anti-Nazi opinions. It was this experience in Nazi Germany that led him
to become an Austrian citizen after the war.
His appearance in
The Devil's General (1955)
("The Devil's General" (1955)), established him as a star of German
cinema, and his role as
Brigitte Bardot's older lover in
Roger Vadim's
...And God Created Woman (1956)
(And God Created Woman (1956)) made him an international star. Always
interested in multilingual European actors with good looks and talent,
Hollywood beckoned the 6' 4" Jürgens, casting him in
The Enemy Below (1957) as a WWII
German U-boat commander in a duel with American destroyer commander
Robert Mitchum. He constantly was in
demand to play Germany military officers (e.g.,
The Longest Day (1962), the most
expensive black-and-white film ever made) -- indeed, his last role was
as "The General" in the miniseries
Smiley's People (1982) -- and
Germanic villains (e.g., "Cornelius", the cowardly and treacherous
trading company representative, in
Lord Jim (1965)) for the rest of his
life. One of his most famous roles in the English-language cinema was
as the James Bond villain, "Karl Stromberg", in
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977);
it was Moore's favorite Bond film.
Jürgens considered himself primarily a stage actor and often performed
on the Vienna stage. Though the world knew him as a cinema actor, he
also directed several films and wrote several screenplays and an
autobiography, "Sixty and Not Yet Wise" (1975). His death from a heart
attack in 1982 in Vienna was front-page news across Austria and
Germany.
countries) was one of the most successful European film actors of the
20th Century. He was born Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens on
December 13, 1915, in Solln, Bavaria, in Hohenzollern Imperial Germany,
a subject of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Of
Franco-German parentage, Jürgens -- who was born during the closing
days of the second year of the First World War -- would abandon the
country of his birth after the end of World War II: Jürgens became an
Austrian citizen in 1945 and lived part-time in France.
Jürgens entered the journalism profession after receiving his
education, and married Louise Basler, an actress. Basler, the first of
his five wives, encouraged him to switch careers and become an actor.
He learned his new profession on the Vienna stage, which retained his
loyalty even after he became an global film star. Jürgens was sent to a
concentration camp for "political unreliables" in 1944, due to his
anti-Nazi opinions. It was this experience in Nazi Germany that led him
to become an Austrian citizen after the war.
His appearance in
The Devil's General (1955)
("The Devil's General" (1955)), established him as a star of German
cinema, and his role as
Brigitte Bardot's older lover in
Roger Vadim's
...And God Created Woman (1956)
(And God Created Woman (1956)) made him an international star. Always
interested in multilingual European actors with good looks and talent,
Hollywood beckoned the 6' 4" Jürgens, casting him in
The Enemy Below (1957) as a WWII
German U-boat commander in a duel with American destroyer commander
Robert Mitchum. He constantly was in
demand to play Germany military officers (e.g.,
The Longest Day (1962), the most
expensive black-and-white film ever made) -- indeed, his last role was
as "The General" in the miniseries
Smiley's People (1982) -- and
Germanic villains (e.g., "Cornelius", the cowardly and treacherous
trading company representative, in
Lord Jim (1965)) for the rest of his
life. One of his most famous roles in the English-language cinema was
as the James Bond villain, "Karl Stromberg", in
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977);
it was Moore's favorite Bond film.
Jürgens considered himself primarily a stage actor and often performed
on the Vienna stage. Though the world knew him as a cinema actor, he
also directed several films and wrote several screenplays and an
autobiography, "Sixty and Not Yet Wise" (1975). His death from a heart
attack in 1982 in Vienna was front-page news across Austria and
Germany.