Wolfgang Preiss

Born in Nuremberg on February 27, 1910, the son of a school teacher, well-known German actor Wolfgang Preiss started studying philsophy and theatre sciences alternately (including dance training) and made his stage debut in 1932 in Munich. He appeared in many theatres throughout his country in the 30s including Heidelberg, Bonn, Bremen, Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Berlin. In early 40s films, WWII interrupted his output for a time, but, in a many, the war never left him, for he would continue playing war-time colonels, generals, and field marshals for the duration of his career. Following more theatre and radio work, he concentrated again on films in the 50s and could hardly be seen out of uniform for the many prototype Nazi officers he ably portrayed. He branched out internationally and kept his uniform starched and pressed for many more prestigious international productions including The Longest Day (1962), The Cardinal (1963), The Train (1964) Von Ryan's Express (1965), and Anzio (196