Wolfgang Preiss
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wolfgang Preiss (27 February 1910 at Nuremberg - 27 November 2002 at Baden-Baden) was a German theatre, film and television actor.
The son of a teacher, in the early 1930s Preiss studied philosophy, German and drama. He also took private acting classes with Hans Schlenck, making his stage début in Munich in 1932. He went to appear in various theatre productions in Heidelberg, Königsberg, Bonn, Bremen, Stuttgart and Berlin.
In 1942 he made his film début - he was exempted from military service specifically - in the UFA production Die grosse Liebe with Zarah Leander. After the end of the Second World War Preiss returned to the theatre, and from 1949 worked extensively dubbing films into German.
In 1954 he returned to film acting, appearing in Alfred Weidenmann's Canaris. The following year Preiss played the lead role of Claus von Stauffenberg in Falk Harnack's film Der 20. Juli, which dramatised the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler. This role brought Preiss to popular attention and also the 1956 Federal Film Award.
From now on Preiss was largely typecast in the role of the upright and obligation-conscious German officer to the other A-list actor playing the Fanatic (I.E. Paul Scofeld in The Train) a part he played in many films, later reprising it in numerous international productions, predominantly in Italy and the USA, while occasionally playing a more typically cynical or brutal Nazi officer.
Preiss appeared in such productions as The Longest Day (1962), Otto Preminger's The Cardinal (1963), and with Jean-Paul Belmondo in Is Paris Burning? (1966). He starred alongside Burt Lancaster in John Frankenheimer's The Train (1964), Frank Sinatra in Von Ryan's Express (1965), Robert Mitchum in Anzio (1968), with Richard Burton, in the title role of Erwin Rommel in Raid on Rommel (1971), and The Boys From Brazil (1978) with Gregory Peck. He also appeared in several Italian language films, credited as "Luppo Prezzo", and played Field Marshal Von Rundstedt in Richard Attenborough's all-star war epic A Bridge Too Far (1977).
In addition, for the cinema-going public of West Germany he became the epitome of the evil genius in his role as Doctor Mabuse, a role he first played in 1960 (following Rudolf Klein-Rogge) in Fritz Lang's The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse. He went on to play the role four more times.
In the 1980s Preiss turned to television, notably playing General Walther von Brauchitsch in the American TV mini-series Winds of War and War and Remembrance, based on the books of Herman Wouk.
In 1987 received a second Federal Film Award for his outstanding work in film.
In film dubbing Preiss provided the voice for such actors as Lex Barker, Christopher Lee, Anthony Quinn, Claude Rains, Richard Widmark, as well as that of Conrad Veidt as "Major Strasser" in the remastered version of Casablanca.
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Photos
Movies (121)
A Little Chat with Dr. Mabuse -- An Interview with Wolfgang Preiss
2025 · Himself, Thanks
Die 1000 Glotzböbbel vom Dr. Mabuse
2018 · Dieter Gekeler (archive footage)
Open Air
1996
Dr. M
1990 · Kessler
Land der Väter, Land der Söhne
1989 · Bernauer
Mrs. Harris fährt nach Monte Carlo
1989 · Earl of Wereford
Mrs. Harris fährt nach Moskau
1987 · Earl of Wereford
The Second Victory
1987 · Father Albertus
Lang soll er leben
1987
Mrs. Harris - Der geschmuggelte Henry
1987 · Earl of Wereford
Forget Mozart
1985 · Baron Gottfried van Swieten
Mrs. Harris - Freund mit Rolls Royce
1984 · Earl of Wereford
Ein Mann namens Parvus
1984 · Brockdorff-Rantzau
Die Dame und die Unterwelt
1984 · Berthold Kampe
Mrs. Harris - Ein Kleid von Dior
1982 · Earl of Wereford
Ghost of Love
1981 · Zighi
The Formula
1980 · Franz Tauber
Bloodline
1979 · Julius Prager
Ike
1979 · FM Alfred Jodl
Die Anstalt
1978 · Dr. Reinecke
The Boys from Brazil
1978 · Lofquist
The Standard
1977 · Oberst
A Bridge Too Far
1977 · Field Marshal Karl R.G. Von Rundstedt
Die Insel der Krebse
1975 · General
The Big Delirium
1975 · Artmann
Die Kriegsbraut
1974 · von Bogendorf
Eine ungeliebte Frau
1974
Diamantenparty
1973 · Konsul Eduard van Düren
Du stirbst nicht allein - Ein deutscher Kriegspfarrer in Paris
1973 · General
The Master Touch
1972 · Miller
The Salzburg Connection
1972 · Felix Zauner
Die sexuellen Wünsche der Deutschen
1972
The Bloodstained Butterfly
1971 · The Prosecutor
The Fifth Cord
1971 · Police inspector
Raid on Rommel
1971 · Gen. Erwin Rommel
Der Minister und die Ente
1970 · Minister
Sir Henri Deterding
1970 · Sir Henri Deterding
General Oster – Verräter oder Patriot?
1970 · Generalmajor Oster
Peenemünde
1970 · Oberst Dornberger
Das Haus Lunjowo
1970 · Generalmajor Lattmann
Playgirl 70
1969
Battle of the Commandos
1969 · Colonel Ackerman
Liebe, Love, l'Amour
1969
Hürdenlauf
1969 · Exzellenz Lohmüller
Hannibal Brooks
1969 · Col. von Haller
Anzio
1968 · Field Marshal Albert Kesselring
Meinungsverschiedenheiten
1968 · Anthony Wilcox
Der Fall Petkov
1968 · Dr. Georgi Dimitrov
Tamara
1968 · Father Bricks
Flachsmann als Erzieher
1968 · Flachsmann
Jack of Diamonds
1967 · Wilhelm Von Schenk
Death on a Rainy Day
1967 · Dr. Angus Cromwell
Spy Today, Die Tomorrow
1967 · Sebastian (BND chief)
Dead Run
1967 · Noland
Wo liegt Jena?
1967 · Robert
Jungfrau aus zweiter Hand
1967 · Leiter der Mordkommission
Is Paris Burning?
1966 · Capitaine Ebernach
To Skin a Spy
1966 · Chalieff
Das Leben in meiner Hand
1966 · Minister
Samba
1966 · Parisius
Der Fall Kapitän Behrens. Fremdenlegionäre an Bord
1966 · Kapitän Behrens
The Spy Who Went Into Hell
1965 · Captain Parker
Von Ryan's Express
1965 · Maj. Von Klemment
X-Ray of a Killer
1965
100 Horsemen
1964 · Sheik Abengalbon
The Train
1964 · Maj. Herren
The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse
1964 · Dr. Mabuse
Backfire
1964 · Grenner
Die erste Legion
1964 · Dr. Peter Morell
Frühstück mit dem Tod
1964 · Staatsanwalt Ted Talbot
Cave of the Living Dead
1964 · Prof. von Adelsberg
The Cardinal
1963
The Mad Executioners
1963 · Morel Smith
Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse
1963 · Geist von Dr. Mabuse
Das tödliche Patent
1963 · Charles Reese
The Black Cobra
1963 · Stanislas Raskin
Leb wohl, mein Traum
1963 · James Merrill
The Longest Day
1962 · Maj. Gen. Max Pemsel
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
1962 · Dr. Mabuse
The Counterfeit Traitor
1962 · Colonel Nordoff
The Invisible Dr. Mabuse
1962 · Dr. Krone / Dr. Mabuse
Das Mädchen und der Staatsanwalt
1962 · Staatsanwalt Soldan
Lafayette
1962 · Baron Kalb
Riviera-Story
1961 · Arthur Dahlberg
The Return of Dr. Mabuse
1961 · Dr. Mabuse
Confessions of a Sixteen-Year-Old
1961 · Günther Brandt
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse
1960 · Prof. Jordan / Peter Cornelius / Dr. Mabuse
Mill of the Stone Women
1960 · Doctor Loren Bolem
Mistress of the World - Part II
1960 · Brandes
Mistress of the World - Part I
1960 · Dr. Henrik Brandes
Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen
1960 · Dr. Beck
Roses for the Prosecutor
1959 · Generalstaatsanwalt
Doctor Without Scruples
1959 · Dr. Westorp
Konto ausgeglichen
1959 · Robert Jacobi
Gorilla's Waltz
1959 · Otto Lohn
Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever?
1959 · Major Linkmann
Prisoner of the Volga
1959 · General Gorew
Straße der Gerechten
1959 · Joseph Blake
The Girl with the Cat Eyes
1958 · Carlo Gormann
Grabenplatz 17
1958 · Kriminalkommissar Dr. Jäger
The Green Devils of Monte Cassino
1958 · Oberstabsarzt Munkler
The Italians They Are Crazy
1958 · Hans
Ich war ihm hörig
1958 · Dr. Leipold
Eurydice
1957 · Dulac
Der Banditendoktor
1957 · Amerikaner
Sharks and Little Fish
1957 · U-Bootkommandant Lüttke
Schinderhannes
1957 · Gendarm Adam
Stresemann
1957 · Heinz Becker
Von der Liebe besiegt
1956 · Mario Clar
Johannisnacht
1956 · Mac Fadden
Anastasia: the Czar's Last Daughter
1956 · Ein Journalist
Like Once Lili Marleen
1956 · Alfred Linder
Before Sundown
1956 · Dr. Hahnefeld, Syndikus der Clausen-Werke
Der Cornet
1955 · Freiherr von Pirovano
The Plot to Assassinate Hitler
1955 · Oberst Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Oberarzt Dr. Solm
1955 · Dr. Hartung
Canaris
1954 · Oberst Holl
Falschmünzer am Werk
1951
Frischer Wind in alten Gassen
1951
The Crew of the Dora
1943 · Staffelarzt Dr. Wagner
The Great Love
1942 · Oberleutnant von Etzdorf
TV shows (34)
Florian III
1994 · Max Friedmann
Tassilo - Ein Fall für sich
1991
War and Remembrance
1988 · Walter von Brauchitsch
Die Männer vom K3
1988 · Bodo von Heysen
Ein heikler Fall
1986
Ein Heim für Tiere
1985 · Prof. Alf Dobner
The Winds of War
1983 · Walther von Brauchitsch
Die Schraiers
1982 · Jean Schraier
Unheimliche Geschichten
1982
A Case For Two
1981 · Alfred Rohloff
Ringstraßenpalais
1980 · General Prettwitz
Sonne, Wein und harte Nüsse
1979 · Louis Tonard
Ike
1979 · Gen. Alfred Jodl
Wallenstein
1978 · Thurn
SOKO München
1978 · Direktor Xaver Kreuzberg
Hungária kávéház
1976
Der Anwalt
1976 · Richter
Eurogang
1975 · Frank Allen
La Cloche tibétaine
1974 · Georges-Marie Haardt
Die Montagsmaler
1974 · Self
Okay S.I.R.
1973 · Forestié
Dalli Dalli
1971 · Self
Scene of the Crime
1970 · Friedrich von Ribnitz, Cantz sr., Stockinger
Familie Mack verändert sich
1969 · Robert Mack
Gestern gelesen
1969 · Staatsanwalt
The Commissioner
1969 · Direktor Abel
Schatzsucher unserer Tage
1968 · Jan van Dongen
Ein Mann namens Harry Brent
1968 · George Conway
The Rat Patrol
1966 · General Von Helmreich
Einer wird gewinnen
1964 · Self
Zwischenmahlzeit
1963 · Self
Die fünfte Kolonne
1963 · Hauptmann Seewald
Das Kriminalmuseum
1963 · Konrad Pachmayr
German Film Award
1951 · Self