Biography
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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Wolfgang Preiss, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acted in 111
2010s
- 2018
Die 1000 Glotzböbbel vom Dr. Mabuse
Dieter Gekeler (archive footage)
1990s
- 1996
- 1990
1980s
- 1989
Land der Väter, Land der Söhne
Bernauer
Mrs. Harris fährt nach Monte Carlo
Earl of Wereford
- 1988
- 1987
Mrs. Harris fährt nach Moskau
Earl of Wereford
The Second Victory
Father Albertus
Mrs. Harris - Der geschmuggelte Henry
Earl of Wereford
- 1985
Forget Mozart
Baron Gottfried van Swieten
- 1984
Mrs. Harris - Freund mit Rolls Royce
Earl of Wereford
Die Dame und die Unterwelt
Berthold Kampe
- 1983
- 1982
Mrs. Harris - Ein Kleid von Dior
Earl of Wereford
Unheimliche Geschichten
TV
- 1981
Ghost of Love
Zighi
- 1980
Ringstraßenpalais
General Prettwitz · 1 episode
1970s
- 1979
Bloodline
Julius Prager
Ike
FM Alfred Jodl
Ike
Gen. Alfred Jodl · 1 episode
- 1978
Wallenstein
Thurn · 4 episodes
- 1977
The Standard
Oberst
- 1975
Die Insel der Krebse
General
The Big Delirium
Artmann
- 1974
La Cloche tibétaine
Georges-Marie Haardt · 7 episodes
Die Kriegsbraut
von Bogendorf
Eine ungeliebte Frau
Movie
- 1973
Diamantenparty
Konsul Eduard van Düren
- 1972
The Salzburg Connection
Felix Zauner
Die sexuellen Wünsche der Deutschen
Movie
- 1971
- 1970
1960s
- 1969
Playgirl 70
Movie
- 1968
Tamara
Father Bricks
Ein Mann namens Harry Brent
George Conway · 3 episodes
- 1967
Jack of Diamonds
Wilhelm Von Schenk
Death on a Rainy Day
Dr. Angus Cromwell
Dead Run
Noland
Jungfrau aus zweiter Hand
Leiter der Mordkommission
- 1966
To Skin a Spy
Chalieff
- 1965
The Spy Who Went Into Hell
Captain Parker
X-Ray of a Killer
Movie
- 1964
100 Horsemen
Sheik Abengalbon
The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse
Dr. Mabuse
Backfire
Grenner
Frühstück mit dem Tod
Staatsanwalt Ted Talbot
Cave of the Living Dead
Prof. von Adelsberg
- 1963
The Mad Executioners
Morel Smith
Das tödliche Patent
Charles Reese
Die fünfte Kolonne
Hauptmann Seewald · 1 episode
The Black Cobra
Stanislas Raskin
- 1962
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Dr. Mabuse
The Counterfeit Traitor
Colonel Nordoff
Das Mädchen und der Staatsanwalt
Staatsanwalt Soldan
- 1961
Riviera-Story
Arthur Dahlberg
Confessions of a Sixteen-Year-Old
Günther Brandt
- 1960
Mill of the Stone Women
Doctor Loren Bolem
Mistress of the World - Part II
Brandes
Mistress of the World - Part I
Dr. Henrik Brandes
Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen
Dr. Beck
1950s
- 1959
Roses for the Prosecutor
Generalstaatsanwalt
Doctor Without Scruples
Dr. Westorp
Konto ausgeglichen
Robert Jacobi
Gorilla's Waltz
Otto Lohn
Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever?
Major Linkmann
Prisoner of the Volga
General Gorew
- 1958
The Girl with the Cat Eyes
Carlo Gormann
Grabenplatz 17
Kriminalkommissar Dr. Jäger
The Green Devils of Monte Cassino
Oberstabsarzt Munkler
The Italians They Are Crazy
Hans
Ich war ihm hörig
Dr. Leipold
- 1957
Sharks and Little Fish
U-Bootkommandant Lüttke
- 1956
Von der Liebe besiegt
Mario Clar
Johannisnacht
Mac Fadden
Anastasia: the Czar's Last Daughter
Ein Journalist
Like Once Lili Marleen
Alfred Linder
Before Sundown
Dr. Hahnefeld, Syndikus der Clausen-Werke
- 1955
Der Cornet
Freiherr von Pirovano
The Plot to Assassinate Hitler
Oberst Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Oberarzt Dr. Solm
Dr. Hartung
- 1954
Canaris
Oberst Holl
- 1951
Falschmünzer am Werk
Movie
1940s
- 1943
The Crew of the Dora
Staffelarzt Dr. Wagner
- 1942
The Great Love
Oberleutnant von Etzdorf
Appearances3
2020s
- 2025
A Little Chat with Dr. Mabuse -- An Interview with Wolfgang Preiss
Himself
Thanked in the credits1
2020s
- 2025
A Little Chat with Dr. Mabuse -- An Interview with Wolfgang Preiss
Thanks