Karl Stepanek
Acting
- Born:
- 1899-10-27
- Died:
- 1980-12-25
- Place of birth:
- Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]
Biography
Though born in Czechoslovakia, actor Karel Stepanek was generally regarded as a German actor due to his extensive film work in Germany (as Karl Stepanek) in the years before World War II. Stepanek fled to England in 1940, where, like many European refugee actors, he specialized in portraying Teutonic villains. He tried to stay away from out-and-out Nazi roles, but his predilection for wearing black uniforms and barking out guttural commands left little doubt as to the political preferences of Stepanek's screen characters. One of his most typical characterizations could be found in the 1946 POW drama, The Captive Heart; Stepanek also registered well as a friendlier foreigner in The Fallen Idol (1949). Commuting between London and Hollywood, Karel Stepanek continued to fight World War II, usually on the wrong side, into such '60s films as Sink the Bismarck! (1960), I Aim at the Stars (1960) and Operation Crossbow (1965).
Known For
Filmography
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
The Games
The File of the Golden Goose
Before Winter Comes
Murderers Club of Brooklyn
The Frozen Dead
Sperrbezirk
The Heroes of Telemark
Licensed to Kill
Operation Crossbow
Devil Doll
Aufstand der Gehorsamen
Das Kriminalmuseum
Brainwashed
I Aim at the Stars
Sink the Bismarck!
Our Man in Havana
No Hiding Place
Operation Amsterdam
Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!
West of Suez
The Traitor
Anastasia
Armchair Theatre
The Man in the Road
Man of the Moment
The Cockleshell Heroes
Secret Venture
A Prize of Gold
Dangerous Cargo
Tale of Three Women
City Beneath the Sea
Rough Shoot
Never Let Me Go
Affair in Trinidad
Walk East on Beacon
No Highway in the Sky
The Third Visitor
State Secret
Cairo Road
Golden Arrow
Give Us This Day
The Third Man
Conspirator
The Fallen Idol
Counterblast
Broken Journey
The Captive Heart
Escape to Danger
They Met in the Dark
Tomorrow We Live
Secret Mission
Our Film
Alles Schwindel
Three Fathers for Anna
The Leghorn Hat
Hotel Sacher
Another Experience
War es der im 3. Stock?
Narren im Schnee
Klatovští dragouni
The Bat
The Unknown
Stronger Than Paragraphs
Der Außenseiter
The Grey Pikes Wharf
Pozdní láska
Na růžích ustláno
Hermine and the Seven Upright Men
Waltz War
A Song for You
Spione im Savoy-Hotel
Five from the Jazzband
Here's Berlin
Berlin-Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf