Curd Jürgens
| Curd Jürgens | |
|---|---|
Curd Jürgens 1971
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| Born | Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens 13 December 1915 Solln, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire |
| Died | 18 June 1982 (aged 66) Vienna, Austria |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1935–1982 |
| Spouse(s) | Lulu Basler (1938–1947) Judith Holzmeister (1947–1955) Eva Bartok (1955–1956) (1 child) Simone Bicheron (1958–1977) Margie Schmitz (1978–1982) |
| Children | Deana Jurgens (b. 1957)[1] |
| Awards | Volpi Cup for Best Actor 1955 Les héros sont fatigués |
Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 1915 – 18 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens.
Early life[edit]
Jürgens was born on 13 December 1915 in the Munich borough of Solln, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire. His father, Kurt, was a trader from Hamburg, and his mother, Marie-Albertine, was a French teacher.[2][3][4] He began his working career as a journalist before becoming an actor at the urging of his actress wife, Louise Basler. He spent much of his early acting career on the stage in Vienna.
Jürgens was critical of National Socialism in his native Germany. In 1944, he was sent to an internment camp in Hungary as a "political unreliable".[5]
Jürgens became an Austrian citizen after the war.
Career[edit]
Like many multilingual German-speaking actors, Jürgens went on to play soldiers in many war films. Notable performances in this vein include his breakthrough screen role in Des Teufels General (1955, The Devil's General), a fictional portrayal of World War I flying ace and World War II Luftwaffe general Ernst Udet, followed by Roger Vadim's film Et Dieu... créa la femme (And God Created Woman) starring Brigitte Bardot.
Jürgens first Hollywood film was The Enemy Below (1957), in which he portrayed a German U-boat commander. In 1962 he played the German general Günther Blumentritt in The Longest Day. Later, in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), he played the villain Karl Stromberg, a sociopathic industrialist seeking to transform the world into an ocean paradise. His last film appearance was as Maître Legraine, beside Alain Delon and Claude Jade in the spy-thriller Teheran 43 (1981). In English-language television he played Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in several episodes of the BBC series Fall of Eagles (1974) and appeared as General Vladimir in the BBC's Smiley's People (1982).
Although he appeared in over 100 films, Jürgens considered himself primarily a stage actor.[citation needed] His last stage appearance was with the Vienna State Opera on 9 March 1981 as Bassa Selim in Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail.[6] He also directed a few films with limited success, and wrote screenplays.[citation needed]
He titled his 1976 autobiography … und kein bißchen weise (And not a Bit Wise).[7]
Personal life[edit]
Jürgens maintained a home in France, but frequently returned to Vienna to perform on stage. He died there from a heart attack on 18 June 1982. Jürgens had suffered a heart attack several years before. During this he had a near-death experience where he claimed he died and went to Hell. Jürgens was interred in the Vienna's Zentralfriedhof.
He was a tall man, standing 1.92 metres (6 ft 4 in) tall.[8] Brigitte Bardot nicknamed him "the Norman Wardrobe" during their work for Et Dieu… créa la femme.[9]
Jürgens was married to:
- Lulu Basler, actress (15 June 1937 – 8 October 1947) (divorced)
- Judith Holzmeister (16 October 1947 – 1955) (divorced)
- Eva Bartok (13 August 1955 – 1957) (divorced)
- Simone Bicheron (14 September 1958 – 1977) (divorced)
- Margie Schmitz (21 March 1978 – 18 June 1982) (till his death)
Partial filmography[edit]
- Königswalzer (1935), Jürgens' first film
- Love Can Lie (1937)
- Operetta (1940)
- Whom the Gods Love (1942)
- Women Are No Angels (1943)
- Viennese Girls (1945)
- Der Engel mit der Posaune (1948)
- Der Schuß durchs Fenster (1950)
- 1. April 2000 (1952)
- Music by Night (1953)
- Der letzte Walzer (1953)
- Circus of Love (1954)
- Orient Express (1954)
- The Confession of Ina Kahr (1954)
- Des Teufels General (1955)
- Die Ratten (1955)
- Heroes and Sinners (1955)
- Devil in Silk (1956)
- The House of Intrigue (Italian: Londra chiama polo Nord) (1956)
- And God Created Woman (1956)
- Michael Strogoff (1956)
- Bitter Victory (1957)
- An Eye for an Eye (1957)
- Les Espions (1957)
- The Enemy Below (1957)
- Tamango (1958)
- This Happy Feeling (1958)
- Me and the Colonel (1958)
- The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
- Der Schinderhannes (1958)
- Le vent se lève (1959)
- Ferry to Hong Kong (1959)
- The Blue Angel (1959)
- Magnificent Sinner (1959)
- I Aim at the Stars (1960)
- Brainwashed (1960)
- Gustav Adolfs Page (1960)
- Bankraub in der Rue Latour (1961)
- Disorder (1962)
- The Longest Day (1962) as General Günther Blumentritt
- I Don Giovanni della Costa Azzurra (1962)
- Die Dreigroschenoper (1963)
- Miracle of the White Stallions (1963)
- Of Love and Desire (1963)
- Nutty, Naughty Chateau (1963)
- Encounter in Salzburg (1964)
- Hide and Seek (1964)
- Psyche 59 (1964)
- Les Parias de la gloire (1964)
- DM-Killer (1965)
- Lord Jim (1965)
- Who Wants to Sleep? (1965)
- Zwei Girls vom Roten Stern (1966)
- Congress of Love (1966)
- Target for Killing (1966)
- Dirty Heroes (1967)
- The Karate Killers (1967)
- Der Lügner und die Nonne (1967)
- OSS 117 - Double Agent (1968)
- Der Arzt von St. Pauli (1968)
- The Assassination Bureau (1969)
- Battle of the Commandos (1969)
- On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight (1969)
- Battle of Britain (1969) as Baron von Richter
- Battle of Neretva (1969)
- Ohrfeigen (1970)
- Hotel by the Hour (1970)
- The Invincible Six (1970)
- Cannabis (1970)
- The Mephisto Waltz (1971)
- Käpt'n Rauhbein aus St. Pauli (1971)
- Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
- Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! (1971)
- Der Kommissar (TV) (1973)
- The Vault of Horror (1973)
- Fall of Eagles (TV, 1974)
- Derrick – Season 2, episode 4: "Madeira" (1975)
- Cagliostro (1975)
- Der zweite Frühling (1975)
- The Twist (1976)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as Karl Stromberg
- Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (1978)
- Missile X: The Neutron Bomb Incident (1978) (also known as Teheran Incident and Cruise Missile)
- La Gueule de l'autre (1979) as Wilfrid
- Teheran 43 (1981) as Maître Legraine
- Smiley's People (BBC TV, 1982) as The General (last appearance)
References[edit]
- ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3062087/I-don-t-think-man-high-morals-Frank-Sinatra-s-secret-Australian-love-child-slams-famous-father-refusing-meet-says-never-feel-result.html
- ^ "Curt Jurgens, War Films' Star" (Free Preview) The New York Times (subscription required)
- ^ "The Man You'll Love to Hate" (Free Preview) The New York Times (subscription required)
- ^ [1]
- ^ Karney, Robyn (1984). The Movie Stars Story. Outlet.
- ^ Die Entführung aus dem Serail, 9 March 1981, Vienna State Opera
- ^ Jürgens, Curd. … und kein bißchem weise, Munich, Droemer Knaur (1976). ISBN 3-85886-054-9.
- ^ Sill, Oliver (1991). Zerbrochene Spiegel (in German). Walter de Gruyter. p. 227. ISBN 978-3-11-012697-6. Retrieved 8 May 2009. quoting Holba et al. Reclams deutsches Filmlexikon, Stuttgart 1984, p. 181, ISBN 978-3-15-010329-6
- ^ "Curd Jürgens im Porträt" (in German). Hubert Burda. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Curd Jürgens. |
- Curd Jürgens at the Internet Movie Database
- Curd Jürgens at Find a Grave
- Curd Jürgens Estate at Deutsches Filminstitut, Frankfurt am Main
- Austrian male film actors
- Austrian film directors
- Austrian male stage actors
- Austrian male television actors
- German male film actors
- German-language film directors
- German male stage actors
- German male television actors
- Austrian people of German descent
- Austrian people of French descent
- People from Munich
- Burials at the Zentralfriedhof
- 1915 births
- 1982 deaths
- Volpi Cup winners
- 20th-century German male actors
- 20th-century Austrian male actors
- German people of French descent
- German emigrants to Austria
- Naturalised citizens of Austria