Gert Fröbe

Fröbe was born in Oberplanitz, today part of Zwickau. He was initially a violinist, but he abandoned it for Kabarett and theatre work.[1]

He joined the Nazi Party in 1929 at the age of 16 and left in 1937.[2] After his party membership became known after World War II, Israel banned Fröbe's films until a Jewish survivor revealed that his life and his mother's were probably saved when Fröbe hid them from the Nazis.[3] In September 1944, the Nazis closed down theatres in Germany and he was drafted into the German Army, where he served until the end of the war.[1]

Fröbe gained fame in one of the first German films made after the Second World War, called Berliner Ballade (The Ballad of Berlin, 1948). His character's name, "Otto Normalverbraucher" (lit. Otto Average Consumer), became the German term equivalent to "Average Joe.”[4]

He was cast as the villain in the Swiss-German film Es geschah am hellichten Tag (It Happened in Broad Daylight, 1958), with the original screenplay written by Friedrich Dürrenmatt. His role as a serial killer of children drew the attention of the producers of the James Bond movie Goldfinger (1964) and he was chosen to play one of the best remembered villains of the series, gold tycoon Auric Goldfinger. He later remarked, "The ridiculous thing is that since I played Goldfinger in the James Bond film there are some people who still insist on seeing me as a cold, ruthless villain - a man without laughs."[5] Due to his former membership in the Nazi Party, the film was initially banned in Israel until the Jewish family he had protected during the war came forward and thanked him for saving their lives.[3][6]

Fröbe made several appearances in all-star casts in the 1960s, including the films The Longest Day (1962), Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965), Is Paris Burning? (1966), "Triple Cross" (1966) and Monte Carlo or Bust (1969). During the 1980s, Fröbe played small parts in Mercedes Benz W123 commercials, helping to promote the coupé and the sedan. Aside from acting, Fröbe was a prolific reciter of lyric poetry, especially that of Christian Morgenstern and Joachim Ringelnatz.

Fröbe died in Munich in September 1988 at age 75 from a heart attack.[3] He was buried at the Waldfriedhof cemetery in Icking.

• Gert Fröbe on IMDb
• Gert Fröbe at Find a Grave