
Curd Jürgens
Actor
Biography
Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 1915 – 18 June 1982) was a German- Austrian theatre and film actor. In English-language films he usually appeared as Curt Jurgens. He was best known for his role as Ernst Udet in Des Teufels General. His English-language roles include James Bond’s villain Carl Stromberg in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Eric Carradine in And God Created Woman (1956) and Professor Immanuel Rath in The Blue Angel (1959).
Early life
Jurgen was born on 13 December 1915 in the municipality of Soln, Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire. His father, Kurt, was a merchant from Hamburg and his mother, Marie-Albertine, was a French teacher. He had two older twin sisters, Jeanette and Marguerite. He began his professional career as a journalist before becoming an actor at the urging of his actress wife, Louise Busler. He spent much of his early career on the Vienna stage. He spent much of his early career on the Vienna stage. Due to serious injuries sustained in a car accident in the summer of 1933, he was unable to have children.
Jurgen was critical of Nazism in his native Germany. In 1944, after filming Wiener Mädeln, he argued with Robert Kaltenbrunner (brother of high-ranking Austrian SS officer Ernst Kaltenbrunner), SS- Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny and a member of Baldur von Schirach’s staff in a Viennese bar without knowing who they were. After this event, Jürgens was sent to a labour camp for the “politically unreliable” in Hungary. After a few weeks he managed to escape and went into hiding. Jürgen became an Austrian citizen after the war.
Career
Jürgen went on to play soldiers in many war films. Notable performances in this vein include his screen role in Des Teufels General (1955, The Devil’s General), a fictionalized portrayal of World War I flying ace and Luftwaffe general in World War II Ernst Udet, followed by Roger Vadim’s Et Dieu… créa la femme (And God created woman) starring Brigitte Bardot.
Jürgen’s first Hollywood film was The Enemy Below (1957), in which he played a German submarine captain. In 1962, he played the German general Günther Blumentritt in The Longest Day (1962). Later, in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), he played the villain Karl Stromberg, a sociopathic industrialist who tries to turn the world into an oceanic paradise. His last film appearance was as Maître Legraine, alongside Alain Delon and Claude Jade in the spy thriller Tehran 43 (1981). On 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).
Jürgen’s grave in Vienna’s main cemetery
Although he appeared in more than 100 films, Jürgen was also a notable theatre actor. He was a member of several theatres in Vienna (Volkstheater 1938-1941, Burgtheater 1940-1953 and 1965- 1968, etc.). He played the title role in Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Jedermann at the Salzburg Festival from 1973 to 1977 – arguably the most prominent role for a German-speaking male actor. In 1966 he appeared in a brief performance on Broadway, at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, opposite Geraldine Page, directed by George Schaefer.
His last theatrical appearance was with the Vienna State Opera on 9 March 1981 as Bassa Selim in Mozart’s opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail. He also directed a few films with limited success, e.g. Bankraub in der Rue Latour, and wrote screenplays, e.g. Bonus on Death.
In 1976 he called his memoirs … und kein bißchen weise (And not at all wise).
Jürgens provided the German voice of the journalist in the 1980 German dubbing of Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds.
Private life
Jürgen kept a house in France, but often returned to Vienna to perform on stage. He died there of a heart attack on 18 June 1982. He had suffered a heart attack several years earlier. During it he had a near-death experience, during which he claimed to have died and gone to hell. Jurgens was buried in Vienna’s central cemetery.
He was 1.92 m tall. Brigitte Bardot called him “the Normandy wardrobe man” during their collaboration on the film Et Dieu… créa la femme.
In the summer of 1957 Jürgen had a brief but intense relationship with actress Romy Schneider.
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 – 1956) (divorced).[15].
Simone Bicheron (14 September 1958 – 1977) (divorced)
Margie Schmitz (21 March 1978 – 18 June 1982) (death)
Partial filmography
Königswalzer (1935) as Kaiser Franz Joseph of Austria (Jürgens’ first film)
Family Parade (1936) as Graf Erik Stjernenhö
The Unknown (1936) as Hans Wellenkamp
Love Can Lie (1937) as student Holger Engström
To New Shores (1937) as Bobby Wells’ friend
Tango Notturno (1937) as Jac’s friend, musician (uncredited)
The Girl of Last Night (1938) as Die drei Attachés (uncredited)
Salonwagen E 417 [de] (1939) as Prinz Heinrich Karl
Weltrekord im Seitensprung (1940) as Peter Enderlein, Kapellmeister
Herz ohne Heimat (1940) as Bob (uncredited)
Operetta (1940) as Karl Millöcker
Stimme des Herzens (1942) as Volontär Drews
Whom the Gods Love (1942) as Emperor Joseph II
Women are not angels (1943) as Bandini
Ein glücklicher Mensch (1943) as Petersen
Ein Blick zurück [de] (1944) as Dr. Erich Thienwiebel
Eine kleine Sommermelodie (1944) as Wolfgang Schwab
The Singing House (1948) as Hans Storch, orchestra leader
Hin und her [de] (1948) as Prinz Bernardo
The Angel with the Trumpet (1948) as Graf Leopold Thraun
On Resonant Shores (1948) as Stefan Keller
The Heavenly Waltz (1948) as Clemens M. Weidenauer
Verlorenes Rennen [de] (1948) as George Miller
Das Kuckucksei (1949) as Dr. Kurt Walla
Lambert Feels Threatened (1949) as Kommissar Roland
Hexen [de] (1949) as Heinz Wagner
Βιεννέζικα κορίτσια (1949) as Graf Lechenberg
Bonus on Death (1950) as Gunarson, opera tenor
Der Schuß durchs Fenster (1950)
Kissing Is No Sin (1950) as Kammersänger Felix Alberti
The Disturbed Wedding Night (1950) as Lawrence Vinning
A Rare Lover (1950) as Sascha Borotraz
Ein Lächeln im Sturm [de] (1951) as Jean Langrand
Das Geheimnis einer Ehe [de] (1951) as conductor Felix Adrian
Der schweigende Mund [de] (1951) as architect Reinhold
Gangsterpremiere [de] (1951) as Kommissar
House of Life (1952) as Axel Jolander
Knall and Fall as Imposters (1952) as John Vandergold
1. Απρίλιος 2000 (1952) as Capitano Herakles
Rose of the Mountain (1952) as composer Jack Long
Praterherzen [de] (1953) as Toni Brandstetter
They Call It Love (1953) as Peter Malmö
Music by Night (1953) as Hans Kersten
The Last Waltz (1953) as Rittmeister Graf Sarassow
Everything for Father (1953) as Clemens Haberland
Meines Vaters Pferde I. Teil Lena und Nicoline [de] (1954) as Pat
A Woman of Today (1954) as Heinz Bender
Circus of Love (1954) as Toni
Prisoners of Love (1954) as Willi Kluge
Orient Express (1954) as Bate
The Confession of Ina Kahr (1954) as Paul Kahr
Du bist die Richtige [de] (1955) as Stefan Selby
Des Teufels General (1955) as General Harry Harras
Love without illusions (1955) as Walter
Die Ratten (1955) as Bruno Mechelke
Heroes and Sinners (1955) as Wolf Gerke
Du mein stilles Tal [de] (1955) as Gerd
Devil in Silk (1956) as Thomas Ritter
The Golden Bridge (1956) as Balder
Without You All Is Darkness (1956) as Dr. Robert Kessler
And God Created Woman (1956) as Eric Carradine
The House of Intrigue (Ιταλικά: Londra chiama polo Nord) (1956) as Colonel Bernes
Michael Strogoff (1956) as Michel Strogoff
Bitter Victory (1957) as Major Brand
An eye for an eye (1957) as Dr. Walter
Les Espions (1957) as Alex
The Enemy Below (1957) as Von Stolberg
Tamango (1958) as Captain John Reinker
This Happy Feeling (1958) as Preston Mitchell
Me and the Colonel (1958) as Colonel Prokoszny
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) as Captain Lin Nan
Der Schinderhannes (1958) as Johann ‘Schinderhannes’ Bückler
Le vent se lève [fr] (1959) as Eric Muller
Ferry to Hong Kong (1959) as Mark Bertram Conrad
The Blue Angel (1959) ως καθηγητής Immanuel Rath
Magnificent Sinner (1959) as Tsar Alexander II
I Aim at the Stars (1960) as Wernher von Braun
Brainwashing (1960) as Werner von Basil
Gustav Adolf’s Page (1960) as king Gustav Adolf
Bankraub in der Rue Latour (1961) as Cliff MacHardy
Girl in a Suitcase (1961) as Rich Guy in Boat (uncredited)
The Triumph of Michael Strogoff (1961) as Michel Strogoff
Disorder (1962) as Carlo’s father
The Longest Day (1962) as General Günther Blumentritt
I Don Giovanni della Costa Azzurra (1962) as mr Edmond
Three Penny Opera [de] (1963) as Captain Macheath
Miracle of the White Stallions (1963) as General Tellheim
Of Love and Desire (1963) as Paul Beckmann
Nutty, Naughty Chateau (1963) as Hugo Falsen
Hide and Seek (1964) as Hubert Marek
Meeting in Salzburg (1964) as Hans Wilke, General Manager
Les Parias de la gloire (1964) as Ludwig Goetz
Psyche 59 (1964) as Eric Crawford
DM-Killer [de] (1965) as Kurt Lehnert
Lord Jim (1965) as Cornelius
Who wants to sleep? (1965) as Stefan von Cramer
Zwei Girls vom Roten Stern (1966) as Dave O’Connor
Congress of Love (1966) as Tsar Alexander I
Target for Killing (1966) as Gérard van Looch / Giant
The Gardener of Argenteuil (1966) as The Baron
Dirty Heroes (1967) as General Edwin von Keist
The Karate Killers (1967) as Carl von Kessen
Der Lügner und die Nonne [de] (1967) as Cardinal
OSS 117 – Double Agent (1968) as Il Maggiore
The Doctor of St. Pauli (1968) as Dr. Jan Diffring
Babeck [de] (1968, TV mini-series) as Babeck
The Assassination Bureau (1969) as Gen. von Pinck
Battle of the Commandos (1969) as Gen. von Reilow
On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight (1969) as Hannes Teversen
Battle of Britain (1969) as Baron von Richter
Battle of Neretva (1969) as Lohring
Slap in the Face (1970) as Thomas Nathan Terbanks
Hotel by the Hour (1970) as Kommissar Canisius
The Invincible Six (1970) as Baron
Hello-Goodbye (1970) as Baron De Choisis
The Priest of St. Pauli (1970) as Konrad Johannsen
Cannabis (1970) as Henri Emery
The Mephisto Waltz (1971) as Duncan Mowbray Ely
Käpt’n Rauhbein aus St. Pauli [de] (1971) as Captain Markus Jolly
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) as the German consul in Switzerland
Fieras sin jaula (1971) as Ronald Marvelling
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! (1971) as Grueningen
À la guerre comme à la guerre [fr] (1972) as a Russian general
Der Kommissar (TV) (1972-1973) as Harald Bergmann / Dr. Hochstätter
The Vault of Horror (1973) as Sebastian (part 3 “This Trick’ll Kill You”)
Profession: Alvarez (1973) as Alvarez
Soft Beds, Hard Fights (1974) as General Von Grotjahn
Fall of Eagles (TV, 1974) as Otto von Bismarck
Radiografia di una Svastika (1974)
Cagliostro (1975) as Cardinal Braschi
Derrick – season 2, episode 4: “Madeira” (1975) as Paul Bubach
Der zweite Frühling [de] (1975) as Fox
Povero Cristo [it] (1975) as Man Engaging Giorgio
The Mimosa Wants to Blossom Too (1976) as Josef Popov
Ab morgen sind wir reich und ehrlich [de] (1976) as Senator Shelton
The Twist (1976) as Le bijoutier / Jeweller
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) as Karl Stromberg
Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (1978) as Prince
Breakthrough (1979) as General Hofmann
Missile X: The Neutron Bomb Incident (1979) (also known as Tehran Incident and Cruise Missile) as Baron Marchant
Goldengirl (1979) as Dr. Serafin
La lunga strada senza polvere [it] (1979) as Cameo (uncredited)
La Gueule de l’autre (1979) as Wilfrid
Warum die UFOs unseren Salat klauen [de] (1979) as UFO Commander
The Sleep of Death (1980) as Count St. Alyre
Teheran 43 (1981) as Maître Legraine
Collin [de] (TV movie, 1981) as Hans Collin
Smiley’s People (BBC TV, 1982) as General Vladimir (last film role)