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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
April 22, 1897
Died
May 4, 1974
Place of Birth
Vienna, Austria-Hungary, now Austria
John Wengraf
0.3 Popularity
Biography
Emigrating to England in 1933 as the Nazis began their rise to power, Wengraf appeared unbilled in a couple of films there, as well as in some of the first BBC live-television shows ever presented but his career began to languish. In late 1941, however, he had the good fortune of appearing on Broadway with Helen Hayes in "Candle in the Wind" and decided to stay. The following year he headed west and settled permanently in the Los Angeles area. A dark, cold-eyed, thin-lipped player with a precise, meticulous air about him, he found himself invariably playing the very characters he detested. Some of his more nefarious nasties surfaced in such films as the Humphrey Bogart classic Sahara (1943/I), as well as The Boy from Stalingrad (1943), U-Boat Prisoner (1944) and Till We Meet Again (1944). In postwar years, he was often spotted portraying ethnic professionals (scientists, doctors, professors, foreign royalty). Some of the more quality pictures he enhanced were Tomorrow Is Forever (1946); Count Von Papen in 5 Fingers (1952); and Ronchin in the Ethel Merman musical Call Me Madam (1953). Although Wengraf never made it to the very top of the Hollywood character ranks, he remained a throughly strong and reliable player. In the 1950s and 1960s he transferred his talents to TV, appearing on a number of dramatic showcases and on such popular programs as "The Untouchables" (1959), "Hawaiian Eye" (1959), "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964) and "The Time Tunnel" (1966). His last few films included minor roles in the war-themed Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Hitler (1962) and Ship of Fools (1965). He retired in 1966, and died in Santa Barbara, California, at age 77, on May 4, 1974.
Known For
Credits
Jericho
1966
6.5
The Time Tunnel
as Dr. Hans Kleinemann
1966
7.6
Ship of Fools
as Graf
1965
6.5
The Rogues
as Drozhin
1964
7.2
The Prize
as Hans Eckhart
1963
6.8
Hitler
as Dr. Morell
1962
5.7
Judgment at Nuremberg
as Karl Wieck
1961
8.0
Portrait in Black
as Dr. Kessler
1960
5.7
12 to the Moon
as Dr. Erich Heinrich
1960
2.5
The Detectives
1959
5.6
Hawaiian Eye
1959
5.2
Bourbon Street Beat
1959
5.0
The Third Man
1959
6.7
One Step Beyond
as Ernest
1959
5.6
One Step Beyond
as Felix Borgner
1959
5.6
77 Sunset Strip
1958
6.7
Bat Masterson
as Colonel Anders Dorn
1958
6.1
Behind Closed Doors
as Von Elm
1958
0.0
The Return of Dracula
as John Merriman
1958
5.5
The Walter Winchell File
1957
5.0
The Disembodied
as Dr. Carl Metz
1957
4.4
Valerie
as Mr. Louis Horvat
1957
4.1
The Pride and the Passion
as Sermaine
1957
5.9
Panic!
1957
0.0
Oh, Men! Oh, Women!
as Dr. Krauss
1957
5.8
Telephone Time
1956
6.3
Never Say Goodbye
as Prof. Zimmelman
1956
6.6
Matinee Theater
1955
5.0
The Racers
as Dr. Tabor
1955
6.0
The Millionaire
as Count Victor Turec
1955
5.0
The Gambler from Natchez
as Nicholas Cadiz
1954
6.8
Gog
as Dr. Zeitman
1954
5.7
Paris Playboys
as Vidal
1954
4.0
The French Line
as Commodore Renard
1954
4.2
Hell and High Water
as Col. Schuman (uncredited)
1954
6.1
The Desert Rats
as German Doctor (uncredited)
1953
6.3
General Electric Theater
1953
6.3
Tropic Zone
as Lukats
1953
3.7
Cavalcade of America
as German Colonel
1952
3.5
Cavalcade of America
1952
3.5
Cavalcade of America
as Von Schwarz
1952
3.5
🎬
Four Star Playhouse
as Denoir
1952
6.3
5 Fingers
as Count Franz Von Papen
1952
7.6
Dangerous Assignment
1952
3.5
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Landau
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Max von Mayerling
1950
6.3
The Lovable Cheat
as Pierquin
1949
3.0
Wake of the Red Witch
as Prosecuting Attorney
1948
5.6
Sealed Verdict
as German Doctor
1948
5.5
Sofia
as Peter Goltzen
1948
5.7
T-Men
as 'Shiv' Triano
1947
6.8
The Razor's Edge
as Joseph - Gray & Isabel's Butler
1946
6.9
Tomorrow Is Forever
as Dr. Ludwig
1946
6.1
Week-End at the Waldorf
as Alex
1945
6.0
Strange Affair
as Rudolph Kruger
1944
6.2
Till We Meet Again
as Gestapo Chief
1944
6.0
U-Boat Prisoner
as Gunther Rudehoff, Gestapo Agent
1944
6.0
The Seventh Cross
as Overkamp
1944
6.7
Sahara
as Maj. von Falken
1943
7.2
The Boy from Stalingrad
as German Major
1943
0.0
Mission to Moscow
as Polish Ambassador Grzybowski (uncredited)
1943
5.3
Lucky Jordan
as Herr Kesselman
1942
6.0
Sailors Three
as German Captain
1940
7.2
Convoy
as Commander Deutschland
1940
5.4
Night Train to Munich
as KL Physician (uncredited)
1940
7.2
All Hands
as German
1940
8.0
Dangerous Comment
as German Radio Operator
1940
0.0
🎬
The Moon in the Yellow River
as Tausch
1938
0.0
Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten
as Paul Rainer
1935
0.0