Georg Tressler (January 25, 1917 – January 6, 2007) was a Vienna-born

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

film actor and film director. Also known as George Tressler, Hans Tressler, Hans Dressler, Hans Georg Keil and Hans Sternbeck (per

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

). The son of actor Otto Tressler, he began his acting career in the 1930s. George Tressler was drafted into the German army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and served on the Russian Front. He became ill and was released from the service and returned to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In the immediated post-war period Tressler was employed making films to help his Austrian compatriots better understand how to benefit from US

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

aid. According to Maria Fritsche, author of ''"The American Marshall Plan Film Campaign and the Europeans: A Captivated Audience?"'' Tressler took special efforts to find ways to convince his audience accepting US aid was of genuine benefit to them. In particular, when he found Austrian farmers feared the techniques and technology used in America on much larger American farms was inapplicable to their much smaller farms Tressler found ways to show how those techniques could be adapted to Austrian farms. When Tressler turned to directing feature films, many of them shared themes of youthful rebellion. His 1956 film '' Die Halberstarken/Teenage Wolfpack'' was one of the most popular films in Austria. He directed nearly 80 movies during his lifetime, including ''

The Death Ship ''The Death Ship'' (German title: ''Das Totenschiff'') is a novel by the pseudonymous author known as B. Traven. Originally published in German in 1926, and in English in 1934, it was Traven's first major success and is still the author's secon ...

'' (1959) with

Horst Buchholz Horst Werner Buchholz (4 December 1933 – 3 March 2003) was a German actor who appeared in more than 60 feature films from 1951 to 2002. During his youth, he was sometimes called "the German James Dean". He is perhaps best known in English- ...

and

Mario Adorf Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, am ...

. He came to Hollywood and directed

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's ''The Magnificent Rebel'' (1962). Other works include ''Teenage Wolfpack'' (1956) and ''2069: A Sex Odyssey'' (1974). His 1966 film '' Der Weibsteufel'' was entered into the

16th Berlin International Film Festival The 16th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 24 June to 5 July 1966. The Golden Bear was awarded to film ''Cul-de-sac'' directed by Roman Polanski. Jury The following people were announced as being on the jury for the fest ...

. He died on January 6, 2007, in Saxony, three weeks shy of his 90th birthday.

Selected filmography

Director * '' Teenage Wolfpack'' (1956) — screenplay by

Will Tremper Will Tremper (19 September 1928 – 14 December 1998) was a German journalist and filmmaker (writer, director, producer). He wrote twelve screenplays between 1956 and 1988. The young and then unknown actor Horst Buchholz starred in his firs ...

* ' (1957) * ' (1958) — screenplay by

* ' (1958) — based on the story by

Paul Gallico Paul William Gallico (July 26, 1897 – July 15, 1976) was an American novelist and short story and sports writer.Ivins, Molly,, ''The New York Times'', July 17, 1976. Retrieved Oct. 25, 2020. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures. ...

* ''

'' (1959) — based on ''

'' by

B. Traven B. Traven (; Bruno Traven in some accounts) was the pen name of a novelist, presumed to be German, known for his novels on injustice and exploitation around the world, and especially in Mexico. His name, nationality, date and place of birth hav ...

* ' (1961) — based on a novel by Robert Pilchowski * ''

The Magnificent Rebel ''The Magnificent Rebel'' is a 1962 American television film that aired as a two part episode of ''The Wide World of Disney''. It told the story of Ludwig Van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a Germa ...

'' (1961) — biographical film about

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

* '': Der Fall Krantz'' (1964, TV series episode) * '': Der Fall Calmette'' (1964, TV series episode) * '': Der Fall Nebe'' (1964, TV series episode) * ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' (1965) — based on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

'' * '' Gestatten, mein Name ist Cox'' (1965, TV series, 13 episodes) * ' (1966, TV film) — film about Jerzy Sosnowski * '' Der Weibsteufel'' (1966) — based on a play by

Karl Schönherr Karl Schönherr (24 February 1867 - 15 March 1943) was an Austrian writer of Austrian Heimat themes. Biography Schönherr was born in Axams, near Innsbruck (Austria), to Joseph and Marie Suitner Schönherr. He began studying philosophy in Innsb ...

* ''Ein Mann, der nichts gewinnt'' (1967, TV film) — screenplay by * ''Nationalkomitee "Freies Deutschland"'' (1968, TV film) — docudrama about the "

National Committee for a Free Germany The National Committee for a Free Germany (, or NKFD) was an Anti-fascism, anti-fascist political and military organisation formed in the Soviet Union during World War II, composed mostly of German defectors from the ranks of German prisoners of ...

" * '' Der Kommissar: Die Tote im Dornbusch'' (1969, TV series episode) * '' Der Kommissar: Geld von toten Kassierern'' (1969, TV series episode) * ''Der Baum von Kfar Etzyon'' (1969, TV film) — screenplay by

Hellmut Andics Hellmut Andics (25 August 192219 August 1998) was an Austrian journalist, publicist and writer. Life After military service in World War II Andics became a journalist and worked as an editor, at The New Austria and Die Presse. From 1 March 197 ...

* ' (1969, TV film) — remake of ''

Mrs Thursday ''Mrs Thursday'' is a British television comedy-drama produced by Associated Television. The series was devised by Ted Willis and featured scripts by Jack Rosenthal. It stars veteran British actress Kathleen Harrison as Alice Thursday, a Cockne ...

'' * '' Der Kommissar: Die kleine Schubelik'' (1970, TV series episode) * ' (1970, TV film) — remake of ''

'' * ''F.M.D. – Psychogramm eines Spielers'' (1971, TV film) — screenplay by , biographical film about

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

* ' (1971, TV film) — screenplay by Helga Feddersen * ''The Lift'' (1972, TV film) * ''

Tatort ("Crime Scene") is a German-language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with 30 feature-length episodes per year, making it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by the German public-se ...

: Kennwort Gute Reise'' (1972, TV series episode) * ''

Graf Yoster ''Graf Yoster gibt sich die Ehre'' (French title: ''Le comte Yoster a bien l'honneur'') – which translates to English as ''Count Yoster has the Honour'' – was a television series produced between 1967 and 1976. Starring Lukas Ammann and Wolf ...

'' (1974, TV series, 6 episodes) * ' (1974) (as Hans Georg Keil) * '' Sweet Derriere'' (1975) (as Hans Georg Keil) * '' Der Millionenbauer'' (1979–1980, TV series, 7 episodes) * ''

: Geburtstagsgrüße'' (1984, TV series episode) * ' (1989) * '' Schloß Hohenstein'' (1992–1993, TV series, 6 episodes) * '' Marienhof'' (1994, TV series, 6 episodes) Actor * ''

Men Are That Way ''Men Are That Way'' () is a 1939 German drama film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt and starring Hertha Feiler, Hans Söhnker and Hans Olden. The film's sets were designed by the art director Willi Herrmann. It was remade by Rabenalt in Austr ...

'' (1939) * ''

Music in Salzburg ''Music in Salzburg'' () is a 1944 German comedy film directed by Herbert Maisch and starring Willy Birgel, Lil Dagover and Hans Nielsen.It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin and on location around Salzburg.Klaus p.85 The film's sets w ...

'' (1944) * '' Maresi'' (1948)

References

External links

* 1917 births 2007 deaths German male film actors Film people from Vienna German Army personnel of World War II Male actors from Vienna Austrian emigrants to Germany {{Germany-film-actor-1910s-stub