Karl Gerhart "Gert" Fröbe (; 25 February 1913 – 5 September 1988) was a German actor. He was known in English-speaking countries for his work as the title character in the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' Goldfinger'', as Peachum in ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

'', as Baron Bomburst in ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

'', as Hotzenplotz in '' The Robber Hotzenplotz'', General

Dietrich von Choltitz Dietrich Hugo Hermann von Choltitz (; 9 November 1894 – 5 November 1966) was a German general. Sometimes referred to as the Saviour of Paris, he served in the Wehrmacht (armed forces) of Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as serving i ...

in '' Is Paris Burning?'', as Colonel Manfred von Holstein in '' Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines'', and as Inspector Bauer in

Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...

's '' The Serpent's Egg''. Fröbe was a three-time

German Film Award The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

nominee, twice for Best Leading Actor and once for Best Supporting Actor. In 1978, he won an honorary award for "outstanding individual contributions to the German cinema over the years."

Early life and education

Fröbe was born in Oberplanitz, today part of

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

. He was initially a violinist, but he abandoned it for

Kabarett Kabarett (; from French ''cabaret'' = tavern) is satirical revue, a form of cabaret which was developed in France by Rodolphe Salis in 1881 as the ''cabaret artistique''. It was named Le Chat Noir and was centered on political events and satire. ...

and

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

work.Erich Ponto.latobit"> He joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

in 1934 at the age of 21 and left in 1937, before the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 ...

. After his party membership became known after the war, Israel banned Fröbe's films until Mario Blumenau, a Jewish survivor, revealed just eight weeks later that his life and his mother's were probably saved when Fröbe hid them from the Nazis in his basement. In September 1944, theatres in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

were closed down and Fröbe was drafted into the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

, where he served until the end of the war.Erich Ponto.latobit" />

Career

Fröbe gained fame in one of the first German films made after the War, called '' Berliner Ballade'' (''The Ballad of Berlin'', 1948). His character's name, "Otto Normalverbraucher" ( Otto Average Consumer), became the German term equivalent to "Average Joe". He was cast as the villain in the Swiss-West German-Spanish film '' Es geschah am hellichten Tag'' (''It Happened in Broad Daylight'', 1958), with the original screenplay written by

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant- ...

. His role as a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

of children drew the attention of the producers of the

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." 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), ''

'' (1968), and '' Monte Carlo or Bust'' (1969). During the 1980s, Fröbe was a spokesman in Mercedes Benz W123 commercials, helping to promote the

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

and the sedan.

Death

Fröbe died in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in September 1988 at age 75 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. He was buried at the Waldfriedhof cemetery in Icking.

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

* !colspan="3" style="background:#C1D8FF;", James Bond , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Frobe, Gert 1913 births 1988 deaths 20th-century German male actors Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German Army personnel of World War II German male film actors German male television actors German resistance members Nazi Party members People from Zwickau German people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust Deaths from coronary thrombosis Male actors from Saxony