Karl Stepanek
Acting
1899-10-27 · Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]
Though born in Czechoslovakia, actor Karel Stepanek was generally regarded as a German actor due to his extensive film work in Germany (as Karl Stepanek) in the years before World War II. Stepanek fled to England in 1940, where, like many European refugee actors, he specialized in portraying Teutonic villains. He tried to stay away from out-and-out Nazi roles, but his predilection for wearing black uniforms and barking out guttural commands left little doubt as to the political preferences of Stepanek's screen characters. One of his most typical characterizations could be found in the 1946 POW drama, The Captive Heart; Stepanek also registered well as a friendlier foreigner in The Fallen Idol (1949). Commuting between London and Hollywood, Karel Stepanek continued to fight World War II, usually on the wrong side, into such '60s films as Sink the Bismarck! (1960), I Aim at the Stars (1960) and Operation Crossbow (1965).
Filmography
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
2003 · Movie
The Games
1970 · Movie
The File of the Golden Goose
1969 · Movie
Before Winter Comes
1969 · Movie
Murderers Club of Brooklyn
1967 · Movie
The Frozen Dead
1966 · Movie
Sperrbezirk
1966 · Movie
The Heroes of Telemark
1965 · Movie
Licensed to Kill
1965 · Movie
Operation Crossbow
1965 · Movie
Devil Doll
1964 · Movie
Aufstand der Gehorsamen
1963 · Movie
Das Kriminalmuseum
1963 · Series
Brainwashed
1960 · Movie
Sink the Bismarck!
1960 · Movie
Our Man in Havana
1960 · Movie
No Hiding Place
1959 · Series
Operation Amsterdam
1959 · Movie
Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!
1957 · Series
The Traitor
1957 · Movie
West of Suez
1957 · Movie
Anastasia
1956 · Movie
Armchair Theatre
1956 · Series
The Man in the Road
1956 · Movie
Man of the Moment
1955 · Movie
The Cockleshell Heroes
1955 · Movie
Secret Venture
1955 · Movie
A Prize of Gold
1955 · Movie
Dangerous Cargo
1954 · Movie
Tale of Three Women
1954 · Movie
City Beneath the Sea
1953 · Movie
Rough Shoot
1953 · Movie
Never Let Me Go
1953 · Movie
Affair in Trinidad
1952 · Movie
Walk East on Beacon
1952 · Movie
No Highway in the Sky
1951 · Movie
The Third Visitor
1951 · Movie
State Secret
1950 · Movie
Cairo Road
1950 · Movie
Golden Arrow
1949 · Movie
Give Us This Day
1949 · Movie
The Third Man
1949 · Movie
Conspirator
1949 · Movie
The Fallen Idol
1948 · Movie
Counterblast
1948 · Movie
Broken Journey
1948 · Movie
The Captive Heart
1946 · Movie
Escape to Danger
1943 · Movie
They Met in the Dark
1943 · Movie
Tomorrow We Live
1943 · Movie
Secret Mission
1942 · Movie
Our Film
1942 · Movie
Alles Schwindel
1940 · Movie
Three Fathers for Anna
1939 · Movie
The Leghorn Hat
1939 · Movie
Hotel Sacher
1939 · Movie
Another Experience
1939 · Movie
War es der im 3. Stock?
1939 · Movie
Narren im Schnee
1938 · Movie
Klatovští dragouni
1938 · Movie
The Bat
1937 · Movie
The Unknown
1936 · Movie
Stronger Than Paragraphs
1936 · Movie
Der Außenseiter
1935 · Movie
The Grey Pikes Wharf
1935 · Movie
Pozdní láska
1935 · Movie
Na růžích ustláno
1935 · Movie
Hermine and the Seven Upright Men
1935 · Movie
Waltz War
1933 · Movie
A Song for You
1933 · Movie
Spione im Savoy-Hotel
1932 · Movie
Five from the Jazzband
1932 · Movie
Here's Berlin
1932 · Movie
Berlin-Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf
1931 · Movie