Kurt Kreuger (July 23, 1916 â€" July 12, 2006) was a Swiss-reared German actor. Kreuger once was the third most requested male actor at 20th Century Fox. He starred with, among others, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.
Life and career
Kreuger was born in Michendorf, Germany, but grew up in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He attended the London School of Economics and enrolled in Columbia University (New York City) to study medicine, but soon dropped out to pursue a career in acting. His father, a businessman, cut off his allowance after he embarked seriously on an acting career.
In 1943, during the filming of Sahara, Kreuger was almost killed in a dramatic scene because the director almost forgot to say "cut". He was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle:
I was running across the dunes when Tambul jumped on top of me and pressed my head into the sand to suffocate me. Only Zoltán forgot to yell cut, and Ingram was so emotionally caught up in the scene that he kept pressing my face harder and harder. Finally, I went unconscious. Nobody knew this. Even the crew was transfixed, watching this dramatic "killing." If Zoltán hadn't finally said cut, as an afterthought, it would have been all over for me.
Kreuger's first major film credit was in Mademoiselle Fifi, a 1944 release that is set in the Franco-Prussian War.
Kreuger was primarily offered roles in World War II movies as a German officer, prompting him to complain about being typecast as a Nazi. One of Kreuger's few opportunities to play a non-Nazi role was in 1948's Unfaithfully Yours, in which he played Rex Harrison's personal assistant. When Kreuger asked Darryl F. Zanuck for better roles, Zanuck reportedly replied: "What's your hurry? With your looks, you'll be good at 50."
Kreuger was once the third most-requested male pinup at 20th Century Fox, after Tyrone Power and John Payne.
Kurt Kreuger briefly returned to Europe and starred in several German movies. He returned to the United States in 1950 after being injured in a car accident.
His last movie was The St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1967. He also had a number of roles in television in the 1950s and 1960s, including two guest appearances on Perry Mason and five on 77 Sunset Strip.
Kreuger was a successful real estate investor, primarily in properties in Beverly Hills, California. He lived in Beverly Hills and had a second home in Aspen, Colorado. He enjoyed skiing and participated in that sport until he was 87.
Kreuger died on 12 July 2006, just a few days before his ninetieth birthday, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of an age-related stroke.
Selected filmography
- Edge of Darkness (1943) with Ann Sheridan and Errol Flynn
- Sahara (1943) with Humphrey Bogart
- Mademoiselle Fifi (1944)
- Hotel Berlin (1945) with Fay Emerson and Peter Lorre
- Paris Underground (1945)
- The Dark Corner (1946)
- Unfaithfully Yours (1948) with Rex Harrison
- Herzen im Sturm (1951) in Germany
- Die Blaue Stunde (1953) in Germany with Harald Juhnke
- La Paura (Fear) (1954) with Ingrid Bergmann
- The Enemy Below (1957) with Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens
- Legion of the Doomed (1958)
- The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)
Television
- 77 Sunset Strip (multiple episodes 1958-63)
- Route 66 (1961)
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964)
- Mission: Impossible (1967)
References
External links
- Kurt Kreuger at the Internet Movie Database
- Kurt Kreuger at Find a Grave
- Nelson, Valerie J. (2006, July 19). Kurt Kreuger, 89; Actor Chafed at Being Typecast as a Nazi in 1940s War Movies. The Los Angeles Times