Klinger, Paul

Biography:

Paul Klinger was born in Essen, Germany on June 14, 1907. After dropping out of architecture and, later, theater studies in Munich, he began performing on stage. In 1933, he signed a contract with the Deutsches Theater in Berlin and also performed at the Komische Oper and Hebbeltheater. After his 1933 film debut, Du sollst nicht begehren (dir. Richard Schneider-Edenkoben), he received major contracts with leading German film production companies, including the Ufa Film Studio. The handsome actor soon became a German film star and worked with many important German directors during the Nazi era, including Arthur Maria Rabenalt (Das Leben ruft, Zirkus Renz), Boleslaw Barlog (Der grüne Salon), Hans Deppen (Das schöne Fräulein Schragg) and Veit Harlan (Die goldene Stadt, Immensee).   

 

One of Klinger’s first roles after WWII was as Hans Wieland in Kurt Maetzig’s DEFA film, Ehe im Schatten. In the film, his character is based on the story of actor Joachim Gottschalk—whose professional life had been very similar to Klinger’s: both were celebrated young German film and theater stars in Berlin at the same time. Gottschalk was called the “German Cary Grant,” while Klinger gave Grant his German-dubbed voice. Both were also cast by Veit Harlan in Die goldene Stadt … and might have performed together, had Gottschalk not been banned from performing by Nazi Propaganda Minister Goebbels.

 

In addition to his theater and film roles, Klinger also performed in radio productions and dubbed over 160 films starting in the 1940s. He gave many international stars—including Jean Gabin, Humphrey Bogart and Charlton Heston—their German voices. As of the early 1960s, he was seen more and more on television and became widely known as the detective in the crime series Kommissar Brahm. Paul Klinger, who acted in over 100 films, died on November 14, 1971 in Munich.

 

Filmography:

1971 Der Seewolf (The Sea Wolf, TV mini-series)
1969 Tagebuch eines Frauenmörders (Dairy of a Woman Killer, TV)
1967 Kommissar Brahm (Detective Brahm, TV series)
1964 Das Wirtshaus von Dartmoor (The Inn on Dartmoor)
1963 Die weiße Spinne (The White Spider)
1963 Tim Frazer (TV series)
1961 Ich kann nicht länger schweigen (I Can No Longer Be Silent)
1959 Rommel ruft Kairo (Rommel Calling Cairo)
1958 Sebastian Kneipp
1957 Ferien auf Immenhof (Vacation at Immenhof)
1956 Hochzeit auf Immenhof (Marriage at Immenhof
1956 Hengst Maestoso (Stallion Maestoso)
1955 Die Mädels vom Immenhof (The Girls from Immenhof)
1954 Das fliegende Klassenzimmer (The Flying Classroom)
1953 Staatsanwältin Corda (Attorney Corda)
1949 Begegnung mit Werther (Encounter with Werther)
1947 Ehe im Schatten (Marriage in the Shadows)
1944 Der grüne Salon (The Green Salon)
1944 Das Leben ruft (Life Is Calling)
1943 Zirkus Renz (Circus Renz)
1943 Immensee – Ein deutsches Volkslied (Immensee)
1942 Die goldene Stadt (The Golden City)
1938 Zwei Frauen (Two Women)
1937 Das schöne Fräulein Schragg (Pretty Miss Schragg)
1937 Fridericus
1933 Du sollst nicht begehren… (Thou Shalt Not Covet)

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