Karl Stepanek

Biography

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).

Known For

No Hiding Place

Das Kriminalmuseum

The Third Man

Operation Crossbow

The Heroes of Telemark

Sink the Bismarck!

Armchair Theatre

Anastasia

All Movies (70)

• The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway2003
• The Games1970 · as Kubitsek
• The File of the Golden Goose1969 · as Mueller
• Before Winter Comes1969 · as Count Kerassy
• Murderers Club of Brooklyn1967 · as Dyers
• The Frozen Dead1966 · as General Lubeck
• Sperrbezirk1966 · as Inspector Wagner
• The Heroes of Telemark1965 · as Hartmuller
• Licensed to Kill1965 · as Henrik Jacobsen
• Operation Crossbow1965 · as Prof. Hoffer
• Devil Doll1964 · as Dr. Heller
• Aufstand der Gehorsamen1963 · as Jawor Stranski
• Brainwashed1960 · as Baranow
• Sink the Bismarck!1960 · as Admiral Lutjens - 'Bismarck'
• Our Man in Havana1960 · as Dr. Braun
• Operation Amsterdam1959 · as Diamond Merchant
• West of Suez1957 · as Langford
• The Traitor1957 · as Friederich Suderman
• Anastasia1956 · as Mikhail Vlados
• The Man in the Road1956 · as Dmitri Balinkev
• Man of the Moment1955 · as Lom
• The Cockleshell Heroes1955 · as Assistant Gestapo Officer
• Secret Venture1955 · as Zelinsky
• A Prize of Gold1955 · as Dr. Zachmann
• Dangerous Cargo1954 · as Pliny
• Tale of Three Women1954 · as Alfred Dykemann (segment "Final Twist' story)
• City Beneath the Sea1953 · as Dwight Trevor
• Rough Shoot1953 · as Diss
• Never Let Me Go1953 · as Commissar
• Affair in Trinidad1952 · as Walters
• Walk East on Beacon1952 · as Alexi Laschenkov / Gregory Anders
• No Highway in the Sky1951
• The Third Visitor1951 · as Richard Carling
• State Secret1950 · as Dr. Revo
• Cairo Road1950 · as Edouardo Pavlis
• Golden Arrow1949 · as Schroeder
• Give Us This Day1949 · as Jaroslav
• The Third Man1949 · as Actor at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
• Conspirator1949 · as Radek
• The Fallen Idol1948 · as First Secretary
• Counterblast1948 · as Professor Inman
• Broken Journey1948 · as Swiss Officer (uncredited)
• The Captive Heart1946 · as Forster
• Escape to Danger1943 · as Franz von Brinkman
• They Met in the Dark1943 · as Riccardo
• Tomorrow We Live1943 · as Seitz
• Secret Mission1942 · as Major Lang
• Our Film1942 · as Soviet Visitor
• Alles Schwindel1940 · as Clubdiener
• Three Fathers for Anna1939 · as Matschek
• The Leghorn Hat1939 · as Felix, Diener bei Farina
• Hotel Sacher1939 · as Franz
• Another Experience1939 · as Rechtsanwalt
• War es der im 3. Stock?1939 · as Georg Kilby
• Narren im Schnee1938 · as Rolf Pinkenkötter
• Klatovští dragouni1938
• The Bat1937 · as Attaché Baranoff / Orlovsky
• The Unknown1936 · as Manager at Regina's
• Stronger Than Paragraphs1936 · as Robert Wendland
• Der Außenseiter1935 · as Otto Burian
• The Grey Pikes Wharf1935 · as Ladewig
• Pozdní láska1935
• Na růžích ustláno1935
• Hermine and the Seven Upright Men1935 · as Ruckstuhl
• Waltz War1933 · as Kellner Leopold
• A Song for You1933 · as Theo Bruckner
• Spione im Savoy-Hotel1932 · as Jackson
• Five from the Jazzband1932 · as Jean
• Here's Berlin1932 · as Max
• Berlin-Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf1931

All TV Shows (4)

• Das Kriminalmuseum1963 · as Dr. Robert Großmann
• No Hiding Place1959 · as Professor Remi
• Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!1957 · as Rubici
• Armchair Theatre1956