John Wengraf
John Wengraf (23 April 1897 – 4 May 1974) was an Austrian actor.
Life
Born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, Wengraf emigrated to Britain in 1933 as the Nazis began their rise to power in Germany. Wengraf appeared unbilled in a couple of films, as well as in some of the first BBC live-television shows ever presented. In 1941 he appeared on Broadway with Helen Hayes in Candle in the Wind and decided to stay in the US. The following year he settled in the Los Angeles area.
He found himself invariably playing the very characters he detested. Some of his more nefarious nasties surfaced in such films as the Humphrey Bogart classic Sahara (1943), as well as The Boy from Stalingrad (1943), U-Boat Prisoner (1944) and Till We Meet Again (1944).
In post-war years, he portrayed ethnic professionals (scientists, doctors, professors, foreign royalty). Some of the more quality pictures he enhanced were Tomorrow Is Forever (1946); Count Von Papen in 5 Fingers (1952); and Ronchin in the Ethel Merman musical Call Me Madam (1953). In the 1950s and 1960s he transferred his talents to TV, appearing on a number of dramatic showcases and on such popular programs as The Untouchables (1959), Hawaiian Eye (1959), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) and The Time Tunnel (1966). His last few films included minor roles in the war-themed Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Hitler (1962) and Ship of Fools (1965) as well as The Prize (1963).
Wengraf retired in 1966, and died in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of 77 on 4 May 1974.
Selected filmography
- Convoy (1940)
- Sailors Three (1940)
- The Boy from Stalingrad (1943)
- Sahara (1943)
- Paris After Dark (1943)
- Song of Russia (1944)
- Sofia (1948)
- The Lovable Cheat (1949)
- Gog (1954)
- The Walter Winchell File "The Cupcake" - Leopold (1957)
- Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
- Ship of Fools (1965)