Background
Jürgens was born on 13 December 1915 in the Munich borough of Solln, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire. His father, Kurt, was a trader from Hamburg, and his mother, Marie-Albertine, was a French teacher.
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Curd Jurgens
Edit ProfileCareer
He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He spent much of his early acting career on the stage in Vienna. In 1944, he was sent to an internment camp in Hungary as a "political unreliable".
Jürgens became an Austrian citizen after the war.
Like many multilingual German-speaking actors, Jürgens went on to play soldiers in many war films. Notable performances in this vein include his breakthrough screen role in Des Teufels General (1955, The Devil"s General), a fictional portrayal of World War I flying ace and World World War II Luftwaffe general Ernst Udet, followed by the Roger Vadim French film Et Dieu.. créa la femme (And God Created Woman) starring Brigitte Bardot.
Jürgens first Hollywood film was The Enemy Below (1957), in which he portrayed a German U-boat commander. In 1962 he played the German general Günther Blumentritt in The Longest Day.
Later, in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Maine (1977), he played the villain Karl Stromberg, a sociopathic industrialist seeking to transform the world into an ocean paradise.
His last film appearance was as Maître Legraine, beside Alain Delon and Claude Jade in the spy-thriller Teheran 43 (1981). In English-language television he played Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in several episodes of the British Broadcasting Corporation series Fall of Eagles (1974) and appeared as General Vladimir in the British Broadcasting Corporation"s Smiley"s People (1982). Although he appeared in over 100 films, Jürgens considered himself primarily a stage actor.
His last stage appearance was with the Vienna State Opera on 9 March 1981 as Bassa Selim in Mozart"s opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
He also directed a few films with limited success, and wrote screenplays. He titled his 1976 autobiography … und kein bißchen weise (And not a Bit Wise).
Politics
Jürgens was critical of National Socialism in his native Germany.
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Born
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Died
June 18, 1982 (aged 66) -
Nationality
Austria Germany