Eric Pohlmann


Eric Pohlmann was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in Britain.

Early life

Born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, Pohlmann was a classically trained actor who studied under the renowned director Max Reinhardt. He appeared at the Raimund Theater, and supplemented his income by working as an entertainer in a bar.
In 1939, he followed his fiancée and later wife, Jewish actress Lieselotte Goettinger, into exile in London. There he took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC. In order to earn a living, the Pohlmanns temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford, Lieselotte as a cook and Eric, as he was now known, as butler.

Career

After the war, he began a career on the London stage. Among other roles he played "Peachum" in Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera. From the end of the 1940s, Pohlmann was often present in film and television productions, taking supporting roles in various adventure and crime films, and appearing occasionally in comedies. His large frame and massive features typecast him in roles as master criminals and spies, or conversely as police officers or detectives, as well as other authority figures. He was frequently cast in "foreign" roles, portraying Turks, Italians, Arabs, Greeks or Orientals; he also played King George I, King George II in Disney's Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue and King George III twice.
One of his earliest film appearances was in Carol Reed's classic The Third Man. He also played supporting roles in such British films as They Who Dare, Chance of a Lifetime, Reach for the Sky, and Expresso Bongo. He also appeared in US productions, notably Moulin Rouge, Mogambo, Lust For Life and 55 Days at Peking. Twice he appeared in films directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Taylor - The Adventures of Quentin Durward and The House of the Seven Hawks.
He displayed his comedic talents in films like Gentlemen Marry Brunettes with Jane Russell, as a lecherous Arab sheikh in The Belles of St Trinian's, as "The Fat Man" in Carry On Spying and in The Return of the Pink Panther.
Pohlmann also provided the voice of the unseen head of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the James Bond films From Russia with Love and Thunderball.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Pohlmann regularly returned to his homeland to play numerous character roles in German and Austrian film and television productions. He had guest roles in the popular crime series Der Kommissar and Derrick, and also appeared in television plays for ORF and Bayerischer Rundfunk, often under the direction of. In addition to The Defence Counsel with Barbara Rütting and Carl Heinz Schroth, he appeared in Der Kleine Lord with Albrecht Schoenhals and Michael Ande, as well as The Dreyfus Affair with Karl Michael Vogler and Bernhard Wicki. In 1962, Pohlmann also appeared in The Puzzle of the Red Orchid starring Marisa Mell, Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski, a German film adaptation of an Edgar Wallace novel.
Pohlmann's greatest success in German TV drama came in 1970 with an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel The Woman In White, one of the most successful television productions of the year which gained over 9 million viewers. Under the direction of William Semmelroth, Pohlmann appeared in the role of the villainous Count Fosco, alongside Heidelinde Weis, Christoph Bantzer, Pinkas Braun and Helmut Käutner. The mini-series has a cult following to this day.
Pohlmann was a regular on British television, taking the role of "Inspector Goron" in the 1952-1954 TV series Colonel March of Scotland Yard with Boris Karloff, and appearing as a guest star in such series as The Saint, The Champions, The Avengers, Danger Man, Department S, Jason King and Paul Temple.
In 1978, he worked with the actor-director Maximilian Schell in an Austro/German film production of Ödön von Horváth's play Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald. The film was shown at the 1979 London Film Festival. In that year, during final rehearsals for his second appearance at the Salzburg Festival, Pohlmann suffered a heart attack, and died the same day in a hotel in Bad Reichenhall. He was 66.
In 2006, the Turner Classic Movies "31 Days of Oscar" festival was based on the theme of "360 Degrees of Oscar" in which TCM chooses an actor who has played a significant role in Oscar history, and builds its entire schedule around him. They chose Eric Pohlmann.
He also appeared on stage in, amongst other productions, Henry Cecil's Settled Out Of Court.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1949Portrait from LifeSearch group leader
1949Marry Me!Mr. CinelliUncredited
1949The Third ManWaiter at Smolka'sUncredited
1949Children of ChanceSergeant
1950Chance of a LifetimeXenobian
1950Cairo RoadShip's Captain
1950State SecretCable Car conductor
1950BlackoutOtto Ford
1950The Clouded YellowGreek taxidermist
1950Highly DangerousJoe - the bartender
1950Traveller's JoyGustafsen
1951The Long Dark HallMr. Polaris
1951Hell Is Sold OutLouis, the proprietor
1951There Is Another SunMarkie
1952His ExcellencyDobrieda
1952The Woman's AngleSteffano
1952Emergency CallFlash Harry
1952Penny PrincessMonsieur PaulUncredited
1952Venetian BirdGostini
1952MonsoonMolac
1952The Man Who Watched Trains Go ByGoin
1952Moulin RougePicardUncredited
1952The Gambler and the LadyArturo Colonna
1953The Beggar's OperaInn Keeper
1953MogamboLeon Boltchak
1953Blood OrangeMr. Mercedes
1953Rob Roy, the Highland RogueKing George I
195336 HoursSlossen, the smuggler
1954They Who DareCaptain Papadapoulos
1954Knave of HeartsBoarding House ProprietorUncredited
1954Flame and the FleshMarina Proprietor
1954Forbidden CargoSteven Lasovich
1954The Belles of St Trinian'sThe Sultan of Makyad
1955The Glass CageHenri Sapolio
1955A Prize of GoldFischer
1955Break in the CircleEmile
1955The Constant HusbandPapa Sopranelli
1955Gentlemen Marry BrunettesM. Ballard
1955The Adventures of Quentin DurwardGluckmeister
1956The Gelignite GangMr. Popoulos
1956Reach for the SkyAdjutant of Prison Camp
1956Lust for LifeColbert
1956High TerraceOtto Kellner
1956House of SecretsGratz
1956ZarakTobacco sellerUncredited
1956AnastasiaVon DrivnitzUncredited
1957The Counterfeit PlanFrank Wandelman
1957InterpolEtienne Fayala
1957Let's Be HappyCustoms Official
1957Fire Down BelowHotel Owner
1957Across the BridgePolice Sergeant
1957Not Wanted on VoyagePedro
1957Barnacle BillLiberamanian Consul
1958A Tale of Two CitiesSawyer
1958I Accuse!Bertillon
1958The Duke Wore JeansBastini - Prime Minister
1958Nor the Moon by NightAnton Boryslawski
1958The Man InsideTristao
1958Further Up the CreekPresident
1958Mark of the PhoenixDuser
1959Three Crooked MenMasters
1959John Paul JonesKing George III
1959Alive and KickingCaptain
1959The House of the Seven HawksCaptain Rohner
1959Upstairs and DownstairsMario
1959Expresso BongoLeon
1960Life Is a CircusRickenbeck
1960Sands of the DesertScrobin
1960Surprise PackageChief of Police Stefan Miralis
1960Man Who Couldn't WalkThe Consul General
1960No KiddingKing
1960Passport to ChinaIvono Kong
1960SnowballEditor
1961The Singer Not the SongPresidente
1961Carry On RegardlessSinister Man
1961The KitchenMr. Marango
1962The Puzzle of the Red OrchidKerkie Minelli
1962Village of DaughtersMarcio
1962Mrs. Gibbons' BoysMorelli
1962The Devil's AgentBloch
1963CairoNicodemos
1963Follow the BoysItalian Farmer
196355 Days at PekingBaron von Meck
1963Shadow of FearHenry Spiroulos
1963From Russia with LoveErnst Stavro BlofeldVoice, Uncredited
1963Dr. Syn, Alias the ScarecrowKing George III
1963The SiciliansInspector Bressin
1964Hot Enough for JuneGalushka
1964Carry On SpyingThe Fat Man
1964Night Train to ParisKrogh
1965Joey BoyAntonio
1965Those Magnificent Men in their Flying MachinesItalian Mayor
1965ThunderballErnst Stavro BlofeldVoice, Uncredited
1966Where the Spies AreFarouk
1967Hot Pavements of CologneBenno Trooger
1967The Mini-AffairWorld Banker
1968'Old General
1968Inspector ClouseauBergesch
1970Foreign ExchangeBorenskoTV film
1971'Count FoscoTV miniseries
1971The HorsemenMerchant in Kandahar
1973Tiffany JonesJabal
1975The Return of the Pink PantherFat Man
1976The Mimosa Wants to Blossom TooIwan Pederenko
1976Duett zu dritt
1979AshantiZeda El-Kabir
1979Tales from the Vienna WoodsMister
1980Maria - Nur die Nacht war ihr Zeuge