Klaus Kinski
Known for: Acting
Klaus Kinski (German: [klaʊs ˈkɪnski]; born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and his notoriously eccentric and volatile personality off-screen, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a career that spanned 40 years, from 1948 to 1988. He is best known for starring in five films directed by Werner Herzog from 1972 to 1987 (Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Nosferatu the Vampyre; Woyzeck; Fitzcarraldo; and Cobra Verde), who would later chronicle their tumultuous relationship in the documentary My Best Fiend. Kinski's roles spanned multiple genres, languages, and nationalities, including Spaghetti Westerns, horror films, war films, dramas, and Edgar Wallace krimi films. His infamy was elevated by a number of eccentric creative endeavors, including a one-man show based on the life of Jesus Christ, a biopic of violinist Niccolò Paganini directed by and starring himself, and over twenty spoken word albums. Kinski was prone to emotional and often violent outbursts aimed at his directors and fellow cast members, issues complicated by a history of mental illness. Herzog described him as "one of the greatest actors of the century, but also a monster and a great pestilence." Posthumously, he was accused of having physically and sexually abused his daughters Pola and Nastassja. His notoriety and prolific output have developed into a widespread cult following and a reputation as a popular icon. Description above from the Wikipedia article Klaus Kinski, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
Series
Ciné regards
Self
1978
Series
NDR Talk Show
Self
1979
Series
Spécial cinéma
Self
1974
Die Drehscheibe
Self
1964
Series
The Hitchhiker
Kurt Hoffman
1983
Sternstunde Kunst
Self
1998
Series
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
1975
German Film Award
Self
1951
Series
Faerie Tale Theatre
Beast
1982
Film
For a Few Dollars More
Juan Wild - The Hunchback
1965
Film
Doctor Zhivago
Kostoyed Amourski
1965
Na sowas!
Self
1982
Series
Auf los geht's los
Self
1977
Film
Nosferatu the Vampyre
Count Dracula
1979
Film
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Don Lope de Aguirre
1972
Weltspiegel
Self
1963
Film
The Great Silence
Loco (Tigrero)
1968
Series
Am laufenden Band
Self - Guest
1974
Film
Marquis de Sade: Justine
Marquis De Sade
1969
Film
Fitzcarraldo
Fitzcarraldo
1982
Je später der Abend
Self
1973
Film
Death Smiles on a Murderer
Dr. Sturges
1973
Film
Last of the Renegades
David "Luke" Lucas
1964
Film
My Best Fiend
Self (archive footage)
1999
Film
Fruits of Passion
Sir Stephen
1981
Die Mondvögel
Valentin
1963
Film
Madame Claude
Alexander Zakis
1977
Film
Paganini
Niccolo Paganini
1990
Film
Five Golden Dragons
Gert
1967
Film
A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot
Doc Foster
1975
Film
A Bullet for the General
El Santo
1967
Film
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
Self - Actor (archive footage) (uncredited)
2014
Film
Burden of Dreams
Self - Actor
1982
Film
The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault
(archive footage)
2020
Film
Cobra Verde
Francisco Manoel da Silva aka Cobra Verde
1987
Film
Nosferatu in Venice
Nosferatu
1988
Film
Death of a Corrupt Man
Nicolas Tomski
1977
Film
If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death
Morgan
1968
Film
Whiteface
(archive footage)
2002
Film
I Am Sartana Your Angel of Death
Chadeau / Holden / Hot Dead
1969
Film
Django & Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained
Self - Actor (archive footage)
2021
Series
Otto – The Series
Verschiedene
1995
Film
Fifty Shades of Erotica
(archive footage)
2015
Film
Creature
Hans Rudy Hofner
1985
Film
The Dirty Game
Russian Agent
1965
Film
The Little Drummer Girl
Martin Kurtz
1984
Film
The Soldier
Dracha
1982
Film
Count Dracula
Renfield
1970
Film
That Most Important Thing: Love
Karl-Heinz Zimmer
1975
Film
Buddy Buddy
Dr. Hugo Zuckerbrot
1981
Film
Our Man in Marrakesh
Jonquil
1966
Film
And God Said to Cain
Gary Hamilton
1970
Film
Woyzeck
Friedrich Johann Franz Woyzeck
1979
Film
Crawlspace
Karl Gunther
1986
Film
Love & Money
Frederic Stockheinz
1981
Film
Decision Before Dawn
Whining Soldier (uncredited)
1951
Film
Timestalkers
Dr. Joseph Cole
1987
Film
FantastiCozzi
Nosferatu (archive footage)
2016
Film
Jack the Ripper
Dr. Dennis Orloff / Jack the Ripper
1976
Film
Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor
Self (archive footage)
2000
Film
Haine
Le motard
1980
Film
Slaughter Hotel
Dr. Francis Clay
1971
Film
The Million Eyes of Sumuru
President Boong
1967
Film
Schizoid
Dr. Pieter Fales
1980
Film
Footprints on the Moon
Professor Blackmann
1975
Film
A Time to Love and a Time to Die
Gestapo Lieutenant
1958
Film
Grand Slam
Erich Weiss
1967
Film
Twice a Judas
Dingus
1968
Film
Double Face
John Alexander
1969
Film
The Counterfeit Traitor
Kindler
1962
Film
Circus of Fear
Manfred
1966
Film
Fear
Cabaret Performer (uncredited)
1954
Film
Five for Hell
SS Col. Hans Mueller
1969
Film
His Name Was King
Brian Foster
1971
Sonntagsgespräch
Self
1985
Film
Vengeance Is a Dish Served Cold
Virgil Prescott
1971
Film
Venom
Jacques Müller (Jacmel)
1981
Film
The Devil's Daffodil
Peter Keene
1961
Film
Star Knight
Boetius
1985
Film
White Hunter
Klaus Naginsky
1990
Film
Adios Compañeros
Reverend Cotton
1971
Film
Kali-Yug, Goddess of Vengeance
Saddhu
1963
Beloved Count
Renfield (archive footage)
2007
Film
The Ruthless Four
Brent il Biondo
1968
Film
Commando Leopard
Silveira
1985
Film
That Man in Istanbul
Schenck
1965
Film
The Mystery of the Indian Temple
1963
Film
The Pleasure Girls
Nikko Stalmar
1965
Film
Nosferatu: A Film Like a Vampire
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Black Killer
James Webb / Black Killer
1971
Film
Coffin Full of Dollars
Dan Hagen / Slander
1971
Film
Beauty and the Beast
Beast
1984
Film
Android
Dr. Daniel
1982
Film
The Night of the Assassin
Evagoras
1970
Film
Man, Pride and Vengeance
Lt. Miguel Garcia
1967
Film
Venus in Furs
Ahmed Kortobawi
1969
Film
Where Are You Taking That Woman
Gomez (Rio segment)
1966
Film
Operation Thunderbolt
Wilfried Boese
1977
Film
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Renfield (archive footage)
1991
Film
The Beast
Johnny Laster
1970
Film
The Child Woman
Marcel
1980
Film
The Making of 'Nosferatu'
Self
1979
Filming Silenzio
(archive footage)
2017
Film
Code Name: Wild Geese
Charleton
1984
Film
The Spaghetti West
Self (archive footage)
2005
Film
Coplan Saves His Skin
Theler
1968
Film
Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse
Inspector Joe Wright
1963
Film
The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud
Dr. Max Bauer
1984
Film
Again the Ringer
Edwards
1965
Film
Golden Night
Michel Fournier
1976
Film
Web of the Spider
Edgar Allan Poe
1971
Film
Diary
(archive footage)
1983
Film
The Door with Seven Locks
Pheeny
1962
Film
Heroes in Hell
Gen. Kaufmann
1974
Film
The Song of Roland
Roland / Klaus
1978
Film
The Bastard
Adam
1968
Film
The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe
Scalper Jack
1973
Film
Salt in the Wound
Cpl. Brian Haskins / Norman Carr
1969
Film
Traitor's Gate
Kane
1964
Film
The Strange Countess
Bresset
1961
Film
How Did a Nice Girl Like You Get Into This Business?
Juan José Ignatio Rodriguez de Calderon / 'Sam'
1970
Film
The Net
Emilio Bossi
1975
Film
Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau
Self (archive footage)
2019
Film
AGFA Mystery Mixtape #2: Later in L.A.
(archive footage)
2020
Film
Sarajevo
Nedeljko Čabrinović
1955
Film
Eye of the Spider
Hans Fischer
1971
Film
Shoot the Living and Pray for the Dead
Dan Hogan
1971
Film
Only the Cool
Pavel Richko / Torpédo I
1970
Film
Children, Mother, and the General
Leutnant, der nicht mehr lacht
1955
Film
Ludwig II
Prince Otto von Bayern
1955
Film
The Curse of the Hidden Vault
George
1964
Film
The Indian Scarf
Peter Ross
1963
Film
The Bloody Hands of the Law
Vito Quattroni
1973
Zeit zu zweit
Self - Interviewee
1985
Film
Creature with the Blue Hand
Dave Emerson / Richard Emerson
1967
Film
The Avenger
Lorenz Voss
1960
Film
The Inn on the River
Gregor Gubanow
1962
Film
Western, Italian Style
Self
1968
Film
Churchill's Leopards
Captain Holtz
1970
Film
The Last Ride to Santa Cruz
Jose
1964
Film
Othelo The Great
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
Target for Killing
Caporetti
1966
Film
The Secret of the Red Orchid
Steve
1962
Film
Dead Eyes of London
Edgar Strauss
1961
Film
A Noose Is Waiting for You Trinity
Scott
1972
Film
Jesus Christ Saviour
Self
2008
Film
Return of Shanghai Joe
Pat Barnes
1975
Film
Psychopath
Periwinkle
1968
Film
The Price of Death
Chester Conway / Ray
1971
Film
Mark of the Tortoise
Shapiro
1964
Film
Bankraub in der Rue Latour
Bex, Autor
1961
Film
Lifespan
Nicholas Ulrich
1975
The Western World of Ferdinando Baldi
Self (archive footage)
2005
Film
The Black Abbot
Thomas Fortuna
1963
Film
Hannelore Elsner: More Than One Life
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
The Squeaker
Krishna
1963
Film
Location Africa
Self
1987
Film
Secret of the Chinese Carnation
Speranzo
1964
Film
The Secret of the Black Widow
Boyd
1963
Film
The Extravagant Little Life of Jean-Claude D. Dreyfus
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Waldwinter
Otto Hartwig
1956
Film
Morituri
Dutch prisoner
1948
Film
Zoo zéro
Yavé, le directeur du zoo
1979
Film
The Vatican Affair
Clint Rogers
1968
Film
The Hand That Feeds the Dead
Prof. Nijinski
1974
Film
Corinna Darling
Klaus Brockmann
1956
Film
In Free Fall
Self (archive footage)
2010
Film
Portrait: Werner Herzog
Self (archive footage)
1986
Film
Hanussen
Erik von Spazier / Mirko
1955
Film
I Am My Films: A Portrait of Werner Herzog
Voice
1979
Film
Gegen das Schweigen - Machtmissbrauch bei Theater und Film
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
Piccadilly Zero Hour 12
Whitey
1963
Kinski rigando Paganini
Self
2003
Film
The Black Cobra
Koks-Charley
1963
Film
The Red Pastures
Martin
1962
Peter Baumgartner, Filmkameramann
(archive footage)
2014
Film
Revenge of the Stolen Stars
Donald McBride
1986
Film
Gangster's Law
Quintero
1969
Die Kurve
Anton
1961
Please Kill Mr. Kinski
Self (archive footage)
1999