Karl Stepanek
Known for: Acting
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).
Filmography
Series
No Hiding Place
Professor Remi
1959
Film
The Third Man
Actor at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
1949
Series
Das Kriminalmuseum
Dr. Robert Großmann
1963
Film
Operation Crossbow
Prof. Hoffer
1965
Film
Sink the Bismarck!
Admiral Lutjens - 'Bismarck'
1960
Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!
Rubici
1957
Film
The Heroes of Telemark
Hartmuller
1965
Film
Anastasia
Mikhail Vlados
1956
Film
The Bat
Attaché Baranoff / Orlovsky
1937
Film
Affair in Trinidad
Walters
1952
Film
The Fallen Idol
First Secretary
1948
Film
Our Man in Havana
Dr. Braun
1960
Film
No Highway in the Sky
1951
Film
Na růžích ustláno
1935
Film
State Secret
Dr. Revo
1950
Film
Brainwashed
Baranow
1960
Film
City Beneath the Sea
Dwight Trevor
1953
Film
Devil Doll
Dr. Heller
1964
Series
Armchair Theatre
1956
Film
Never Let Me Go
Commissar
1953
Film
The Cockleshell Heroes
Assistant Gestapo Officer
1955
Film
Three Fathers for Anna
Matschek
1939
Film
Conspirator
Radek
1949
Film
Alles Schwindel
Clubdiener
1940
Film
Pozdní láska
1935
Film
War es der im 3. Stock?
Georg Kilby
1939
Film
Secret Mission
Major Lang
1942
Film
The Games
Kubitsek
1970
Film
The File of the Golden Goose
Mueller
1969
Film
Before Winter Comes
Count Kerassy
1969
Film
Give Us This Day
Jaroslav
1949
Film
The Captive Heart
Forster
1946
Film
Man of the Moment
Lom
1955
Film
The Traitor
Friederich Suderman
1957
Film
Cairo Road
Edouardo Pavlis
1950
Film
A Prize of Gold
Dr. Zachmann
1955
Film
The Frozen Dead
General Lubeck
1966
Film
Tomorrow We Live
Seitz
1943
Film
Broken Journey
Swiss Officer (uncredited)
1948
Film
Operation Amsterdam
Diamond Merchant
1959
Film
Counterblast
Professor Inman
1948
Film
Another Experience
Rechtsanwalt
1939
Film
Walk East on Beacon
Alexi Laschenkov / Gregory Anders
1952
Film
They Met in the Dark
Riccardo
1943
Film
Murderers Club of Brooklyn
Dyers
1967
Film
Hotel Sacher
Franz
1939
Film
Secret Venture
Zelinsky
1955
Film
Stronger Than Paragraphs
Robert Wendland
1936
Film
Licensed to Kill
Henrik Jacobsen
1965
Film
Waltz War
Kellner Leopold
1933
Film
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway
2003
Film
Sperrbezirk
Inspector Wagner
1966
Film
Escape to Danger
Franz von Brinkman
1943
Film
Dangerous Cargo
Pliny
1954
Film
Rough Shoot
Diss
1953
Film
Narren im Schnee
Rolf Pinkenkötter
1938
Film
Golden Arrow
Schroeder
1949
Film
Spione im Savoy-Hotel
Jackson
1932
Film
The Unknown
Manager at Regina's
1936
Film
Tale of Three Women
Alfred Dykemann (segment "Final Twist' story)
1954
Film
Berlin-Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf
1931
Klatovští dragouni
1938
Hermine and the Seven Upright Men
Ruckstuhl
1935
Film
A Song for You
Theo Bruckner
1933
Film
Der Außenseiter
Otto Burian
1935
Film
Five from the Jazzband
Jean
1932
Film
The Leghorn Hat
Felix, Diener bei Farina
1939
Film
The Third Visitor
Richard Carling
1951
Film
West of Suez
Langford
1957
Film
The Man in the Road
Dmitri Balinkev
1956
Film
Here's Berlin
Max
1932
Aufstand der Gehorsamen
Jawor Stranski
1963
Film
The Grey Pikes Wharf
Ladewig
1935
Film
Our Film
Soviet Visitor
1942