Hardy Kruger


Actor
Hardy Kruger

About

Also Known As
Eberhard Kruger
Birth Place
Berlin, DE
Born
April 12, 1928

Biography

Rugged, blond and blue-eyed, Hardy Kruger ideally reflected the archetypal German revered in the Third Reich and frequently portrayed German soldiers over the course of his long international acting career. As a teenager in Berlin in 1944, Kruger appeared in the film "Young Eagles" at the age of 15 before being drafted into military service the following year. In 1949, Kruger returned to...

Biography

Rugged, blond and blue-eyed, Hardy Kruger ideally reflected the archetypal German revered in the Third Reich and frequently portrayed German soldiers over the course of his long international acting career. As a teenager in Berlin in 1944, Kruger appeared in the film "Young Eagles" at the age of 15 before being drafted into military service the following year. In 1949, Kruger returned to film and worked steadily in West Germany in a variety of films including the 1952 drama "Illusion in Moll," with Hildegard Knef, and in the 1953 Otto Preminger comedy, "Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach." Proficiency in English and French made Kruger extremely marketable and in 1957 he broke out onto the world stage in the first of three notable British productions, "The One That Got Away," as an arrogant German flight officer shot down over England. After the equally successful romantic comedy "Bachelor of Hearts" in 1958, Kruger's popularity spread to America with his co-starring role with John Wayne in "Hatari!," directed by Howard Hawks. Kruger then appeared in the French dark romance "Sundays and Cybele" and "Le Gros Coup" in 1964, before returning to Hollywood in 1965 with "The Flight of the Phoenix," co-starring alongside Jimmy Stewart in 1965. Kruger worked in Germany, France and the U.S. throughout the 1960s and 1970s, appearing in "Barry Lyndon" in 1975 and the American 1989 television series "War and Remebrance." At the age of 82, Kruger appeared in the 2011 German television series "Libe, Shuld und Tod."

Life Events

Videos

Movie Clip

Flight Of The Phoenix, The (1965) -- (Movie Clip) Eat The Monkey Brit officer Harris (Peter Finch) organizes, pilot Towns (James Stewart) his ally, accountant Dan Duryea frets, Ernest Borgnine surrenders his radio, Hardy Kruger interferes, Richard Attenborough, Christian Marquand, George Kennedy, Ian Bannen in the mix, in The Flight Of The Phoenix, 1965.
Barry Lyndon (1975) -- (Movie Clip) First Love Director Stanley Kubrick’s initial exercise in natural, period (non-electrical) lighting in an interior scene, and also the first appearance of star Ryan O’Neal, Gay Hamilton his alluring cousin, Michael Hordern’s caustic narration from the William Makepeace Thackeray novel, early in Barry Lyndon, 1975.
Barry Lyndon (1975) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Not Sorry Deliberate staging by director Stanley Kubrick, spineless British Captain Quin (Leonard Rossiter) in his duel with the headstrong Irish hero (Ryan O’Neal), who won’t be dissuaded by friendly officer Grogan (Godfrey Quigley), Academy Award-winning Cinematography by John Alcott, in Barry Lyndon, 1975.
Barry Lyndon (1975) -- (Movie Clip) Married To Brown Bess The title character (Ryan O’Neal) has hidden himself within the British army, in the belief that he’s wanted for killing an officer in a duel, his ally Grogan (Godfrey Quigley), arriving to explain what really happened back home in Ireland, director Stanley Kubrick using only candlelight, in Barry Lyndon, 1975.
Defector, The (1966) -- (Movie Ciip) You Will Tell Me American scientist Bower (Montgomery Clift), recruited for a CIA mission, in Leipzig, in his first meeting with his canny East German antagonist Heinzmann (Hardy Kruger), denying plans to meet a defecting Russian scientist, in The Defector, 1966.
One That Got Away, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) One Must Have Luck Now moved to a P-O-W camp per his wishes, Lieutenant Von Werra (Hardy Kruger) conspires with fellow German prisoners (Harry Lockart, Robert Crewdspon, George Mikell, George Roubicek), in The One That Got Away, 1958.
One That Got Away, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) Our Will To Victory The British army interrogator (Colin Gordon) chooses a uniform for his initial interview of captured German flier Franz Von Werra (Hardy Kruger), early in The One That Got Away, 1958.
One That Got Away, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) September 5th, 1940 Following the prologue, Hardy Kruger (as Lieutenant Franz Von Werra) crash lands in England, opening The One That Got Away, 1958, the mostly true story of the only German prisoner to escape from the British in World War II.

Family

Christiane Kruger
Daughter
Actor.

Bibliography