Preiss, maybe best known to American audiences for playing German military brass in everything from THE PLOT TO ASSASSINATE HITLER to THE TRAIN to A BRIDGE TOO FAR, was born on Feb. 27th, 1910 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. He died on Nov. 27th 2002 at age 92.
In his homeland, Preiss will always be known as
the diabolical Dr. Mabuse
It seemed like Preiss was never out of uniform on the big and little screen, be it in THE LONGEST DAY, THE RAT PATROL or ANZIO.
That may have been so in his American and International film appearances, but in his home country he was given the chance to play a wide range of roles on film, as well as stage and TV.
In Germany he is best known for playing the hypnotic, evil criminal genuis and master of disguise Dr. Mabuse in 4 popular 1960's crime thrillers: THE THOUSAND EYES OF DR. MABUSE (the last film directed by Fritz Lang), THE RETURN OF DR. MABUSE, THE INVISIBLE DR. MABUSE, and THE TERROR (TESTAMENT) OF DR. MABUSE. The next film in the series was DR. MASUBE VS. SCOTLAND YARD, in which Walter Rilla took over the role of Mabuse, but Wolfgang made an appearance as the Ghost of Dr. Mabuse.
Preiss is almost unrecognizable as the appearance-changing mastermind Mabuse
Preiss was honored with 2 German Film Awards aka Federal Film Awards. One was an Honorary one in 1987 and the other was for the movie role that gained him international attention--Oberst Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (having also been played by Tom Cruise, Brad Davis, Edward Franz & more), the leader of THE PLOT TO ASSASSINATE HITLER aka DER 20 JULI. Preiss snagged the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Award for that 1955 part.
The role of the proud and conflicted Nazi officer led to Preiss being typecast
in a slew of WWII films. He could also play the more suspicious and savage German officer as well.
My favorite Preiss ''officers (and sometime gentlemen)'' include:
The hardened, impatient but realistic Maj. Harren in John Frankenheimer's
THE TRAIN with Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield
The hardened, impatient but realistic Maj. Harren in John Frankenheimer's
THE TRAIN with Burt Lancaster and Paul Scofield
Major Von Klemment, cocky Nazi overseer of the prisoner train in 1965's
VON RYAN'S EXPRESS, directed by Mark Robson & starring Frank Sinatra
Raffaelia Carra and Preiss become VON RYAN'S prisoners
Real-life German Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt in the 1977 all-star cast
version of Cornelius Ryan's A BRIDGE TOO FAR, directed by Richard Attenborough
The two-faced, treacherous Col. von Haller in HANNIBAL BROOKS
with Oliver Reed
The Desert Fox--Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
in 1971's RAID ON ROMMEL with Richard Burton
Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch in the epic Herman Wouk miniseries duo THE WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE with Jeremy Kemp and Alexander Kerst
Major Gen. Max Pemsel, Chief of Staff of Germany's 7th Army on D-Day,
in the 1962 WWII classic THE LONGEST DAY
Field Marshall ''Smiling'' Albert Kesserling in 1968's ANZIO
Capt. Ebernach in Rene Clement's IS PARIS BURNING?, an epic re-telling of the liberation of The City of Light during WWII
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Col. Nordoff in THE COUNTERFEIT TRAITOR with William Holden
Gen. Von Helmreich in THE RAT PATROL episode
The Wildest Raid of All with Christopher George & Co.
My other favorite Preiss roles include:
Staatsanwalt Soldan in THE GIRL AND THE PROSECUTOR with Elke Sommer, Sheik Abengalbon in 100 HORSEMAN, the Police Inspector in THE FIFTH CORD, Father Albertus in THE SECOND VICTORY, Lofquist,former S.S. officer now Inspector of Sweden's Power Co. who falls dam hard in THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and Felix Zauner in THE SALZBURG CONNECTION
THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL
Wolfgang on the set of 100 HORSEMAN
With Franco Nero in THE FIFTH CORD
With Elke Sommer in THE GIRL AND THE PROSECUTOR
His other film and TV credits include CANARIS: MASTER SPY, the title role in PONTIUS PILATE, STALINGRAD: DOGS, DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER, BATTLE OF THE COMMANDOS aka LEGION OF THE DAMNED, BEFORE SUNDOWN, PRISONER OF THE VOLGA, THE BLACK COBRA, MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN, DIE DUBARRY, THE CARDINAL, THE CREW OF THE DORA, BACKFIRE, THE CORNET, LIKE ONCE LILI MARLEEN, BLOODLINE, THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY, THE MASTER TOUCH (with his voiced dubbed by Les SHAZAM! Tremayne!), THE BIG DELIRIUM, FANTASMA D'AMORE, DR. M, TATORT, AIRE LIBRE, THE FORMULA, ALBERT SCHWEITZER (as Schweitzer at age 90)), FORGET MOZART (as Baron van Swieten), WALLENSTEIN, ROSES FOR THE PROSECUTOR, DIE SCHRAIERS, SOKO 5113, THE STANDARD, LA CLOCHE TIBETAINE, DER KOMMISSAR, the title role in SIR HENRI DETERDING, PAUL TEMPLE, SCHATZSUCHER UNSERER TAGE, TAMARA, DEATH ON A RAINY DAY, JACK OF DIAMONDS, DIE SLOWLY YOU'LL ENJOY IT MORE, DEAD RUN, FAMILIE MACK VERANDERT SICH, the title role in GENERAL OSTER--VERRATER ODER PATRIOT?, TO SKIN A SPY, SAMBA, CODE NAME: JAGUAR, MARIE OCTOBRE, NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRES, LAFAYETTE, DOCTOR WITHOUT SCRUPLES, GORILLA'S WALTZ, STRESEMANN, I WAS ALL HIS, IKE: THE WAR YEARS (as Field Marshal Alfred Jodi), several MRS. HARRIS films and many more.
With O. E. Hasse in CANARIS
With George C. Scott in THE FORMULA
With Ewald Balser in DOCTOR WITHOUT SCRUPLES
Did you know...?
He studied acting with Hans Schlenk and made his stage debut in 1932.
Preiss dubbed many English films into German, providing the voice for such actors as Anthony Quinn, Richard Widmark, Conrad Veidt, Claude Rains, Christopher Lee and Lex Barker.
Preiss at work:
Scene from THE TRAIN
Clips from ANZIO
THE THOUSAND EYES OF DR. MABUSE
THE TERROR OF DR. MABUSE
Spoiler Alert! Preiss falls for Walter Gotell in THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL
THE RAT PATROL episode The Wildest Ride of All
THE MASTER TOUCH
The voice of Les THE WAR OF THE WORLDS Tremayne
coming out of Wolfgan's mouth is quite distracting
THE LONGEST DAY clips
WAR AND REMEMBERANCE scene
RAID ON ROMMEL scene
THE FIFTH CORD Rated R!
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