Biography

Tall, portly built German born actor (and talented violinist) who notched up over 100 film appearances, predominantly in German-language productions. He will forever be remembered by Western audiences as the bombastic megalomaniac "Auric Goldfinger" trying to kill Sean Connery and irradiate the vast US gold reserves within Fort Knox in the spectacular "James Bond" film Goldfinger (1964). However, due to Fröbe's thick German accent, his voice was actually dubbed by English actor, Michael Collins.

While commonly perceived as cold hearted & humourless from his Goldfinger (1964) portrayal, quite to the contrary, Fröbe was a jovial man and a wonderful comedic performer. His light hearted talents can be best viewed in The Ballad of Berlin (1948), Der Tag vor der Hochzeit (1952), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (1965). Fröbe also portrayed dogged detective Kriminalkommissar Kras/Lohmann pursuing the evil Dr. Mabuse in The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960), The Return of Dr. Mabuse (1961) and The Terror of Doctor Mabuse (1962).

- IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44@hotmail.com

Fröbe grew up with his parents in his hometown and attended school there. His father, Karl-Otto Fröbe, earned his living as a master rope maker, leather dealer and shoemaker; his mother, Alma, was a housewife. After graduating from high school, he trained as a stage painter at the Dresden State Theater. Inspired by acting, Fröbe became a student of Erich Ponto in 1935. Fröbe then moved to Wuppertal in 1937 and received his first engagement at the local theater. At the beginning of his stage career, he initially achieved success in humorous and cabaret pieces. In 1939 he was hired permanently at the Frankfurt Opera House and Playhouse. From 1940 to 1944, Fröbe was seen at the Vienna Volkstheater as a member of the NSDAP. After the end of the war he resumed his work and in 1946 got a job at the Munich Kammerspiele. The young Gert Fröbe was particularly celebrated for his pantomime performances.

In 1947 he appeared together with Karl Valentin in Munich's "Simpl". Fröbe could be seen there as a juggler, mime and reciter. He achieved his first acceptance as an actor in 1948 in the R. A. Stemmle play "Berliner Balladen". In 1950 he impressed as a star guest in Günter Neumann's program "Schwarzer Markt" in the Frankfurt Comedy House. Fröbe then went on tour in Germany with parts from this program. In the Orson Welles film adaptation "Mr. Satan Personally" Fröbe played the detective "Eduard Linkers" in 1954 and "The Heroes Are Tired" followed in 1955. The film "The Pauker" was released in 1958 with great success alongside Heinz Rühmann, in which he once again underlined his talent. Shortly afterwards, the film adaptation of the tragic story of Rosemarie Nitribitt in "The Girl Rosemarie" followed. In 1957 he played in Jules Dassin's "The Man Who Must Die" and alongside Horst Buchholz and Romy Schneider in "Robinson Shall Not Die".

He was awarded the Ernst Lubitsch Prize in 1961 for his acting performance in "The Crook and the Good Lord". His wrinkled face made Gert Fröbe an outspoken, dramatic personality who captivated with his fascinating facial expressions. This was also the case in the breathtaking thriller "It Happened in Broad Daylight" in 1958, in which Gert Fröbe gave an impressive sample of his diverse acting repertoire as a child murderer alongside Heinz Rühmann. In 1960 Fröbe appeared as Inspector Kras in Fritz Lang's Mabuse remake "The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse". Wolfgang Staudte's Brecht film adaptation of the "Threepenny Opera" from 1962 with Curd Jürgens was one of Fröbe's best acting achievements. Gert Fröbe also earned international recognition in 1964 in one of his star roles as Sean Connery's opponent in the "James Bond 007" production "Goldfinger". The amusing aviation comedy "The Daring Men in Their Flying Boxes" was also released in 1964.

In 1968, Fröbe portrayed the child-hating villain "Baron Bomburst" in "Tschitti Tschitti Bäng Bäng". This was followed in 1976 by "The Snake Egg" directed by Ingmar Bergman, in 1981 by "The Falcon" and in 1982, one of his last works, "The Gardener". In addition, Gert Fröbe was seen at various appearances as a reciter by literary personalities such as Joachim Ringelnatz, Christian Morgenstern and Erich Kästner.

From 1974 to 1979 he appeared regularly at the Munich Laughing and Shooting Society under the motto "Free by Chance". In 1974, Fröbe shone with his corpulent physique and his often dry, sometimes slightly blunt or harsh manner with a Saxon accent in "The Robber Hotzenplotz". He was in front of the camera for the last time in 1986 for "Old Sins Don't Rust" (1985) and the TV series "The Little Vampire".

He received numerous honors and awards for his acting achievements. These included the German Film Critics' Prize in 1959, the Ernst Lubitsch Prize in 1961, the Prize at the Festival Internacional de Cine de Donostia-San Sebastián (Best Actor) in 1961, the Bambi in 1966 and 1967, and the Grand Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1973 , the Karl Valentin Order in 1976, the Gold Film Ribbon in 1978, the Bavarian Order of Merit in 1982 and the Golden Camera in 1983.

Gert Fröbe died on September 5, 1988 at the age of 75 in Munich.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth