John Wengraf
Emigrating to England in 1933 as the Nazis began their rise to power, Wengraf appeared unbilled in a couple of films there, as well as in some of the first BBC live-television shows ever presented but his career began to languish. In late 1941, however, he had the good fortune of appearing on Broadway with Helen Hayes in "Candle in the Wind" and decided to stay. The following year he headed west and settled permanently in the Los Angeles area. A dark, cold-eyed, thin-lipped player with a precise, meticulous air about him, he found himself invariably playing the very characters he detested. Some of his more nefarious nasties surfaced in such films as the Humphrey Bogart classic Sahara (1943/I), as well as The Boy from Stalingrad (1943), U-Boat Prisoner (1944) and Till We Meet Again (1944). In postwar years, he was often spotted portraying ethnic professionals (scientists, doctors, professors, foreign royalty). Some of the more quality pictures he enhanced were Tomorrow Is Forever (1946); Count Von Papen in 5 Fingers (1952); and Ronchin in the Ethel Merman musical Call Me Madam (1953). Although Wengraf never made it to the very top of the Hollywood character ranks, he remained a throughly strong and reliable player. In the 1950s and 1960s he transferred his talents to TV, appearing on a number of dramatic showcases and on such popular programs as "The Untouchables" (1959), "Hawaiian Eye" (1959), "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964) and "The Time Tunnel" (1966). His last few films included minor roles in the war-themed Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Hitler (1962) and Ship of Fools (1965). He retired in 1966, and died in Santa Barbara, California, at age 77, on May 4, 1974.
Known for
Matinee Theater
Four Star Playhouse
Denoir
The Time Tunnel
Dr. Hans Kleinemann
77 Sunset Strip
Bat Masterson
Colonel Anders Dorn
The Razor's Edge
Joseph - Gray & Isabel's Butler
Hawaiian Eye
Hell and High Water
Col. Schuman (uncredited)
One Step Beyond
Ernest
One Step Beyond
Felix Borgner
Sailors Three
German Captain
The Return of Dracula
John Merriman
The Detectives
The Millionaire
Count Victor Turec
Telephone Time
The Boy from Stalingrad
German Major
The Gambler from Natchez
Nicholas Cadiz
The Third Man
Behind Closed Doors
Von Elm
Bourbon Street Beat
The Rogues
Drozhin
Cavalcade of America
German Colonel
Cavalcade of America
Von Schwarz
Cavalcade of America
Tomorrow Is Forever
Dr. Ludwig
The Walter Winchell File
Lux Video Theatre
Landau
Lux Video Theatre
Max von Mayerling
The Lovable Cheat
Pierquin
Judgment at Nuremberg
Karl Wieck
Ship of Fools
Graf
The Desert Rats
German Doctor (uncredited)
Sahara
Maj. von Falken
The Seventh Cross
Overkamp
Panic!
Never Say Goodbye
Prof. Zimmelman
Jericho
Lucky Jordan
Herr Kesselman
Dangerous Assignment
Tropic Zone
Lukats
Paris Playboys
Vidal
Gog
Dr. Zeitman
The Disembodied
Dr. Carl Metz
Hitler
Dr. Morell
5 Fingers
Count Franz Von Papen
Valerie
Mr. Louis Horvat
General Electric Theater
Wake of the Red Witch
Prosecuting Attorney
Sofia
Peter Goltzen
The Prize
Hans Eckhart
Dangerous Comment
German Radio Operator
The Pride and the Passion
Sermaine
Convoy
Commander Deutschland
T-Men
'Shiv' Triano
The French Line
Commodore Renard
Night Train to Munich
KL Physician (uncredited)
Mission to Moscow
Polish Ambassador Grzybowski (uncredited)
Oh, Men! Oh, Women!
Dr. Krauss
The Racers
Dr. Tabor
Portrait in Black
Dr. Kessler
U-Boat Prisoner
Gunther Rudehoff, Gestapo Agent
Week-End at the Waldorf
Alex
Strange Affair
Rudolph Kruger
Till We Meet Again
Gestapo Chief
Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten
Paul Rainer
12 to the Moon
Dr. Erich Heinrich
All Hands
German
The Moon in the Yellow River
Tausch
Sealed Verdict
German Doctor