Actors who fought during wartime

[Richard Anderson]

Hans Cristian Blech

In 1941 Blech was drafted into the Wehrmacht and served as a soldier in the German-Soviet War. The distinctive scars on his face are not, as is often read, from the Second World War, but from a car accident on Darmstadt's Luisenplatz, in which Blech was involved as a 14-year-old.

The German "soldier" per se, in very many movies...

Reminds me of a Marine Corps drill sergeant I once knew...and, oddly enough, I remember the Luisenplatz and "Lange Ludwig" in Darmstadt very well. Fascinating to know he was in a prewar car accident there.

[Hans1906]

Richard,

I think, only someone like Herr Blech, who himself had gone through such a "school", only such a person could shine in this role.

This can certainly be compared with the many years later role of Mr. R. Lee Ermey (Vietnam Veteran) in "Full Metal Jacket".
You don't just "play" such a role, you have experienced comparable things yourself. That's what makes the authenticity of a few films.

But that's just as a personal thought on the subject, that's all it is.


Hans

[kaka martin]

I read and remember some of the names, Benny Hill, John William Goffage, Peter Ustinov.

[LineDoggie]

Lee Marvin is lauded for his experience and it is four days of combat before being wounded. Obviously he saw plenty in those days.

USMC suffered 13,000 casualties at Saipan

[kaka martin]

yes true.
lawnscanner

[Hans1906]

The german actor Herr Wolfgang Preiss.

From April 1941 he was deployed to an anti-aircraft unit, which did not mean that his evening stage performances were interrupted. In 1942 he made his debut as a film actor in the UFA production Die Große Liebe alongside Zarah Leander, who was released by the Wehrmacht for this purpose...

Source and link: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Preiss

WOLFGANG PREISS TRIBUTE


Der sanfte Nobelmann: Wolfgang Preiss (1910-2002) / The gentle nobleman: Wolfgang Preiss (1910-2002)
Link: http://www.bad-bad.de/gesch/w_preiss.htm

You all remember his face, for sure.
Preiss was "The German Soldier", with whom we grew up in German and international post-war cinema, neat, staunch German, he probably never embodied war criminals and Nazis.


Hans

[Loïc]

I see that Lino Ventura (1919-1987) has been mentioned several times in the forum for war movies but not yet in this thread
french-wikipedia doesn't tell a lot about this period of his life, with chronogical inaccuracies, and italian-wikipedia even less : nothing at all

Italian of Paris, mobilized, he had to return to Italy to serve in the 24°Reggimento Fanteria 14 months in 1942-1943
he was in Gorizia in april 1942 and he went as far as Montenegro
he deserted for his French wife Odette in may 1943 and lived under a false-identity in a village in France, the gestapo having asked explanations to his wife


Lino Ventura in the Free Naval French Forces and LRDG in a Taxi for Tobruk (1961)
Italian infantryman in Yugoslavia and deserter hidden in France in his real life 20 years earlier

[Hans1906]

Hi Loïc,

thanks for your information about Lino Ventura, very interesting...

During World War II he was drafted into the Italian army, deserted in 1943 and hid in a barn in Baracé until the end of the German occupation.

Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lino_Ventura

A great actor that I have always respected and still respect, many of his films are unforgotten classics, just great!

RIP Lino


Hans