Film actor, born in Sopot, N Poland. In the 1930s his family moved to Germany, where he joined the army in 1942. Soon captured, he spent the rest of the War in a British concentration camp, where he first went on stage. He later played many minor parts in films such as spaghetti Westerns (including Clint Eastwood's For a Few Dollars More), then became known for his leading roles in the films of Werner Herzog, such as Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) and Fitzcarraldo (1982). He was also acclaimed for his role in Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979), a remake of the Dracula story.