John Wengraf
Acting • Born 1897-04-22 – Died 1974-05-04
Biography
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.
Filmography
69 credits
Judgment at Nuremberg
Movie • 1961
Karl Wieck
The Prize
Movie • 1963
Hans Eckhart
Ship of Fools
Movie • 1965
Graf
The Pride and the Passion
Movie • 1957
Sermaine
12 to the Moon
Movie • 1960
Dr. Erich Heinrich
Gog
Movie • 1954
Dr. Zeitman
Portrait in Black
Movie • 1960
Dr. Kessler
The French Line
Movie • 1954
Commodore Renard
The Return of Dracula
Movie • 1958
John Merriman
The Lovable Cheat
Movie • 1949
Pierquin
Valerie
Movie • 1957
Mr. Louis Horvat
The Razor's Edge
Movie • 1946
Joseph - Gray & Isabel's Butler
The Boy from Stalingrad
Movie • 1943
German Major
Week-End at the Waldorf
Movie • 1945
Alex
The Moon in the Yellow River
Movie • 1938
Tausch
5 Fingers
Movie • 1952
Count Franz Von Papen
Hitler
Movie • 1962
Dr. Morell
Oh, Men! Oh, Women!
Movie • 1957
Dr. Krauss
Paris Playboys
Movie • 1954
Vidal
Lucky Jordan
Movie • 1942
Herr Kesselman
Tropic Zone
Movie • 1953
Lukats
The Disembodied
Movie • 1957
Dr. Carl Metz
Never Say Goodbye
Movie • 1956
Prof. Zimmelman
The Desert Rats
Movie • 1953
German Doctor (uncredited)
Tomorrow Is Forever
Movie • 1946
Dr. Ludwig
Convoy
Movie • 1940
Commander Deutschland
U-Boat Prisoner
Movie • 1944
Gunther Rudehoff, Gestapo Agent
Sahara
Movie • 1943
Maj. von Falken
Strange Affair
Movie • 1944
Rudolph Kruger
Wake of the Red Witch
Movie • 1948
Prosecuting Attorney
The Gambler from Natchez
Movie • 1954
Nicholas Cadiz
T-Men
Movie • 1947
'Shiv' Triano
Sofia
Movie • 1948
Peter Goltzen
The Racers
Movie • 1955
Dr. Tabor
Sealed Verdict
Movie • 1948
German Doctor
Sailors Three
Movie • 1940
German Captain
Mission to Moscow
Movie • 1943
Polish Ambassador Grzybowski (uncredited)
Dangerous Comment
Movie • 1940
German Radio Operator
All Hands
Movie • 1940
German
Night Train to Munich
Movie • 1940
KL Physician (uncredited)
The Seventh Cross
Movie • 1944
Overkamp
Hell and High Water
Movie • 1954
Col. Schuman (uncredited)
Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten
Movie • 1935
Paul Rainer
Till We Meet Again
Movie • 1944
Gestapo Chief
The Time Tunnel
TV • 1966
Dr. Hans Kleinemann
77 Sunset Strip
TV • 1958
Bourbon Street Beat
TV • 1959
The Rogues
TV • 1964
Drozhin
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Hawaiian Eye
TV • 1959
The Millionaire
TV • 1955
Count Victor Turec
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Landau
One Step Beyond
TV • 1959
Ernest
Matinee Theater
TV • 1955
Bat Masterson
TV • 1958
Colonel Anders Dorn
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
German Colonel
Telephone Time
TV • 1956
The Walter Winchell File
TV • 1957
Dangerous Assignment
TV • 1952
Panic!
TV • 1957
Jericho
TV • 1966
The Third Man
TV • 1959
Behind Closed Doors
TV • 1958
Von Elm
One Step Beyond
TV • 1959
Felix Borgner
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Von Schwarz
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Max von Mayerling
Four Star Playhouse
TV • 1952
Denoir
The Detectives
TV • 1959
Varchek