Karl Stepanek
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- October 27, 1899
- Died
- December 25, 1980
- Birthplace
- Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]
Though born in Czechoslovakia, actor Karel Stepanek was generally regarded as a German actor due to his extensive film work in Germany (as Karl Stepanek) in the years before World War II. Stepanek fled to England in 1940, where, like many European refugee actors, he specialized in portraying Teutonic villains. He tried to stay away from out-and-out Nazi roles, but his predilection for wearing black uniforms and barking out guttural commands left little doubt as to the political preferences of Stepanek's screen characters. One of his most typical characterizations could be found in the 1946 POW drama, The Captive Heart; Stepanek also registered well as a friendlier foreigner in The Fallen Idol (1949). Commuting between London and Hollywood, Karel Stepanek continued to fight World War II, usually on the wrong side, into such '60s films as Sink the Bismarck! (1960), I Aim at the Stars (1960) and Operation Crossbow (1965).
Filmography
The Heroes of Telemark: Location report from Norway 2003
Actor
The Games 1970
as Kubitsek
The File of the Golden Goose 1969
as Mueller
Before Winter Comes 1969
as Count Kerassy
Murderers Club of Brooklyn 1967
as Dyers
The Frozen Dead 1966
as General Lubeck
Sperrbezirk 1966
as Inspector Wagner
The Heroes of Telemark 1965
as Hartmuller
Licensed to Kill 1965
as Henrik Jacobsen
Operation Crossbow 1965
as Prof. Hoffer
Devil Doll 1964
as Dr. Heller
- Aufstand der Gehorsamen
Aufstand der Gehorsamen 1963
as Jawor Stranski
Brainwashed 1960
as Baranow
I Aim at the Stars 1960
as Capt. Dornberger
Sink the Bismarck! 1960
as Admiral Lutjens - 'Bismarck'
Our Man in Havana 1960
as Dr. Braun
Operation Amsterdam 1959
as Diamond Merchant
The Traitor 1957
as Friederich Suderman
West of Suez 1957
as Langford
Anastasia 1956
as Mikhail Vlados
The Man in the Road 1956
as Dmitri Balinkev
Man of the Moment 1955
as Lom
The Cockleshell Heroes 1955
as Assistant Gestapo Officer
Secret Venture 1955
as Zelinsky
A Prize of Gold 1955
as Dr. Zachmann
Dangerous Cargo 1954
as Pliny
Tale of Three Women 1954
as Alfred Dykemann (segment "Final Twist' story)
City Beneath the Sea 1953
as Dwight Trevor
Rough Shoot 1953
as Diss
Never Let Me Go 1953
as Commissar
Affair in Trinidad 1952
as Walters
Walk East on Beacon 1952
as Alexi Laschenkov / Gregory Anders
No Highway in the Sky 1951
Actor
The Third Visitor 1951
as Richard Carling
State Secret 1950
as Dr. Revo
Cairo Road 1950
as Edouardo Pavlis
Golden Arrow 1949
as Schroeder
Give Us This Day 1949
as Jaroslav
The Third Man 1949
as Actor at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
Conspirator 1949
as Radek
The Fallen Idol 1948
as First Secretary
Counterblast 1948
as Professor Inman
Broken Journey 1948
as Swiss Officer (uncredited)
The Captive Heart 1946
as Forster
Escape to Danger 1943
as Franz von Brinkman
They Met in the Dark 1943
as Riccardo
Tomorrow We Live 1943
as Seitz
Secret Mission 1942
as Major Lang
Our Film 1942
as Soviet Visitor
Alles Schwindel 1940
as Clubdiener
Three Fathers for Anna 1939
as Matschek
The Leghorn Hat 1939
as Felix, Diener bei Farina
Hotel Sacher 1939
as Franz
Another Experience 1939
as Rechtsanwalt
War es der im 3. Stock? 1939
as Georg Kilby
Narren im Schnee 1938
as Rolf Pinkenkötter
- Klatovští dragouni
Klatovští dragouni 1938
Actor
The Bat 1937
as Attaché Baranoff / Orlovsky
The Unknown 1936
as Manager at Regina's
Stronger Than Paragraphs 1936
as Robert Wendland
Der Außenseiter 1935
as Otto Burian
The Grey Pikes Wharf 1935
as Ladewig
Pozdní láska 1935
Actor
Na růžích ustláno 1935
Actor
- Hermine and the Seven Upright Men
Hermine and the Seven Upright Men 1935
as Ruckstuhl
Waltz War 1933
as Kellner Leopold
A Song for You 1933
as Theo Bruckner
Spione im Savoy-Hotel 1932
as Jackson
Five from the Jazzband 1932
as Jean
Here's Berlin 1932
as Max
Berlin-Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf 1931
Actor
Credits from TMDB.