Thursday, May 29, 2014

Karlheinz Böhm obit

Actor, Philanthropist Karlheinz Bohm Dead at 86

The actor played Austrian kaiser Franz Joseph alongside Romy Schneider in the "Sissi" films of the 1950s and was the creepy serial killer in Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom."

 

He was not on the list.


Acclaimed actor Karlheinz Bohm, who rocketed to international stardom as Kaiser Franz Joseph in the Sissi films of the 1950s and had a second career as the founder of the charity group Humans for Humans, has died. He was 86.

The only child of conductor Karl Bohm and the soprano Thea Linhard, Bohm was perhaps destined for a life on the stage. But instead of music, he pursued acting, first in the theater and later in some 45 films and numerous television productions.

Bohm’s international breakthrough came playing opposite Romy Schneider as Austrian kaiser Franz Joseph in the historic melodrama Sissi (1955). The film was a global hit and spawned two sequels. Their success led to international offers, including the leading role in Michael Powell‘s serial killer classic Peeping Tom (1960), where he plays the creepy, cinematic voyeur Mark Lewis.

In the U.S., Bohm appeared as Jakob Grimm in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) for MGM and as Ludwig van Beethoven in The Magnificent Rebel, part of a Walt Disney television anthology, which was released theatrically in Europe.

In the 1970s, Bohm worked extensively with groundbreaking New German cinema director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, appearing in four of his films between 1974 and 1975, including Effi Briest. He later said it was Fassbinder who opened his eyes to politics and turned him into an activist on global issues.

Activism overtook acting in Bohm’s life after he lost a bet on German TV show Wanna Bet? and agreed to found the charity Humans for Humans (Menchen fur Menchen), which raises money to help people in Ethiopia. He received numerous honors for his charitable work, including the Balzan Prize in 2007 and the Essel Social Prize in 2011 as well as, in 2003, honorary Ethiopian citizenship. In 1991, he married Almaz Teshome, a native of Ethiopia, with whom he has two children. Last December, she gave up her position as CEO of Humans for Humans in order to care for her ailing husband.

Bohm is also survived by five children from his previous marriages.

Filmography

Grave of Karlheinz Böhm in Salzburg

    The Angel with the Trumpet (1948) as Franz Alt jr.

    Höllische Liebe (1949) as Blumenbote

    The Day Before the Wedding (1952) as Walter

    House of Life (1952) as Pit Harlacher

    Alraune (1952) as Frank Braun

    The Exchange (1952) as Lorenz Holler

    Salto Mortale' (1953) as Manfred

    Arlette Conquers Paris (1953) as Gérard Laurent

    The Immortal Vagabond (1953) as Johannes Ritter/Petroni

    Hochzeit auf Reisen (1953) as Dr. Walter Delius

    The Sun of St. Moritz (1954) as Dr. Robert Frank

    Sacred Lie (1954) as Peter Weiland

    Love is Forever (1954) as Georg

    The Witch (1954) as Graf Ulrich Ziszek-Wald

    The Golden Plague (1954) as Karl Hellmer

    I Was an Ugly Girl (1955) as Thomas von Bley

    Operation Sleeping Bag (1955) as Kanonier Gravenhorst

    Sommarflickan (1955) as Klaus Richter

    Sissi (1955) as Kaiser Franz Joseph

    Dunja (1955) as Mitja

    The Marriage of Doctor Danwitz (1956) as Dr. med. Danwitz

    Kitty and the Great Big World (1956) as Robert Ashlin

    Nina (1956) as Frank Wilson

    Sissi – The Young Empress (1956) as Kaiser Franz Josef

    Blaue Jungs (1957) as Alfred Hanstein

    Das Schloß in Tirol [de] (1957) as Thomas Stegmann

    Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress (1957 as Emperor Franz Josef of Austria

    The Stowaway (1958) as Jean

    Man müßte nochmal zwanzig sein (1958) as Dr. Paul Degenhard

    That Won't Keep a Sailor Down (1958) as Peter Hille

    The House of Three Girls (1958) as Franz Schubert

    Court Martial (1959) as Oberleutnant Düren

    La Paloma (1959) as Robert Dahlberg

    Peeping Tom (1960) as Mark Lewis

    Too Hot to Handle (1960) as Robert Jouvel

    Der Gauner und der liebe Gott [de] (1960) as Pater Steiner

    The Magnificent Rebel [de] (1961) as Ludwig van Beethoven

    Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962) as Heinrich von Hartrott

    Cross of the Living (1962) as Gus

    The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) as Jacob Grimm

    Come Fly with Me (1963) as Baron Franz Von Elzinge

    Rififi in Tokyo (1963) as Carl Mersen

    L'Heure de la vérité (1965) as Jonathan

    The Venetian Affair (1966) as Robert Wahl

    An Ideal Husband (1966, TV film) as Lord Goring

    Traumnovelle (1969, TV film), as Fridolin

    Verdacht gegen Barry Croft (1972, TV film), as Barry Croft

    Hubertus Castle (1973) as Tassilo

    Martha (1974, TV film) as Helmut Salomon

    Effi Briest (1974) as Wüllersdorf

    Fox and His Friends (1975) as Max

    Mother Küsters' Trip to Heaven (1975) as Karl Tillmann

    Ringstraßenpalais (1983, TV series) as Bernie Artenberg

    Up (2009) as Charles F. Muntz (voice, German version)

 

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