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
The Angel with the Trumpet (1948) as Franz Alt jr.
Höllische Liebe [de] (1949) as Flower Delivery Man
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
Wedding in Transit (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
Swedish Girl [de] (1955) as Klaus Richter
Sissi (1955) as Emperor 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 Emperor Franz Josef
Seamen [de] (1957), as Kapitänleutnant Alfred Hanstein
Das Schloß in Tirol [de] (1957) as Thomas Stegmann
Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress (1957), as Emperor Franz Josef
Examen des Lebens (1958, TV film), as Paul Gardiner
The Stowaway (1958) as Jean
Man müßte nochmal zwanzig sein [de] (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
Crook and the Cross [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 Elzingen
Rififi in Tokyo (1963) as Carl Mersen
The Hour of Truth [fr] (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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