Mario Adorf (born 8 September 1930 in Zurich, Switzerland) is a Swiss-born German actor.
He is considered by many to be one of the greatest veteran character actors of European cinema. He has appeared in more than 200 film and television productions over the course of his long and illustrious career.
Selected filmography:
- Winnetou I (1963) as Frederick Santer
- Major Dundee (1965) as Sgt. Gomez
- Ten Little Indians (1965) as Herr Grohmann
- I Knew Her Well (1965) as Emilio Ricci AKA "Bietolone"
- The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) as Berto Consalvi
- Milano Calibro 9 (1972) as Rocco
- The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (1975) as Kommissar Beizmenne
- The Tin Drum (1979) as Alfred Matzerath
- Smiley's People (1982) as Klaus Kretzschmar
- Momo (1986) as Nicola
- Fantaghirò (1991) as The King
- Felidae (1994) as Bluebeard (voice)
- The Fearless Four (1997) as Fred the Donkey (voice)
This actor provides examples of the following tropes:
- He Also Did: Recorded a one-off music album
in 1994. - Lantern Jaw of Justice: Though ironically, he's better known for playing villains, or at least more morally-grey characters.
- Large Ham: His characters are often very boisterous and impassioned.
- What Could Have Been:
- Adorf was offered an unspecified role in One, Two, Three but turned it down.
- Likewise, he was initially offered an unspecified role in The Godfather, but again turned it down. Along with the decision not to appear in One, Two, Three, he considers this to be his biggest regret as an actor.
- He was offered the role of General Mapache in The Wild Bunch but turned it down because he felt uncomfortable playing such a violent character.
