Line #12 Creator/GertFrobe


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/74932799_8569.jpg]]
2	->''"I am a big man, and I have a laugh to match my size."''
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4	Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe (25 February 1913 – 5 September 1988) was a UsefulNotes/{{German\|y}} actor.
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6	Born in Oberplanitz, Zwickau Landkreis, he initially trained as a violinist, but he abandoned it for cabaret and theatre work. He joined the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Nazi Party]] in 1929 at the age of 16 hoping that "[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] could bring a solution". This didn't quite happen the way he'd hoped. That was not particularly uncommon in the Germany of the day, but Fröbe left the party in 1937, actually. Once the theaters were closed down in September of 1944, Fröbe was drafted into the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons German army]] and served until the end of the war. During that time, he met two German Jews and helped them avoid UsefulNotes/TheGestapo.
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8	Fröbe gained fame in one of the first German movies made after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, called ''Berliner Ballade'' (''The Ballad of Berlin'', 1948). His role as Otto Normalverbraucher (literally "Otto Average Consumer") became a German term equivalent to "Average Joe" or "Fred Bloggs". He was still slender at the time, he gained weight in TheFifties (which gave him his trademark portly looks), and in 1958, he was cast as the villain in the Swiss-German film ''Es geschah am hellichten Tag'' (''It Happened in Broad Daylight''), which was turned into a novel, ''Literature/ThePledge'', by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
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10	This latter role as a serial killer of children drew the attention of the producers of the ''Film/JamesBond'' franchise and he was chosen to play what would become one of the franchise's most iconic villains, [[GoldFever gold-obsessed]] tycoon and DiabolicalMastermind [[Film/{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]]. Because of his former membership in the Nazi Party, [[BannedInChina the film was initially banned]] in UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} until the Jewish family that he saved came forward and thanked him for saving their lives, restoring his reputation in the process. He also appeared as Inspector Kras in Creator/FritzLang's final film, ''Film/Die1000AugenDesDrMabuse'', and two subsequent ''Dr. Mabuse'' films.
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12	Fröbe appeared in a number of movies packing {{All Star Cast}}s in the 1960s, including ''Film/TheLongestDay'', ''Film/IsParisBurning'', ''Film/ThoseMagnificentMenInTheirFlyingMachines'' (he was [[TypeCasting typecast]] as a German officer, being a war veteran helped) and ''Monte Carlo or Bust''. Because of his thick German accent, Fröbe [[SameLanguageDub was dubbed in some of his classic roles]], including by American sitcom star Roger C. Carmel in ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'' and British actor Michael Collins in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' (he was, however, allowed to speak English in his own voice in the 1971 film ''Film/{{Dollars}}'').
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14	!!Selected filmography:
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16	* ''Berliner Ballade'' (1948) as Otto Normalverbraucher
17	* ''Film/MrArkadin'' (1955) as the Munich detective
18	* ''Film/Die1000AugenDesDrMabuse'' (1960) as Inspector Kras
19	* ''Film/TheLongestDay'' (1962) as ''Unteroffizier'' "Kaffeekanne" (Sergeant "Coffeepot")
20	* ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' (1964) as Auric Goldfinger
21	* ''Film/ThoseMagnificentMenInTheirFlyingMachines'' (1965) as Colonel Manfred von Holstein
22	* ''Film/IsParisBurning'' (1967) as ''General der Infanterie'' Dietrich von Choltitz
23	* ''I Killed Rasputin'' (1967) as UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin
24	* ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'' (1968) as Baron Bomburst
25	* ''Film/{{Dollars}}'' (1971) as Mr. Kessel
26	* ''Film/{{Ludwig}}'' (1972) as Father Hoffmann
27	* ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'' (1974) as Wilhelm Blore
28	* ''Film/TheUmbrellaCoup'' (1980) as Otto Krampe

Context Creator / GertFrobe