Hans Christian Blech (20 February 1915 – 5 March 1993) was a German film, stage and television character actor.
He was born in Darmstadt. He dropped out of business school to start acting on stage and worked with several theatre companies all around Germany in the 1930s, then he was conscripted in the Wehrmacht during World War II. After the war he found success in both West Germany and Hollywood, with a good chunk of his roles being German soldiers or officers in World War II films. He made his English-language film debut in 1951 in Decision Before Dawn.
Contrary to popular belief, the Glasgow Grin-like scar on the right side of his face was not due to the war but was instead caused by a car accident on the Darmstadt Luisenplatz when he was 14 years old.
Notable works:
- Decision Before Dawn (1951) as Sgt. Rudolf Barth aka "Tiger"
- 08/15 film series (1954-1955) as Wachtmeister Platzek
- The Longest Day (1962) as Major Werner Pluskat
- Battle of the Bulge (1965) as Conrad
- Morituri (1965) as Donkeyman
- The Bridge at Remagen (1969) as Captain Carl Schmidt
- The Scarlet Letter (1973) as Roger Chillingworth
- The Magic Mountain (1982) as Hofrat Behrens
- Colonel Redl (1985) as Von Roden
Tropes:
- Actor-Shared Background: He was a Wehrmacht veteran of the Eastern front of World War II, and played several German front soldiers and officers on film.
- Typecasting: Possibly as a result of the above, he often played German soldiers/officers in World War II movies, in both West German and international productions, although most of them fight on the Western front, while he fought on the Eastern front in real life.
- What Could Have Been: Emil Jannings (The Blue Angel) cast him in 1939 for a film project titled Der letzte Appell, which wasn't made in the end.
