Eric Pohlmann

Eric Pohlmann
Born	Erich Pollak (1913-07-18)18 July 1913 Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Died	25 July 1979(1979-07-25) (aged 66) Bad Reichenhall, Upper Bavaria, Germany
Years active	1948–1979
Spouse(s)	Liselotte Goettinger (1939–1968; her death; 2 children); Lili Stern-Pohlmann

Eric Pohlmann (German: Erich Pohlmann; born Erich Pollak; 18 July 1913 – 25 July 1979) was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor who worked mostly in the United Kingdom. He is known for voicing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the primary antagonist of the James Bond series, in the films From Russia with Love and Thunderball.

Early life

Born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, Pohlmann was a classically trained actor who studied under the renowned director Max Reinhardt. He appeared at the Raimund Theater, and supplemented his income by working as an entertainer in a bar.

In 1939, he followed his fiancée and later wife, actress Lieselotte Goettinger (best known in the UK for playing the concentration camp guard in the war films, Odette and Carve Her Name With Pride), into exile in London. Until mid-1941, both were kept in an internment camp. After their release, Eric took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC World Service. In order to earn a living, the Pohlmanns temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford, Lieselotte as a cook and Eric, as he was now known, as butler.

Career

After the war, he began a career on the London stage. Among other roles he played "Peachum" in Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera. From the end of the 1940s, Pohlmann was often present in film and television productions, taking supporting roles in various adventure and crime films, and appearing occasionally in comedies. His large frame and massive features typecast him in roles as master criminals and spies, or conversely as police officers or detectives, as well as other figures of authority. He was frequently cast in "foreign" roles, portraying Turks, Italians, Arabs, Greeks or Asians; he also played King George I, King George II in Disney's Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue and King George III twice.

One of his earliest film appearances was in Carol Reed's classic The Third Man (1949). He also played supporting roles in such British films as They Who Dare (1954), Chance of a Lifetime (1950), Reach for the Sky (1956), and Expresso Bongo (1960). He also appeared in US productions, notably Moulin Rouge (1952), Mogambo (1953), Lust For Life (1956) and 55 Days at Peking (1963). Twice he appeared in films directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Taylor – The Adventures of Quentin Durward (1955) and The House of the Seven Hawks (1959).

He displayed his comedic talents in films like Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955) with Jane Russell, as a lecherous Arab sheikh in The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954), as "The Fat Man" in Carry On Spying (1964) and in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975).

Pohlmann (uncredited) also provided the voice of the unseen head of SPECTRE, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, in the James Bond films From Russia with Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965).

In the 1960s and 1970s, Pohlmann relaunched his German-speaking career in German and Austrian film and television productions. He had guest roles in the popular crime series Der Kommissar and Derrick, and also appeared in television plays for ORF and Bayerischer Rundfunk, often under the direction of Franz Josef Wild. In addition to The Defence Counsel (1961) with Barbara Rütting and Carl Heinz Schroth, he appeared in Der Kleine Lord (1962) with Albrecht Schoenhals and Michael Ande, as well as The Dreyfus Affair (1968) with Karl Michael Vogler and Bernhard Wicki. In 1962, Pohlmann also appeared in The Puzzle of the Red Orchid starring Marisa Mell, Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski, a German film adaptation of an Edgar Wallace novel.

His many roles in Austrian TV's acclaimed production of Friedrich Torberg's 'Tante Jolesch' established Pohlmann as a major star in his home country.

Pohlmann's greatest success in German TV drama came in 1970 with an adaptation of Wilkie Collins' novel The Woman in White, one of the most successful television productions of the year which gained over 9 million viewers. Under the direction of William Semmelroth, Pohlmann appeared in the role of the villainous Count Fosco, alongside Heidelinde Weis, Christoph Bantzer, Pinkas Braun and Helmut Käutner. The mini-series has a cult following to this day.

Pohlmann was a regular on British television, taking the role of "Inspector Goron" in the 1952-1954 TV series Colonel March of Scotland Yard with Boris Karloff, and appearing as a guest star in such series as The Saint, The Champions, The Avengers, Danger Man, Department S, Jason King and Paul Temple.

In 1978, he worked with the actor-director Maximilian Schell in an Austro/German film production of Ödön von Horváth's play Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald (Tales from the Vienna Woods). The film was shown at the 1979 London Film Festival. In that year, during final rehearsals for his second appearance at the Salzburg Festival, Pohlmann suffered a heart attack, and died the same day in a hotel in Bad Reichenhall. He was 66. He was survived by his children and his second wife, Lili Stern-Pohlman, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor.

In 2006, the Turner Classic Movies "31 Days of Oscar" festival was based on the theme of "360 Degrees of Oscar" (based on the game of "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon") in which TCM chooses an actor who has played a significant role in Oscar history, and builds its entire schedule around him. They chose Eric Pohlmann.

He also appeared on stage in, amongst other productions, Henry Cecil's Settled Out of Court and Jean Anouilh's 'Point of Departure'.

Filmography

List of acting performances in film, theatre, and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1949	Portrait from Life	Search group leader
1949	Marry Me!	Mr. Cinelli	Uncredited
1949	The Third Man	Waiter at Smolka's	Uncredited
1949	Children of Chance	Sergeant
1950	Chance of a Lifetime	Xenobian
1950	Cairo Road	Ship's Captain
1950	State Secret	Cable Car conductor
1950	Blackout	Otto Ford
1950	The Clouded Yellow	Greek taxidermist
1950	Highly Dangerous	Joe – the bartender
1950	Traveller's Joy	Gustafsen
1951	The Long Dark Hall	Mr. Polaris (the mystery witness)
1951	Hell Is Sold Out	Louis, the proprietor
1951	There Is Another Sun	Markie
1952	His Excellency	Dobrieda
1952	The Woman's Angle	Steffano
1952	Emergency Call	Flash Harry
1952	Penny Princess	Monsieur Paul	Uncredited
1952	Venetian Bird	Gostini
1952	Monsoon	Molac
1952	The Man Who Watched Trains Go By	Goin
1952	Moulin Rouge	Picard	Uncredited
1952	The Gambler and the Lady	Arturo Colonna
1953	The Beggar's Opera	Inn Keeper
1953	Mogambo	Leon Boltchak
1953	Blood Orange	Mr. Mercedes
1953	Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue	King George I
1953	36 Hours	Slossen, the smuggler
1954	They Who Dare	Captain Papadapoulos
1954	Knave of Hearts	Boarding House Proprietor	Uncredited
1954	Flame and the Flesh	Marina Proprietor
1954	Forbidden Cargo	Steven Lasovich
1954	The Belles of St. Trinian's	The Sultan of Makyad
1955	The Glass Cage	Henri Sapolio
1955	A Prize of Gold	Fischer
1955	Break in the Circle	Emile
1955	The Constant Husband	Papa Sopranelli
1955	Gentlemen Marry Brunettes	M. Ballard
1955	The Adventures of Quentin Durward	Gluckmeister
1956	The Gelignite Gang	Mr. Popoulos ("Populace")
1956	Reach for the Sky	Adjutant of Prison Camp
1956	Lust for Life	Colbert
1956	High Terrace	Otto Kellner
1956	House of Secrets	Gratz
1956	Zarak	Tobacco seller	Uncredited
1956	Anastasia	Von Drivnitz	Uncredited
1957	The Counterfeit Plan	Frank Wandelman
1957	Interpol	Etienne Fayala
1957	Let's Be Happy	Customs Official
1957	Fire Down Below	Hotel Owner
1957	Across the Bridge	Police Sergeant
1957	Not Wanted on Voyage	Pedro
1957	Barnacle Bill	Liberamanian Consul
1958	A Tale of Two Cities	Sawyer
1958	I Accuse!	Bertillon
1958	The Duke Wore Jeans	Bastini – Prime Minister
1958	Nor the Moon by Night	Anton Boryslawski
1958	The Man Inside	Tristao
1958	Further Up the Creek	President
1958	Mark of the Phoenix	Duser
1959	Three Crooked Men	Masters
1959	John Paul Jones	King George III
1959	Alive and Kicking	Captain
1959	The House of the Seven Hawks	Captain Rohner
1959	Upstairs and Downstairs	Mario
1959	Expresso Bongo	Leon
1960	Life Is a Circus	Rickenbeck
1960	Sands of the Desert	Scrobin
1960	Surprise Package	Chief of Police Stefan Miralis
1960	Man Who Couldn't Walk	The Consul General
1960	No Kidding	King
1960	Passport to China	Ivono Kong
1960	Snowball	Editor
1961	The Singer Not the Song	Presidente
1961	Carry On Regardless	Sinister Man
1961	The Kitchen	Mr. Marango
1962	The Puzzle of the Red Orchid	Kerkie Minelli
1962	Village of Daughters	Marcio (A Father)
1962	Mrs. Gibbons' Boys	Morelli
1962	The Devil's Agent	Bloch
1963	Cairo	Nicodemos
1963	Follow the Boys	Italian Farmer
1963	55 Days at Peking	Baron von Meck
1963	Shadow of Fear	Henry Spiroulos
1963	From Russia with Love	Ernst Stavro Blofeld	Voice, Uncredited
1963	Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow	King George III
1963	The Sicilians	Inspector Bressin
1964	Hot Enough for June	Galushka
1964	Carry On Spying	The Fat Man
1964	Night Train to Paris	Krogh
1965	Joey Boy	Antonio (Italian farmer)
1965	Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines	Italian Mayor
1965	Thunderball	Ernst Stavro Blofeld	Voice, Uncredited
1966	Where the Spies Are	Farouk
1967	Hot Pavements of Cologne	Benno Trooger
1967	The Mini-Affair	World Banker
1968	Mit Eichenlaub und Feigenblatt	Old General
1968	Inspector Clouseau	Bergesch
1970	Foreign Exchange	Borensko	TV film
1971	The Woman in White	Count Fosco	TV miniseries
1971	The Horsemen	Merchant in Kandahar
1973	Tiffany Jones	Jabal
1975	The Return of the Pink Panther	Fat Man
1976	The Mimosa Wants to Blossom Too	Iwan Pederenko
1976	Duett zu dritt
1979	Ashanti	Zeda El-Kabir
1979	Tales from the Vienna Woods	Mister
1980	Maria – Nur die Nacht war ihr Zeuge

External links

• Eric Pohlmann at IMDb