Actor

Karl Stepanek

Acting

Career Snapshot

Explained

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Acting credits

Established

Large and steady acting portfolio.

TMDB popularity

0.5

Low visibility

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Movies: 63Series: 2

TMDB ID: 38050

IMDb ID: nm0826749

Known for: Acting

Born: October 27, 1899

Died: December 25, 1980

Age: 81

Place of birth: Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]

Gender: Male

Adult content flag: No

Career span: 1931 - 2003

Years active: 73

Average TMDB rating: 6.37

Wikidata: Q214245

Also known as

Karl Stepanek • Karel Štěpánek • Karel Stepanek

TMDB TMDB IMDb IMDb W Wikidata

Biography

Though born in Czechoslovakia, actor Karel Stepanek was generally regarded as a German actor due to his extensive film work in Germany (as Karl Stepanek) in the years before World War II. Stepanek fled to England in 1940, where, like many European refugee actors, he specialized in portraying Teutonic villains. He tried to stay away from out-and-out Nazi roles, but his predilection for wearing black uniforms and barking out guttural commands left little doubt as to the political preferences of Stepanek's screen characters. One of his most typical characterizations could be found in the 1946 POW drama, The Captive Heart; Stepanek also registered well as a friendlier foreigner in The Fallen Idol (1949). Commuting between London and Hollywood, Karel Stepanek continued to fight World War II, usually on the wrong side, into such '60s films as Sink the Bismarck! (1960), I Aim at the Stars (1960) and Operation Crossbow (1965).