John Wengraf

Born: 1897-04-22

Emigrating to England in 1933 as the Nazis began their rise to power, Wengraf appeared unbilled in a couple of films there, as well as in some of the first BBC live-television shows ever presented but his career began to languish. In late 1941, however, he had the good fortune of appearing on Broadway with Helen Hayes in "Candle in the Wind" and decided to stay. The following year he headed west and settled permanently in the Los Angeles area. A dark, cold-eyed, thin-lipped player with a precise, meticulous air about him, he found himself invariably playing the very characters he detested. Some of his more nefarious nasties surfaced in such films as the Humphrey Bogart classic Sahara (1943/I), as well as The Boy from Stalingrad (1943), U-Boat Prisoner (1944) and Till We Meet Again (1944). In postwar years, he was often spotted portraying ethnic professionals (scientists, doctors, professors, foreign royalty). Some of the more quality pictures he enhanced were Tomorrow Is Forever (1946); Count Von Papen in 5 Fingers (1952); and Ronchin in the Ethel Merman musical Call Me Madam (1953). Although Wengraf never made it to the very top of the Hollywood character ranks, he remained a throughly strong and reliable player. In the 1950s and 1960s he transferred his talents to TV, appearing on a number of dramatic showcases and on such popular programs as "The Untouchables" (1959), "Hawaiian Eye" (1959), "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964) and "The Time Tunnel" (1966). His last few films included minor roles in the war-themed Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Hitler (1962) and Ship of Fools (1965). He retired in 1966, and died in Santa Barbara, California, at age 77, on May 4, 1974.


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Judgment at Nuremberg

as Karl Wieck
Released: 1961-12-18

In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military...

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Sahara

as Maj. von Falken
Released: 1943-09-22

In Libya, an American tank commander, along with a handful of Allied soldiers, tries to defend...

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Night Train to Munich

as KL Physician (uncredited)
Released: 1940-08-31

Czechoslovakia, March 1939, on the eve of World War II. As the German invaders occupy Prague,...

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The Razor's Edge

as Joseph - Gray & Isabel's Butler
Released: 1946-11-19

An adventurous young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the...

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T-Men

as 'Shiv' Triano
Released: 1947-12-15

Two U.S. Treasury ("T-men") agents go undercover in Detroit, and then Los Angeles, in an attempt...

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Ship of Fools

as Graf
Released: 1965-07-29

Passengers on a ship traveling from Mexico to Europe in the 1930s represent society at large in...

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5 Fingers

as Count Franz Von Papen
Released: 1952-02-22

During WWII, the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans...

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The Prize

as Hans Eckhart
Released: 1963-12-25

A group of Nobel laureates descends on Stockholm to accept their awards. Among them is American...

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The Desert Rats

as German Doctor (uncredited)
Released: 1953-05-20

In North Africa, German Field Marshal Rommel and his troops have successfully fended off British...

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Hitler

as Dr. Morell
Released: 1962-03-21

Richard Basehart stars as one of the most influential and one of the most reviled men in history...

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The Pride and the Passion

as Sermaine
Released: 1957-07-10

During the Napoleonic Wars, when the French have occupied Spain, some Spanish guerrilla soldiers...

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The French Line

as Commodore Renard
Released: 1954-02-08

Oil heiress Mame Carson takes an incognito cruise so that men will love her for her body, not...

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The Return of Dracula

as John Merriman
Released: 1958-05-21

After a vampire leaves his native Balkans, he murders a Czech artist, assumes his identity, and...

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12 to the Moon

as Dr. Erich Heinrich
Released: 1960-02-03

Landed on the moon, Capt. John Anderson and his fellow astronauts quickly find their mission...

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The Seventh Cross

as Overkamp
Released: 1944-07-24

In Nazi Germany in 1936 seven men escape from a concentration camp. The camp commander puts up...

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Tropic Zone

as Lukats
Released: 1953-01-14

A fugitive from the police helps a beautiful farmer run her struggling banana plantation.

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Wake of the Red Witch

as Prosecuting Attorney
Released: 1948-12-30

Captain Ralls fights Dutch shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye for the woman he loves, Angelique...

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Gog

as Dr. Zeitman
Released: 1954-06-04

A mechanical brain is programmed to sabotage the government's secret lab while working on the...

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Hell and High Water

as Col. Schuman (uncredited)
Released: 1954-02-06

A privately-financed scientist and his colleagues hire an ex-Navy officer to conduct an Alaskan...

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Mission to Moscow

as Polish Ambassador Grzybowski (uncredited)
Released: 1943-04-29

Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns...

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Never Say Goodbye

as Prof. Zimmelman
Released: 1956-03-10

In present-day U.S., Dr. Michael Parker, a prominent surgeon, unexpectedly runs into his...

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Lucky Jordan

as Herr Kesselman
Released: 1942-11-16

Lucky Jordan is a gangster living in New York City and when he's drafted into the army, he tries...

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Valerie

as Mr. Louis Horvat
Released: 1957-08-01

After the American Civil War, former Union Major John Garth marries pretty settler Valerie but...

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Convoy

as Commander Deutschland
Released: 1940-09-28

A tale of life on board a Royal Navy cruiser assigned to protect the vital convoys between...

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The Lovable Cheat

as Pierquin
Released: 1949-05-11

Posing as a wealthy Parisian, Mercadet fleeces friends and casual acquaintances alike. He is...

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The Disembodied

as Dr. Carl Metz
Released: 1957-08-25

When men on a photo safari stumble into a misanthropic doctor’s remote camp with a wounded...

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Paris Playboys

as Vidal
Released: 1954-03-07

Sach is the exact double of a famous French scientist who has invented a powerful rocket fuel....

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Tomorrow Is Forever

as Dr. Ludwig
Released: 1946-02-20

In 1918, Elizabeth MacDonald learns that her husband, John Andrew, has been killed in the war....

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U-Boat Prisoner

as Gunther Rudehoff, Gestapo Agent
Released: 1944-07-25

Merchant seaman Archie Gibbs manages to survive when his ship is torpedoed by a German...

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Strange Affair

as Rudolph Kruger
Released: 1944-10-05

Eminent psychiatrist Dr. Brenner invites cartoonist Bill Harrison and his wife, Jack, to a...

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The Gambler from Natchez

as Nicholas Cadiz
Released: 1954-08-04

A discharged army Captain returns home to New Orleans to take revenge on the men who murdered...

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Sailors Three

as German Captain
Released: 1940-12-14

Three sailors get drunk while on shore leave and end up on the wrong ship. When they realise...

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Sofia

as Peter Goltzen
Released: 1948-09-03

A former OSS agent is assigned to rescue two atomic scientists from the dastardly Russians and...

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Portrait in Black

as Dr. Kessler
Released: 1960-07-27

A pair of lovers plot to kill the woman's rich husband.

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The Racers

as Dr. Tabor
Released: 1955-02-04

An Italian daredevil turns Grand Prix driver and works his way up to Le Mans with his ballerina...

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The Boy from Stalingrad

as German Major
Released: 1943-05-20

If J.M. Barrie had had a hand in Tarkovsky's IVAN'S CHILDHOOD, it might like something like this...

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Sealed Verdict

as German Doctor
Released: 1948-11-05

John Hoyt plays a high-ranking Nazi being prosecuted by an army tribunal in the aftermath of...

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Dangerous Comment

as German Radio Operator
Released: 1940-05-18

A young pilot, annoyed at not being selected to take part in a raid on an enemy target, moans to...

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Week-End at the Waldorf

as Alex
Released: 1945-10-04

Anything can happen during a weekend at New York's Waldorf-Astoria: a glamorous movie star meets...

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Oh, Men! Oh, Women!

as Dr. Krauss
Released: 1957-02-22

Arthur Turner's bored housewife Mildred seeks psychiatric help from Dr. Alan Coles who also has...

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All Hands

as German
Released: 1940-05-31

From a series of propaganda films made to raise awareness of the risks of idle gossip providing...

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Matinee Theater

as uncredited
First aired: 1955-10-31

Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of...

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One Step Beyond

as Ernest
First aired: 1959-01-20

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The...

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One Step Beyond

as Felix Borgner
First aired: 1959-01-20

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The...

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Hawaiian Eye

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-07

Private Eyes Tom Lopaka and Tracy Steele are based out of Hawaiian Village Resort where they...

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Bat Masterson

as Colonel Anders Dorn
First aired: 1958-10-08

Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of...

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The Millionaire

as Count Victor Turec
First aired: 1955-01-19

An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better...

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The Time Tunnel

as Dr. Hans Kleinemann
First aired: 1966-09-09

The Time Tunnel is a 1966–1967 U.S. color science fiction TV series, written around a theme of...

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77 Sunset Strip

as uncredited
First aired: 1958-10-10

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this...

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Bourbon Street Beat

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-05

"Bourbon Street Beat" is a private detective series produced by Warner Brothers Television which...

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The Detectives

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-16

The Detectives is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons,...

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The Rogues

as Drozhin
First aired: 1964-09-13

The Rogues is an American television series that appeared on NBC from September 13, 1964, to...

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The Third Man

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-02

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Telephone Time

as uncredited
First aired: 1956-04-08

Telephone Time is an American anthology drama series that aired on CBS in 1956, and on ABC from...

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Dangerous Assignment

as uncredited
First aired: 1952-01-01

A U.S. government agent travels the world on undercover missions in this 1950s series. Star...

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The Walter Winchell File

as uncredited
First aired: 1957-10-02

The Walter Winchell File is the title of a television crime drama series that initially aired...

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Cavalcade of America

as German Colonel
First aired: 1952-10-01

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company,...

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Cavalcade of America

as Von Schwarz
First aired: 1952-10-01

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company,...

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Cavalcade of America

as uncredited
First aired: 1952-10-01

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company,...

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Panic!

as uncredited
First aired: 1957-03-05

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Behind Closed Doors

as Von Elm
First aired: 1958-10-02

Behind Closed Doors is an American drama series set during the Cold War hosted by and...

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Jericho

as uncredited
First aired: 1966-09-15

Jericho is an American espionage series set during World War II. The series stars John Leyton,...

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General Electric Theater

as uncredited
First aired: 1953-02-01

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was...

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