John Wengraf
Date of birth: 1897-04-22
Place of birth: Vienna, Austria-Hungary, now Austria
Known for: Acting
Also known as:
Biography
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.
Movie Credits
Judgment at Nuremberg
1961-12-18
In 1947, four German judges who served on the bench during the Nazi regime face a military tribunal
The Prize
1963-12-25
A group of Nobel laureates descends on Stockholm to accept their awards. Among them is American nove
Ship of Fools
1965-07-29
Passengers on a ship traveling from Mexico to Europe in the 1930s represent society at large in that
The Pride and the Passion
1957-07-10
During the Napoleonic Wars, when the French have occupied Spain, some Spanish guerrilla soldiers are
12 to the Moon
1960-02-03
Landed on the moon, Capt. John Anderson and his fellow astronauts quickly find their mission threate
Gog
1954-06-04
A mechanical brain is programmed to sabotage the government's secret lab while working on the first
Portrait in Black
1960-07-27
A pair of lovers plot to kill the woman's rich husband.
The French Line
1954-02-08
Oil heiress Mame Carson takes an incognito cruise so that men will love her for her body, not her mo
The Return of Dracula
1958-05-21
After a vampire leaves his native Balkans, he murders a Czech artist, assumes his identity, and move
The Lovable Cheat
1949-05-11
Posing as a wealthy Parisian, Mercadet fleeces friends and casual acquaintances alike. He is forced
Valerie
1957-08-01
After the American Civil War, former Union Major John Garth marries pretty settler Valerie but trage
The Razor's Edge
1946-11-19
An adventurous young man goes off to find himself and loses his socialite fiancée in the process. Bu
The Boy from Stalingrad
1943-05-20
If J.M. Barrie had had a hand in Tarkovsky's IVAN'S CHILDHOOD, it might like something like this biz
Week-End at the Waldorf
1945-10-04
Anything can happen during a weekend at New York's Waldorf-Astoria: a glamorous movie star meets a w
The Moon in the Yellow River
1938-12-28
Television broadcast of The Moon in the Yellow River by Denis Johnston.
5 Fingers
1952-02-22
During WWII, the valet to the British Ambassador to Ankara sells British secrets to the Germans whil
Hitler
1962-03-21
Richard Basehart stars as one of the most influential and one of the most reviled men in history in
Oh, Men! Oh, Women!
1957-02-22
Arthur Turner's bored housewife Mildred seeks psychiatric help from Dr. Alan Coles who also has his
Paris Playboys
1954-03-07
Sach is the exact double of a famous French scientist who has invented a powerful rocket fuel. Enemy
Lucky Jordan
1942-11-16
Lucky Jordan is a gangster living in New York City and when he's drafted into the army, he tries to
Tropic Zone
1953-01-14
A fugitive from the police helps a beautiful farmer run her struggling banana plantation.
The Disembodied
1957-08-25
When men on a photo safari stumble into a misanthropic doctor’s remote camp with a wounded comrade,
Never Say Goodbye
1956-03-10
In present-day U.S., Dr. Michael Parker, a prominent surgeon, unexpectedly runs into his German-born
The Desert Rats
1953-03-26
In North Africa, German Field Marshal Rommel and his troops have successfully fended off British for
Tomorrow Is Forever
1946-02-20
In 1918, Elizabeth MacDonald learns that her husband, John Andrew, has been killed in the war. Eliza
Convoy
1940-09-28
A tale of life on board a Royal Navy cruiser assigned to protect the vital convoys between America a
U-Boat Prisoner
1944-07-25
Merchant seaman Archie Gibbs manages to survive when his ship is torpedoed by a German submarine. Di
Sahara
1943-09-22
In Libya, an American tank commander, along with a handful of Allied soldiers, tries to defend an is
Strange Affair
1944-10-05
Eminent psychiatrist Dr. Brenner invites cartoonist Bill Harrison and his wife, Jack, to a banquet h
Wake of the Red Witch
1948-12-30
Captain Ralls fights Dutch shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye for the woman he loves, Angelique Desaix
The Gambler from Natchez
1954-08-04
A discharged army Captain returns home to New Orleans to take revenge on the men who murdered his fa
T-Men
1947-12-15
Two U.S. Treasury ("T-men") agents go undercover in Detroit, and then Los Angeles, in an attempt to
Sofia
1948-09-03
A former OSS agent is assigned to rescue two atomic scientists from the dastardly Russians and spiri
The Racers
1955-02-04
An Italian daredevil turns Grand Prix driver and works his way up to Le Mans with his ballerina love
Sealed Verdict
1948-11-05
John Hoyt plays a high-ranking Nazi being prosecuted by an army tribunal in the aftermath of World W
Mission to Moscow
1943-04-29
Ambassador Joseph Davies is sent by FDR to Russia to learn about the Soviet system and returns to th
Sailors Three
1940-12-14
Three sailors get drunk while on shore leave and end up on the wrong ship. When they realise their m
Dangerous Comment
1940-05-18
A young pilot, annoyed at not being selected to take part in a raid on an enemy target, moans to his
All Hands
1940-05-31
From a series of propaganda films made to raise awareness of the risks of idle gossip providing vita
Night Train to Munich
1940-08-31
Czechoslovakia, March 1939, on the eve of World War II. As the German invaders occupy Prague, invent
The Seventh Cross
1944-07-24
In Nazi Germany in 1936 seven men escape from a concentration camp. The camp commander puts up seven
Hell and High Water
1954-02-01
A privately-financed scientist and his colleagues hire an ex-Navy officer to conduct an Alaskan subm
Bretter, die die Welt bedeuten
1935-02-01
Till We Meet Again
1944-08-30
An American pilot is shot down over Nazi-occupied France and is taken to a convent by the Resistance