Karl John

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Karl John (1972)

Karl John , sometimes also Carl John (born March 24, 1905 in Cologne , † December 22, 1977 in Gütersloh ) was a German stage and film actor.

life and work

After completing his university entrance qualification, Karl John first studied architecture at the Technical University in Gdansk . But he soon discovered his love for the stage and moved to Berlin , where he also took acting lessons. At the age of 26 he had his first stage appearance at a theater in Bunzlau . In 1932, just a year later, he made his film debut in the crime film The White Demon . Hans Albers played the main role in this film. In the following years he also played on various stages and in 1938 also came to the German Theater in Berlin.

Grave of Karl John in the Heerstrasse cemetery in Berlin-Westend

Karl John played mainly soldier roles due to his physiognomy , his appearance and his voice in the UFA time. He was also seen in propaganda films, like Stukas , U-Boats westward! or two in one big city (all 1941). After he had made derogatory comments to Goebbels about the conduct of the war in 1943 , he fell out of favor and had to do military service.

After the Second World War he starred in the anti-war film In those days (1947), and his role in the Wolfgang Borchert film from Outside in front of the door entitled Love 47 was his most impressive portrayal. Again, it was mainly members of the Wehrmacht who he embodied in films such as Des Teufels General (1955), Dogs, Do you want to live forever (1957) and Factory of the Officers (1960) as well as in the international production of The Longest Day ( The Longest Day ). In Peter Lorre's only directorial work The Lost (1951), he played a Gestapo agent.

In the 1960s, he was seen on film mainly in a few Edgar Wallace adaptations. On television he also appeared in Derrick and Tatort and in Der Kommissar .

He was also used as a speaker in a number of radio plays. His best-known roles in 1959 included portraying the London writer and private detective Paul Temple in the eight-part production Paul Temple and the Conrad case by Francis Durbridge , directed by Willy Purucker .

Karl John suffered on December 20, 1977, shortly before the presentation of the moon across the river from Pavel Kohout a collapse in Theater Gütersloh and died two days later, 72-year, in the city hospital to a cardiovascular disease . He was buried in Berlin, in the state's own cemetery in Heerstraße in what is now the Westend district (grave location: 16-D-32/33).

Filmography (selection)

Radio plays

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ernst Klee : The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5 , p. 285.
  2. ^ Knerger.de: The grave of Karl John
  3. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende : Lexicon of Berlin burial places . Pharus-Plan, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86514-206-1 . P. 488.
personal data
SURNAME John, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German stage and film actor
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH 22nd December 1977
Place of death Gutersloh