Kurt Kreuger
Kurt Kreuger was a Swiss-German actor who left Hollywood in frustration over being typecast as a Nazi in 1940s war movies.
With his Continental accent and rugged good looks, Kreuger was once the third most-requested male pinup at 20th Century Fox, behind Tyrone Power and John Payne, according to the 1992 edition of "Who's Who in Hollywood."
Among Kreuger's career highlights were the 1945 suspense film "Paris Underground," in which he played a Nazi captain, and "Unfaithfully Yours," the 1948 Preston Sturges comedy that provided Kreuger with a rare opportunity to stretch — he portrayed the personal assistant of Rex Harrison, who suspected Kreuger was having an affair with his wife.
During the 1940s, Kreuger appeared in more than 20 films, including 1944's "Mademoiselle Fifi," a movie set in the Franco-Prussian war that was his first major screen credit. He mainly played German officers in World War II films.
When Kreuger asked Darryl F. Zanuck to give him better roles, the studio boss reportedly responded, "What's your hurry? With your looks, you'll be good at 50."
The actor moved to Europe and played the lead in several German films but returned to the U.S. in 1950 after being injured in a car accident.
He played the German submarine navigator in the 1957 Robert Mitchum movie "The Enemy Below." His final film, "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre," was released in 1967. Through much of the 1950s and '60s, he mainly appeared on television.
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