Klaus Kinski
Born: 1926-10-18
Died: 1991-11-23
Known For: Acting
Biography
Klaus Kinski (German: [klaʊs ˈkɪnski]; born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and his notoriously eccentric and volatile personality off-screen, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a career that spanned 40 years, from 1948 to 1988. He is best known for starring in five films directed by Werner Herzog from 1972 to 1987 (Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Nosferatu the Vampyre; Woyzeck; Fitzcarraldo; and Cobra Verde), who would later chronicle their tumultuous relationship in the documentary My Best Fiend. Kinski's roles spanned multiple genres, languages, and nationalities, including Spaghetti Westerns, horror films, war films, dramas, and Edgar Wallace krimi films. His infamy was elevated by a number of eccentric creative endeavors, including a one-man show based on the life of Jesus Christ, a biopic of violinist Niccolò Paganini directed by and starring himself, and over twenty spoken word albums. Kinski was prone to emotional and often violent outbursts aimed at his directors and fellow cast members, issues complicated by a history of mental illness. Herzog described him as "one of the greatest actors of the century, but also a monster and a great pestilence." Posthumously, he was accused of having physically and sexually abused his daughters Pola and Nastassja. His notoriety and prolific output have developed into a widespread cult following and a reputation as a popular icon. Description above from the Wikipedia article Klaus Kinski, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2024
- Gegen das Schweigen - Machtmissbrauch bei Theater und Film as Self (archive footage)
- Othelo The Great as Self (archive footage)
2022
- Nosferatu: A Film Like a Vampire as Self (archive footage)
2021
- Django & Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained as Self - Actor (archive footage)
- Hannelore Elsner: More Than One Life as Self (archive footage)
- The Extravagant Little Life of Jean-Claude D. Dreyfus as Self (archive footage)
2020
- The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault as (archive footage)
- AGFA Mystery Mixtape #2: Later in L.A. as (archive footage)
2019
- Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau as Self (archive footage)
2017
- Filming Silenzio as (archive footage)
2016
- FantastiCozzi as Nosferatu (archive footage)
2015
- Fifty Shades of Erotica as (archive footage)
2014
- Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films as Self - Actor (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Peter Baumgartner, Filmkameramann as (archive footage)
2010
- In Free Fall as Self (archive footage)
2008
- Jesus Christ Saviour as Self
2007
- Beloved Count as Renfield (archive footage)
2005
- The Spaghetti West as Self (archive footage)
- The Western World of Ferdinando Baldi as Self (archive footage)
2003
- Kinski rigando Paganini as Self
2002
- Whiteface as (archive footage)
2000
- Klaus Kinski: I'm not an actor as Self (archive footage)
1999
- My Best Fiend as Self (archive footage)
- Please Kill Mr. Kinski as Self (archive footage)
1998
- Sternstunde Kunst as Self
1997
1995
- Otto – The Series as Verschiedene
1991
- Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook as Renfield (archive footage)
1990
- Paganini as Niccolo Paganini
- White Hunter as Klaus Naginsky
1988
- Nosferatu in Venice as Nosferatu
1987
- Cobra Verde as Francisco Manoel da Silva aka Cobra Verde
- Timestalkers as Dr. Joseph Cole
- Location Africa as Self
1986
- Crawlspace as Karl Gunther
- Portrait: Werner Herzog as Self (archive footage)
- Revenge of the Stolen Stars as Donald McBride
1985
- Sonntagsgespräch as Self
- Creature as Hans Rudy Hofner
- Star Knight as Boetius
- Commando Leopard as Silveira
- Zeit zu zweit as Self - Interviewee
1984
- The Little Drummer Girl as Martin Kurtz
- Code Name: Wild Geese as Charleton
- The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud as Dr. Max Bauer
- Beauty and the Beast as Beast
1983
- The Hitchhiker as Kurt Hoffman
- Diary as (archive footage)
1982
- Faerie Tale Theatre as Beast
- Na sowas! as Self
- Fitzcarraldo as Fitzcarraldo
- The Soldier as Dracha
- Burden of Dreams as Self - Actor
- Android as Dr. Daniel
1981
- Fruits of Passion as Sir Stephen
- Love & Money as Frederic Stockheinz
- Buddy Buddy as Dr. Hugo Zuckerbrot
- Venom as Jacques Müller (Jacmel)
1980
- Haine as Le motard
- Schizoid as Dr. Pieter Fales
- The Child Woman as Marcel
1979
- NDR Talk Show as Self
- Nosferatu the Vampyre as Count Dracula
- The Making of 'Nosferatu' as Self
- Woyzeck as Friedrich Johann Franz Woyzeck
- I Am My Films: A Portrait of Werner Herzog as Voice
- Zoo zéro as Yavé, le directeur du zoo
1978
- Ciné regards as Self
- The Song of Roland as Roland / Klaus
1977
- Auf los geht's los as Self
- Death of a Corrupt Man as Nicolas Tomski
- Madame Claude as Alexander Zakis
- Operation Thunderbolt as Wilfried Boese
1976
- Jack the Ripper as Dr. Dennis Orloff / Jack the Ripper
- Golden Night as Michel Fournier
1975
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche as Self
- A Genius, Two Friends, and an Idiot as Doc Foster
- That Most Important Thing: Love as Karl-Heinz Zimmer
- Footprints on the Moon as Professor Blackmann
- The Net as Emilio Bossi
- Return of Shanghai Joe as Pat Barnes
- Lifespan as Nicholas Ulrich
1974
- Spécial cinéma as Self
- Am laufenden Band as Self - Guest
- The Hand That Feeds the Dead as Prof. Nijinski
- Heroes in Hell as Gen. Kaufmann
1973
- Je später der Abend as Self
- Death Smiles on a Murderer as Dr. Sturges
- The Fighting Fist of Shanghai Joe as Scalper Jack
- The Bloody Hands of the Law as Vito Quattroni
1972
- Aguirre, the Wrath of God as Don Lope de Aguirre
- A Noose Is Waiting for You Trinity as Scott
1971
- Slaughter Hotel as Dr. Francis Clay
- Adios Compañeros as Reverend Cotton
- Web of the Spider as Edgar Allan Poe
- Shoot the Living and Pray for the Dead as Dan Hogan
- Coffin Full of Dollars as Dan Hagen / Slander
- His Name Was King as Brian Foster
- The Price of Death as Chester Conway / Ray
- Vengeance Is a Dish Served Cold as Virgil Prescott
- Eye of the Spider as Hans Fischer
- Black Killer as James Webb / Black Killer
1970
- Count Dracula as Renfield
- And God Said to Cain as Gary Hamilton
- Only the Cool as Pavel Richko / Torpédo I
- How Did a Nice Girl Like You Get Into This Business? as Juan José Ignatio Rodriguez de Calderon / 'Sam'
- Churchill's Leopards as Captain Holtz
- The Night of the Assassin as Evagoras
- The Beast as Johnny Laster
1969
- Marquis de Sade: Justine as Marquis De Sade
- I Am Sartana Your Angel of Death as Chadeau / Holden / Hot Dead
- Five for Hell as SS Col. Hans Mueller
- Salt in the Wound as Cpl. Brian Haskins / Norman Carr
- Double Face as John Alexander
- Gangster's Law as Quintero
- Venus in Furs as Ahmed Kortobawi
1968
- The Great Silence as Tigrero
- If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death as Morgan
- Coplan Saves His Skin as Theler
- The Ruthless Four as Brent il Biondo
- Psychopath as Periwinkle
- Twice a Judas as Dingus
- The Vatican Affair as Clint Rogers
- The Bastard as Adam
- Western, Italian Style as Self
1967
- The Million Eyes of Sumuru as President Boong
- A Bullet for the General as El Santo
- Five Golden Dragons as Gert
- Man, Pride and Vengeance as Lt. Miguel Garcia
- Creature with the Blue Hand as Dave Emerson / Richard Emerson
- Grand Slam as Erich Weiss
1966
- Our Man in Marrakesh as Jonquil
- Circus of Fear as Manfred
- Where Are You Taking That Woman as Gomez (Rio segment)
- Target for Killing as Caporetti
1965
- For a Few Dollars More as Juan Wild - The Hunchback
- Doctor Zhivago as Kostoyed Amourski
- The Dirty Game as Russian Agent
- That Man in Istanbul as Schenck
- The Pleasure Girls as Nikko Stalmar
- Again the Ringer as Edwards
1964
- Die Drehscheibe as Self
- Last of the Renegades as David "Luke" Lucas
- The Curse of the Hidden Vault as George
- Secret of the Chinese Carnation as Speranzo
- Traitor's Gate as Kane
- The Last Ride to Santa Cruz as Jose
- Mark of the Tortoise as Shapiro
1963
- Weltspiegel as Self
- Die Mondvögel as Valentin
- Scotland Yard Hunts Dr. Mabuse as Inspector Joe Wright
- Kali-Yug, Goddess of Vengeance as Saddhu
- The Secret of the Black Widow as Boyd
- The Indian Scarf as Peter Ross
- The Black Abbot as Thomas Fortuna
- Piccadilly Zero Hour 12 as Whitey
- The Mystery of the Indian Temple
- The Squeaker as Krishna
- The Black Cobra as Koks-Charley
1962
- The Door with Seven Locks as Pheeny
- The Counterfeit Traitor as Kindler
- The Inn on the River as Gregor Gubanow
- The Secret of the Red Orchid as Steve
- The Red Pastures as Martin
1961
- The Devil's Daffodil as Peter Keene
- The Strange Countess as Bresset
- Dead Eyes of London as Edgar Strauss
- Bankraub in der Rue Latour as Bex, Autor
- Die Kurve as Anton
1960
- The Avenger as Lorenz Voss
1958
- A Time to Love and a Time to Die as Gestapo Lieutenant
1956
- Corinna Darling as Klaus Brockmann
- Waldwinter as Otto Hartwig
1955
- Ludwig II as Prince Otto von Bayern
- Children, Mother, and the General as Leutnant, der nicht mehr lacht
- Hanussen as Erik von Spazier / Mirko
- Sarajevo as Nedeljko Čabrinović
1954
- Fear as Cabaret Performer (uncredited)
1951
- German Film Award as Self
- Decision Before Dawn as Whining Soldier (uncredited)
1948
- Morituri as Dutch prisoner