Anton Diffring

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German actor (1916–1989)

title: "Anton Diffring" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1916-births", "1989-deaths", "20th-century-german-male-actors", "german-gay-actors", "german-expatriates-in-england", "german-expatriates-in-france", "german-male-film-actors", "german-male-television-actors", "german-people-of-jewish-descent", "actors-from-koblenz", "actors-from-the-rhine-province", "20th-century-german-lgbtq-people", "german-male-stage-actors", "aids-related-deaths-in-france", "male-actors-from-rhineland-palatinate"] description: "German actor (1916–1989)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Diffring" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German actor (1916–1989) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameAnton Diffring
imageAnton Diffring in Tales of Frankenstein (1958).jpg
captionDiffring as Baron Frankenstein in Tales of Frankenstein (1958)
birth_nameAlfred Pollack
birth_date
birth_placeKoblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
death_date
death_placeChâteauneuf-Grasse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
othernameAnton de Vient
occupationActor
years_active1940–1988
relativesJacqueline Diffring (sister)
::

| name = Anton Diffring | image = Anton Diffring in Tales of Frankenstein (1958).jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = Diffring as Baron Frankenstein in Tales of Frankenstein (1958) | birth_name = Alfred Pollack | birth_date = | birth_place = Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany | death_date = | death_place = Châteauneuf-Grasse, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France | othername = Anton de Vient | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1940–1988 | spouse = | domesticpartner = | relatives = Jacqueline Diffring (sister) | website =

Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack; 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German actor. He had an extensive film and television career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. Primarily a character actor, he often played Nazi officers in World War II films and villains in horror films, and other antagonistic authority figures.

Early life

Diffring was born Alfred Pollack in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. His father, Solomon Pollack, was a Jewish shop-owner who managed to avoid internment and survived Nazi rule in Germany. His mother, Bertha Pollack (née Diffring), was Christian. He studied acting in Berlin and Vienna, but there is conjecture about when he left Germany prior to the outbreak of World War II. The audio commentary for the Doctor Who serial Silver Nemesis mentions that he left in 1936 to escape persecution due to his homosexuality. Other accounts point to him leaving in 1939 and settling in Canada, where he was interned in 1940, which is unlikely as he appears in the Ealing Studios film Convoy (released in July 1940, as the officer of U-37, in an uncredited role). His sister Jacqueline Diffring moved to England and became a sculptor.

While in England, he quickly became fluent in English and for a time worked in the War Office as an interpreter. Although he made two fleeting uncredited appearances in films in 1940, it was not until 1950 that his acting career began to take off.

Career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Anton_Diffring_in_One_Step_Beyond_(The_Prisoner).jpg" caption="One Step Beyond]]'' (1961)"] ::

With numerous World War II film and television productions being produced in England from the 1950s, Diffring's "Germanic" physical type of blond hair, pale blue eyes and chiselled features saw him regularly cast in roles as Nazi military officers in films such as *Albert R.N. * (1953) and The Colditz Story (1955). Some of his other roles as German characters were in The Heroes of Telemark (1965), The Blue Max (1966), Where Eagles Dare (1968), Zeppelin (1971), as SS officer Reinhard Heydrich in Operation Daybreak (1975) and the football match commentator in Escape to Victory (1981), although he also played a Polish parachutist in The Red Beret (1953). In the Italian war movie Uccidete Rommel, shot in the Egyptian desert in 1969, he played the role of a British officer of the SAS.

On stage, Diffring played the title role in the musical Mister Venus, opposite Frankie Howerd. It opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 23 October 1958 but closed after only sixteen performances. In the show, Diffring sang two solo numbers: "Love Like Ours" and "Tradition". The book was by Ray Galton and Johnny Speight, while the music was by Trevor H. Stanford (Russ Conway) and Norman Newell.

He played a part in the TV mini-series Flambards as the aeronautical pioneer who assists William Russell (Alan Parnaby), second in line of inheritance to the Flambards Estate, who is obsessed with flying. Diffring's character was a German living in Britain shortly before the beginning of the Great War.

Diffring starred in several horror films, such as The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) and Circus of Horrors (1960) and played the lead in the television pilot Tales of Frankenstein (1958). He also appeared in international films, such as Fahrenheit 451 (1966), an English-language film directed by François Truffaut. He appeared in the 1964 West German comedy A Mission for Mr. Dodd having previously starred in the West End play Out of Bounds on which it is based.

His final performance was once more as a Nazi for the BBC in the 1988 Doctor Who serial Silver Nemesis.

Death

Diffring died on 19 May 1989 from cancer at his home in Châteauneuf-Grasse, in the South of France, at the age of 72. In a 2002 interview, his longtime friend Arthur Brauss said Diffring had actually died of complications from AIDS.

His body was buried in the graveyard of St. Andrew's Church, in the village of White Colne in Essex.

Partial stage credits

Filmography

Film

Selected television appearances

  1. Plutonium (1978) (TV) .... Direktor Arnold
  2. "Le mutant" (1978) TV mini-series .... O' Brien
  3. "Zwei himmlische Töchter" .... Harry Hamilton (1 episode, 1978)
  • Eine Prinzessin nach Hoftenstein (1978) TV episode .... Harry Hamilton
  1. "The Galton & Simpson Playhouse" .... Heinz Steiner (1 episode, 1977) – Car Along the Pass (1977) TV episode .... Heinz Steiner
  2. Lehmanns Erzählungen (1975) (TV) .... Allan
  3. "Motiv Liebe" .... Gerhard (1 episode, 1974) – Adieu Claude (1974) TV episode .... Gerhard
  4. "Thriller" .... Jonathan Lanceford (1 episode, 1974) – Kiss Me and Die (1974) TV episode .... Jonathan Lanceford
  5. "Der Kommissar" .... Roland Sauter (1 episode, 1970) – Tödlicher Irrtum (1970) TV episode .... Roland Sauter
  6. Piggies (1970) (TV) .... Toto
  7. "Strange Report" .... Klaus Frei (1 episode, 1970) – Report 4977: Swindle – The Square Root of Evil (1970) TV episode .... Klaus Frei
  8. Scobie in September (1969) (TV) .... Pandorus
  9. "The Troubleshooters" .... Hans Daniels (1 episode, 1968) ... aka "Mogul" – USA – The Wrecking of the Sierra Navada (1968) TV episode .... Hans Daniels
  10. "Theatre 625" .... Count Wolf von Helldorf (1 episode, 1967) – Firebrand (1967) TV episode .... Count Wolf von Helldorf
  11. "The Baron" .... Szoblik (1 episode, 1966) – Enemy of the State (1966) TV episode .... Szoblik
  12. "Dixon of Dock Green" .... Charles Mason (1 episode, 1966) – Routine Check (1966) TV episode .... Charles Mason
  13. "BBC Play of the Month" .... Adolf Eichmann (1 episode, 1965) – The Joel Brand Story (1965) TV episode .... Adolf Eichmann
  14. 2 Milliarden gegen die Bank von England (1965) (TV)
  15. "The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre" .... Dr. Erik Leichner (1 episode, 1963) – Incident at Midnight (1963) TV episode .... Dr. Erik Leichner
  16. "Studio 4" (1 episode, 1962) – Doctor Korczak and the Children (1962) TV episode
  17. "BBC Sunday-Night Play" .... Korvetten-Kapitän Griesch (1 episode, 1961) – Cross of Iron (1961) TV episode .... Korvetten-Kapitän Griesch
  18. "Ghost Squad" .... Router (1 episode, 1961) – Death from a Distance (1961) TV episode .... Router
  19. Quadrille (1961) (TV) .... Lord Hubert Heronden
  20. "Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond" .... Wilhelm Hessler (1 episode, 1961) ... aka "Alcoa Presents" – USA (alternative title) ... aka "One Step Beyond" – USA (syndication title) – The Prisoner (1961) TV episode .... Wilhelm Hessler
  21. "Invisible Man" .... Gunzi (1 episode, 1959) – The Prize (1959) TV episode .... Gunzi
  22. "ITV Play of the Week" .... Louis (1 episode, 1959) – The Last Hours (1959) TV episode .... Louis
  23. "BBC Sunday-Night Theatre" .... Buschmann / ... (5 episodes, 1951–1959) – A Small Revolution (1959) TV episode .... Colonel – The Magnificent Egotist (1957) TV episode .... La Marck – The Cold Light (1956) TV episode .... Buschmann – Autumn Crocus (1952) TV episode .... Steiner – The Day of Glory (1951) TV episode .... Pilot-officer L. Radwanski
  24. "Armchair Theatre" .... Cast member in 'The Handshake' (3 episodes, 1956–1959) – Wedding Day (1959) TV episode – The One Who Came Back (1958) TV episode – The Handshake/Bid for Fame (1956) TV episode (uncredited) .... Cast member in 'The Handshake'
  25. "O.S.S." .... Schneider (1 episode, 1958) – Operation Eel (1958) TV episode .... Schneider
  26. Tales of Frankenstein (1958) (TV) .... Baron Frankenstein
  27. "Hancock's Half Hour" .... Mr. X (1 episode, 1957) – The Continental Holiday (1957) TV episode .... Mr. X
  28. "Overseas Press Club – Exclusive!" .... Louis Walleau (1 episode, 1957) – The Billion Franc Mystery (1957) TV episode .... Louis Walleau
  29. "Hour of Mystery" .... John Thackeray (1 episode, 1957) – The Man in Half Moon Street (1957) TV episode .... John Thackeray
  30. "Wire Service" .... Joseph Tezlik (1 episode, 1957) ... aka "Deadline for Action" – USA (rerun title) – The Death Merchant (1957) TV episode .... Joseph Tezlik
  31. "Assignment Foreign Legion" .... Franz Mayer / ... (2 episodes, 1956) – The Dollar a Year Man (1956) TV episode .... Franz Mayer – The Stripes of Sergeant Schweiger (1956) TV episode .... Sgt. Schweiger
  32. "Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents" .... Carlo (1 episode, 1956) ... aka "Rheingold Theatre" – USA – Someone Outside (1956) TV episode .... Carlo
  33. "Colonel March of Scotland Yard" .... Davos / ... (2 episodes, 1956) – The Silver Curtain (1956) TV episode .... Davos – The Silent Vow (1956) TV episode .... Francois
  34. "My Friend Charles" .... Veldon (1 episode, 1956) – Episode #1.4 (1956) TV episode .... Veldon
  35. "London Playhouse" .... Bergmann (1 episode, 1955) – Summer in Normandy (1955) TV episode .... Bergmann

Sources

  • Brian McFarlane, The Encyclopedia of British Film, Methuen, 2003.

References

References

  1. As listed on his gravestone
  2. Folkart, Burt A.. (22 July 1989). "Anton Diffring; German-Born Character Actor". Los Angeles Times.
  3. "Anton Diffring | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos".
  4. "The Winds of War : Cataclysm (1983) – Dan Curtis | Cast and Crew | AllMovie".
  5. "Kill Rommel (1969) – Alfonso Brescia | Cast and Crew | AllMovie".
  6. "Production of Mister Venus | Theatricalia".
  7. Theatre programme: Mister Venus, Prince of Wales Theatre
  8. Gänzl, Kurt, 1946–. (1986). "The British musical theatre". Macmillan.
  9. "Flambards Episode 5 The Cold Light of Day (1979)".
  10. "Anton Diffring".
  11. "Fahrenheit 451 (1966)".
  12. Zaltzman, Lior. (24 October 2019). "There's a long history of Jews playing Nazis on screen". The Jerusalem Post.
  13. "BBC – Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide – Silver Nemesis – Details". BBC.
  14. (27 January 2002). "Interview mit Arthur Brauss vom 27.01.2002". Terrorverlag.
  15. "Anton Diffring {{!}} Theatricalia".

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1916-births1989-deaths20th-century-german-male-actorsgerman-gay-actorsgerman-expatriates-in-englandgerman-expatriates-in-francegerman-male-film-actorsgerman-male-television-actorsgerman-people-of-jewish-descentactors-from-koblenzactors-from-the-rhine-province20th-century-german-lgbtq-peoplegerman-male-stage-actorsaids-related-deaths-in-francemale-actors-from-rhineland-palatinate