Born Czechoslovakia in 1917, he was both a stage and screen actor there from 1936, however he had to leave the country when the Nazis invaded. He ended up in England. A strong screen personality led him to menacing roles and dominating romantic leads. His screen villains are particularly memorable, he managed to combine menace and charm in characters which would otherwise have been forgotten or subsumed.
He is probably best remembered today as the unfortunate police inspector in the Pink Panther movies.
More to come...
