Klaus Kinski

He appeared in two adaptations of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula". He played Renfield in Count Dracula (1970) and Count Dracula in Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979).

Klaus Kinski was born as Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski in Zoppot, Free City of Danzig (now Sopot, Poland), to Susanne (Lutze), a nurse, and Bruno Nakszynski, a pharmacist. He grew up in Berlin, was drafted into the German army in 1944 and captured by British forces in Holland. After the war he began acting on the stage, quickly gaining a reputation for a ferocious talent and an equally ferocious temper. He started acting in films shortly afterward, showing an utter disregard for the quality of the productions he appeared in and churning out so many that a complete filmography is almost impossible to assemble. However, he did turn out memorable work for director Werner Herzog, a similarly driven and obsessive character.

His countenance and screen persona gave his film career a boost in the 1960s when he was cast in a number of German productions based upon the thrillers of Edgar Wallace.

He worked with Christopher Lee in The Devil's Daffodil (1961), Secret of the Red Orchid (1962), Circus of Fear (1966), Five Golden Dragons (1967) and Count Dracula (1970). His daughter Nastassja Kinski later worked with Lee in To the Devil a Daughter (1976).

Although better known during his career for acting in many B-movies, he also worked together with some famous film directors, most notably David Lean, Billy Wilder, George Roy Hill, Sergio Leone and Werner Herzog. Other respected directors included Douglas Sirk, Damiano Damiani, James Toback, Andrzej Zulawski, Frank Cassenti, Giuliano Montaldo, Laslo Benedek, Fritz Kortner and Helmut Käutner. Among Kinski's films two were even nominated for 'Best Picture' / 'Best Foreign Language Film' at the Academy Awards: Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Mivtsa Yonatan (1977).

Werner Herzog collaborated on 5 features with Kinski: Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Woyzeck (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Cobra Verde (1987). Only director Alfred Vohrer worked more often with Kinski: He directed 7 of the 16 'Edgar Wallace' films in which Kinski appeared.

He was offered a part in Hammer's last movie To the Devil a Daughter (1976), but turned it down as his scenes would take more than ten days to shoot.

His provocative 1977 TV appearance on Je später der Abend... (1973) became legendary because he didn't answer a single question during an interview and called the host Reinhard Münchenhagen "Herr Münchhausen".

Turned down the role of the German villain Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), although he wanted to do a movie with Steven Spielberg, but thought "the script is as moronically shitty as so many other flicks of its ilk." He chose to appear in Venom (1981) instead, because the salary was better.

Was ambidextrous, as can be seen in "Fitzcarraldo" (1982). He writes with his right hand, but eats and draws with his left.

Was announced to play Dr. Hans Fallada in Lifeforce (1985), but dropped out. Was also considered for Dr. Bukovsky as well.

The French government declared him a 'Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres' on the 5th Februar 1986, one the highest honors for a foreign artist.

Herzog and Kinski pushed each other to extremes over a 15-year working relationship, which finally ended after filming Cobra Verde (1987), a production plagued by volcanic clashes between the star and director, involving--among other things--violent physical altercations and mutual death threats.

His autobiography was originally released under the title "All I Need Is Love", but was withdrawn in 1989 due to a contract dispute: a German publisher claimed Kinski had previously released an autobiography for them entitled "Ich, Kinski", and sued the publishers. It was reissued in 1997 under the title "Kinski Uncut", adding material that had been excluded from the first version of the book.

Of his three children, only his son Nikolai Kinski attended the funeral in California, where his ashes were strewn in the Pacific Ocean (February 1992).

In 2013, daughter Pola Kinski published her Autobiography "Kindermund" in Germany, in which she accuses her father of sexual abuse between the ages of 5 and 19.