Kurt Kreuger

Kurt Kreuger was a Swiss-reared German actor. Kreuger once was the third most requested male actor at 20th Century Fox. He starred with, among others, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.

Kreuger was born in Michendorf, Germany but grew up in St. Moritz, Switzerland. He attended the London School of Economics and enrolled in Columbia University to study medicine. Soon, Kreuger dropped out of Columbia to pursue a career in acting. Kreuger’s father, a successful businessman, cut off his son’s allowance after he embarked seriously on an acting career.

In 1943 during the filming of Sahara, he was almost killed in a dramatic scene because the director almost forgot to say “cut”. He was quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle

Kreuger’s first major film credit was in Mademoiselle Fifi, a 1944 release that is set in the Franco-Prussian War. Kreuger was primarily offered roles in World War II movies as a German officer, prompting him to complain about being typecast as a Nazi. One of Kreuger’s few opportunities to play a non-Nazi role was in 1948’s Unfaithfully Yours, in which he played Rex Harrison’s personal assistant. When Kreuger asked Darryl F. Zanuck for better roles, Zanuck reportedly replied: “What’s your hurry? With your looks, you’ll be good at 50.”