Anton Diffring was a talented character actor who worked continuously in motion pictures due to his aristocratic face and cool, clipped diction, making him ideal for typecasting in British and later American motion pictures as Nazis and other despicable characters. Born in Koblenz, Germany, on October 20, 1916, Diffring fled Nazi Germany in 1939.
He was the son of Bertha (Diffring) and Solomon/Samuel Pollack, a Jewish shop owner. Diffring studied drama in Berlin and Vienna and was born into a family with a history of acting. At the outbreak of World War II, he fled Germany and was interned as an enemy alien in Canada.
After the war, Diffring began his acting career in Canada and the US, before moving to Britain in 1950. He became popular playing Nazis in the post-war period, as the British film industry produced film after film about the war, creating a demand for actors who could convincingly play Nazis.
Diffring's career as a character actor soared, with memorable performances in films such as I Am a Camera (1955),The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959),Tote Taube in der Beethovenstraße (1972),Valentino (1977),and many more. He was still going strong in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, appearing in American and international co-productions as German soldiers from both WW I and WW II.
Despite being typecast as a Nazi, Diffring was a much better actor than his roles required. He broadened his range with stage and television work, but the movies continually beckoned. Diffring died at his home in Chateauneuf-de-Grasse, France, on May 20, 1989, at the age of 72.
