Helmut Dantine, a talented actor, director, and producer, was born on October 7, 1917, in Vienna, Austria. Prior to his Hollywood career, Dantine was a fervent anti-fascist and anti-Nazi activist, leading the anti-Nazi youth movement in Vienna. After being imprisoned at the Rosserlaende concentration camp, he was released due to family influence and subsequently sent to Los Angeles to stay with a friend.
Upon his arrival in Los Angeles, Dantine joined the Pasadena Playhouse, where he was discovered by a Warner Bros. talent scout. He was signed to a Warner Bros. contract and made his film debut as a Nazi in International Squadron (1941) starring Ronald Reagan.
Dantine's early career was marked by supporting and second lead roles in films such as Casablanca (1942),Edge of Darkness (1943),Mission to Moscow (1943),and Passage to Marseille (1944). He also appeared in two notable films on loan-out from Warners in 1942: Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942) and William Wyler's Mrs. Miniver (1942).
As his acting career progressed, Dantine began to take on lead roles and directed the unsuccessful film Thundering Jets (1958). He also ventured into production, becoming vice-president of his father-in-law's Schenck Enterprises and eventually president of the company in 1970.
In the mid-1970s, Dantine produced three minor Sam Peckinpah films, including Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) and The Killer Elite (1975),in which he also had small supporting roles. Helmut Dantine passed away on May 2, 1982, at the age of 63, in Beverly Hills, California, after suffering a massive heart attack. He was interred at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
