“Forgotten Hollywood”- An Actor and a Patriot…
Manny P. here…
“`Hardy Krüger was a fine German actor who spent his youth learning to hate political extremism. He is well remembered for his roles in Hatari! and The Flight of the Phoenix.
“`Krüger’s folks were fanatical Nazis and he was forced to attend an elite Adolf Hitler School at the Ordensburg Sonthofen. In March 1945, Krüger was assigned to the 38th SS Division Nibelungen and ended up in heavy combat. The teen was ordered to fire at Allied soldiers. After he refused, Krüger was sentenced to die for cowardice. It was countermanded by an officer. Krüger described this moment as his break with Nazism. He later served as a messenger for the SS. Krüger eventually deserted and went into hiding until the end of the war.
“`He established himself as a German film star during the 1950s. Fluent in German, English and French, he first came to the attention of English language audiences in the 1957 British film The One That Got Away. In 1960, Krüger bought Ngorongoro, a farm in what is now part of Tanzania, which he owned for over a decade. This timely purchase led to him being cast in Hatari!, directed by Howard Hawks. After the success of the flick, his ranch was re-named The Hatari Lodge.
HARDY KRUGER JAMES STEWART
“`In The Flight of the Phoenix, he was the standout among the talented ensemble, cast in the production. He co-starred with James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Ian Bannen, Ernest Borgnine, Peter Finch, and Dan Duryea. Other notable movies included The Secret of Santa Vittoria, Barry Lyndon, A Bridge Too Far, The Wild Geese and the television mini-series War and Remembrance.
“`Hardy Krüger was ninety-three.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Saturday, January 22nd, 2022 at 7:38 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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