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IMDbPro

Klaus Kinski(1926-1991)

  • Actor
  • Writer
  • Additional Crew
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Klaus Kinski in Crawlspace (1986)
Home Video Trailer from Anchor Bay Entertainment
Play trailer1:30
My Best Fiend (1999)
11 Videos
99+ Photos
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. 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. He subsequently directed and starred in the notorious Paganini (1989), his only film as director and which was marked by (again) clashes between Kinski and his producers, who accused him of turning their movie into a pornographic film and sued him in court. His autobiography, "All I Need is Love", a vicious attack on the film industry, was withdrawn for legal reasons and subsequently re-released as "Kinski Uncut" in the US & UK, "Ich brauche Liebe" in Germany, and in various other languages.
BornOctober 18, 1926
DiedNovember 23, 1991(65)
BornOctober 18, 1926
DiedNovember 23, 1991(65)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Awards

Photos168

Klaus Kinski and Brigitte Grothum in Die seltsame Gräfin (1961)
Klaus Kinski in Die seltsame Gräfin (1961)
Klaus Kinski in Die seltsame Gräfin (1961)
Klaus Kinski in Die seltsame Gräfin (1961)
Klaus Kinski in Creature (1985)
Klaus Kinski in Creature (1985)
Isabelle Adjani and Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Klaus Kinski and Eva Mattes in Woyzeck (1979)
Klaus Kinski in The Great Silence (1968)
Klaus Kinski, Luigi Pistilli, and Frank Wolff in The Great Silence (1968)
Klaus Kinski in The Great Silence (1968)
Klaus Kinski in The Great Silence (1968)

Known for

Isabelle Adjani and Klaus Kinski in Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Nosferatu the Vampyre
7.4
  • Count Dracula
  • 1979
Klaus Kinski in Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
7.8
  • Don Lope de Aguirre
  • 1972
Klaus Kinski in Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Fitzcarraldo
8.0
  • Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald - 'Fitzcarraldo'
  • 1982
Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More (1965)
For a Few Dollars More
8.2
  • Juan Wild - The Hunchback
  • 1965

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Klaus Kinski in Paganini (1989)
    Paganini
  • Klaus Kinski in Vampire in Venice (1988)
    Vampire in Venice
  • Klaus Kinski in Grandi cacciatori (1988)
    Grandi cacciatori
  • Cobra Verde (1987)
    Cobra Verde
  • Timestalkers (1987)
    Timestalkers
  • Crawlspace (1986)
    Crawlspace
  • Revenge of the Stolen Stars (1986)
    Revenge of the Stolen Stars
  • Star Knight (1985)
    Star Knight
  • Kommando Leopard (1985)
    Kommando Leopard
  • Creature (1985)
    Creature
  • Bud Cort and Carol Kane in The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud (1984)
    The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud
  • Page Fletcher in The Hitchhiker (1983)
    The Hitchhiker
  • The Little Drummer Girl (1984)
    The Little Drummer Girl
  • Klaus Kinski and Lewis Collins in Code Name: Wild Geese (1984)
    Code Name: Wild Geese
  • Faerie Tale Theatre (1982)
    Faerie Tale Theatre

Writer

  • Jesus Christus Erlöser (2008)
    Jesus Christus Erlöser
  • Klaus Kinski in Paganini (1989)
    Paganini

Additional Crew

  • Bibi Ferreira in The End of the River (1947)
    The End of the River
    • (uncredited)
  • Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons, Kathleen Byron, David Farrar, Judith Furse, Jenny Laird, Flora Robson, and Sabu in Black Narcissus (1947)
    Black Narcissus
    • (uncredited)
  • Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1944)
    Ivan the Terrible, Part I
    • (uncredited)

Videos16

Official Trailer
Trailer 0:58
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:30
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:57
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:41
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:44
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 6:41
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:42
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:14
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:51
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:12
Official Trailer
Venom
Trailer 1:24
Venom
The Little Drummer Girl
Trailer 1:43
The Little Drummer Girl

Personal details

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    • October 18, 1926
    • Zoppot, Free City of Danzig [now Sopot, Pomorskie, Poland]
    • November 23, 1991
    • Lagunitas, California, USA(heart attack)
    • Debora Caprioglio1987 - 1989
    • Nastassja Kinski
  • Recorded three albums in 1971, citing poems of the French poets Villon and Rimbaud (translated into German).
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Biographical Movies
    • 5 Print Biographies
    • 7 Articles
    • 2 Pictorials
    • 9 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    He was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.
  • Quotes
    Man muß den Menschen vor allem nach seinen Lastern beurteilen. Tugenden können vorgetäuscht sein. Laster sind echt. [One should judge a man mainly from his depravities. Virtues can be faked. Depravities are real.]
    • His ability to tap on and portay a deep well of perversity.

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