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Carl Esmond(1902-2004)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Carl Esmond
Cheyenne: Fury At Rio Hondo
Play trailer1:05
Fury at Rio Hondo (1956)
4 Videos
31 Photos
Born Willy Eichberger in Vienna, Austria, he changed his name to the ethnically nondescript Carl Esmond and went on to become a well-regarded actor both here and in Europe, a career that sustained itself for nearly 50 years. He initially studied drama in Vienna at the State Academy of Dramatic Arts and started things off with the German film Rakkautta valssintahdissa (1933) [The Emperor's Waltz]. He had developed into a matinée idol in both Germany and Austria with such films as Die Liebe siegt (1934) [Love Conquers] by the time he moved to London. He started treading the marquee boards there in such plays as "Victoria Regina" with a repertoire that would include everything from Shakespeare to Shaw.

In the late 1930s Esmond made a strategic career move to the United States, where he briefly changed his name yet again to Charles Esmond before reverting back to Carl. He eventually became an American citizen. Over the years, the slick, mustachioed, well-groomed actor poured on the charm in a number of popular war-era films as both cultivated romancers and urbane villains, in addition to the nefarious Teutonic officers he customarily played. Making his debut with the classic Zendan vanki (1937), Esmond went on to appear opposite Errol Flynn in Lentoeskaaderin hyökkäys (1938), Gary Cooper in both Kersantti York (1941) and Sankarin elämä (1944), Ray Milland in Erään merkin varjossa (1944), Susan Hayward in Virran viemä (1947) and Gregory Peck in Koko maailma oli hänen (1952).

By the 1950s Carl was a steady fixture on television drama and portrayed Victor Lazlo in a 1955 presentation of "Casablanca." A guest star of such series as "77 Sunset Strip," "Maverick," "the Big Valley" and "McMillan and Wife," his last film was the very forgettable Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966). Sporadically seen after that, he retired following his appearance in the TV mini-movie Errol Flynn - Hollywoodin paha poika (1985), a biopic of his 30s co-star Errol Flynn. Long wed to literary agent Ruth Taub, who predeceased him, he died of natural causes at 102 years.
BornJune 14, 1902
DiedDecember 4, 2004(102)
BornJune 14, 1902
DiedDecember 4, 2004(102)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos31

Magda Schneider, Carl Esmond, Wolfgang Liebeneiner, and Luise Ullrich in Liebelei (1933)
Carl Esmond and Reinhold Schünzel in First Comes Courage (1943)
Carl Esmond in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
Leon Askin and Carl Esmond in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
Carl Esmond in Inge und die Millionen (1933)
Ray Milland, Carl Esmond, and Marjorie Reynolds in Erään merkin varjossa (1944)
Ray Milland and Carl Esmond in Erään merkin varjossa (1944)
Carl Esmond and Marjorie Reynolds in Erään merkin varjossa (1944)
Ray Milland, Carl Esmond, and Marjorie Reynolds in Erään merkin varjossa (1944)
Errol Flynn, Donald Crisp, Carl Esmond, and Peter Willes in Lentoeskaaderin hyökkäys (1938)
Lloyd Bridges, Helen Beverley, Morris Carnovsky, Carl Esmond, Nancy Gates, Marie Lund, Osa Massen, and Herbert Rudley in The Master Race (1944)
Susan Hayward, Jeff Chandler, Jacques Bergerac, Fortunio Bonanova, Veda Ann Borg, Carl Esmond, and Blanche Yurka in Verisen kullan maa (1959)

Known for:

Ray Milland, Hillary Brooke, and Marjorie Reynolds in Erään merkin varjossa (1944)
Erään merkin varjossa
7.1
  • Willi Hilfe
  • 1944
Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, and Joan Leslie in Kersantti York (1941)
Kersantti York
7.7
  • German Major(as Charles Esmond)
  • 1941
Maasta Kuuhun (1958)
Maasta Kuuhun
5.1
  • Jules Verne
  • 1958
Blossom Time (1934)
Blossom Time
6.6
  • Count Rudi Von Hohenberg
  • 1934

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Errol Flynn - Hollywoodin paha poika (1985)
    Errol Flynn - Hollywoodin paha poika
    6.4
    TV Movie
    • General Von Helmuth
    • 1985
  • Shaun Cassidy, Pamela Sue Martin, and Parker Stevenson in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977)
    The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
    7.3
    TV Series
    • Kolbe
    • 1977
  • Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James in Poliisipäällikkö McMillan ja vaimo (1971)
    Poliisipäällikkö McMillan ja vaimo
    7.2
    TV Series
    • Zeiss
    • 1972
  • O'Hara (1971)
    O'Hara
    7.4
    TV Series
    • August Werner
    • 1972
  • James Drury, Doug McClure, and John McIntire in Virginialainen (1962)
    Virginialainen
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Alex Huber
    • 1970
  • John Forsythe, Melanie Fullerton, Joyce Menges, and Susan Neher in To Rome with Love (1969)
    To Rome with Love
    7.3
    TV Series
    • Kurt
    • 1970
  • Lee Majors, Barbara Stanwyck, Linda Evans, Peter Breck, and Richard Long in The Big Valley (1965)
    The Big Valley
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Marquis de Lacaise
    • 1967
  • Garrison's Gorillas (1967)
    Garrison's Gorillas
    7.8
    TV Series
    • German General
    • 1967
  • Robert Vaughn, Leo G. Carroll, and David McCallum in Napoleon Solo (1964)
    Napoleon Solo
    7.7
    TV Series
    • Baron Freddy De Chasseur
    • 1966
  • Insight (1960)
    Insight
    7.6
    TV Series
    • 1966
  • Barbara Bouchet, Aliza Gur, and Peter Mark Richman in Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966)
    Agent for H.A.R.M.
    2.4
    • Prof. Jan Stefánik
    • 1966
  • Convoy (1965)
    Convoy
    7.8
    TV Series
    • Field Marshal Von Speer
    • 1965
  • Ben Gazzara in Tuomittu (1965)
    Tuomittu
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Otto Hiltz
    • 1965
  • Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Trevor Howard, and Janet Margolin in Morituri (1965)
    Morituri
    7.0
    • Busch
    • 1965
  • "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" Kurt Russell, Jean Engstrom 1963 MGM
    The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Baron Pyrrhos
    • 1964

Soundtrack

  • Van Heflin, Kathryn Grayson, Marsha Hunt, Peggy Moran, Dorothy Morris, Cecilia Parker, Frances Raeburn, and Frances Rafferty in Seitsemän tulppaania (1942)
    Seitsemän tulppaania
    6.4
    • performer: "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (1886), "You and the Waltz and I" (1942) (uncredited)
    • 1942
  • Pat O'Brien, Max Baer, Jackie Cooper, Carl Esmond, George Murphy, and Jane Wyatt in The Navy Comes Through (1942)
    The Navy Comes Through
    6.1
    • performer: "Tales from the Vienna Woods" (1868)
    • 1942

Videos4

Trailer
Trailer 1:57
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:35
Official Trailer
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman
Trailer 1:25
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman
Cheyenne: Fury At Rio Hondo
Trailer 1:05
Cheyenne: Fury At Rio Hondo

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Willi Eichberger
  • Height
    • 1.80 m
  • Born
    • June 14, 1902
    • Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
  • Died
    • December 4, 2004
    • Brentwood, California, USA(natural causes)
  • Spouse
    • Ruth Taub? - December 4, 2004 (his death)
  • Other works
    Active on Broadway in the following production:
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Article

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    When the power of the National Socialism grew more and more in Germany he fled to England for the present where he could continue his career at the theater and in movies. He went to Hollywood in 1938 and was also able to gain a foothold there.

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