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Raimund Harmstorf(1939-1998)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Raimund Harmstorf in Der Seewolf (1971)
A tall, athletic bear of a man, Raimund Harmstorf rose to stardom on the strength of a single role: the amoral, brutal, self-righteous captain Wolf Larsen (a Nietzschean 'superman', if there ever was one) in Jack London's Der Seewolf (1971). Harmstorf's was a genuinely chilling, mesmerizing performance, which captivated audiences and contributed to this German/Austrian/French/Romanian co-production (with a nominal American-born lead) to be sold to numerous countries worldwide. The role not only defined his career but led to various myths about the actor himself. The most famous of these related to Larsen/Harmstorf squashing a raw potato with one hand, by all accounts not an easy thing to do. Detractors claimed the potato had been a cooked one, which it almost certainly was. Nonetheless, Harmstorf proved in subsequent appearances on national television that he was more than capable of pulverizing a raw spud with one paw. A publicity stunt had him issuing forth a nationwide challenge (with prize money offered) for anyone capable of emulating his feat.

Raimund Harmstorf grew up in Hamburg where he studied medicine and then attended the local college for music and the performing arts. He made the rounds of auditions for plays with modest success, leading to engagements in Hamburg and Berlin. He spent two years in South America cultivating his image as a macho adventurer, returning to Germany with two Deutschmarks in his pocket. A lover of action sports (paragliding, surfing and fast cars), he was also an accomplished athlete (in a 1972 issue of 'Bravo' magazine, he claimed to have been a regional decathlon youth champion). By the mid-1960's, he started to establish himself on screen, initially in small TV roles. After 'Wolf Larsen' put him on the map, he had further success in the title role of Jules Verne's Michel Strogoff (1975) and as the vernacular protagonist of Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand (1979) (a role, he also played on the stage). He also made appearances in several spaghetti westerns along with such genre favorites as Franco Nero and Terence Hill.

By the early 1990's, Harmstorf's life as an action hero began to unravel. He had sustained numerous sporting injuries (broken arms and legs, a hole in his knee after a botched operation), lost two teeth in a screen fight with Bud Spencer and was (during shooting of the same film) accidentally shot in the foot. His restaurant, "Zum Seewolf", had gone bankrupt. In 1994, Harmstorf was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. He unwisely self-medicated to the extent of causing severe side effects, including bouts of paranoia and depression. Scurrilous tabloids reported on the minutiae of his psychiatric condition and one even published a premature report of his suicide. What was left of Harmstorf's fragile state of mind broke and he hanged himself on the night of May 3 1998.
BornOctober 7, 1939
DiedMay 3, 1998(58)
BornOctober 7, 1939
DiedMay 3, 1998(58)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos12

Sybil Danning and Raimund Harmstorf in The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried (1971)
Sybil Danning and Raimund Harmstorf in The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried (1971)
Raimund Harmstorf in Un genio, due compari, un pollo (1975)
Patrick McGoohan and Raimund Harmstorf in Un genio, due compari, un pollo (1975)
Raimund Harmstorf in Un genio, due compari, un pollo (1975)
Patrick McGoohan and Raimund Harmstorf in Un genio, due compari, un pollo (1975)
Raimund Harmstorf in Bloody Friday (1972)
Amadeus August, Raimund Harmstorf, and Gianni Macchia in Bloody Friday (1972)
Raimund Harmstorf in Der Seewolf (1971)
Raimund Harmstorf and Edward Meeks in Der Seewolf (1971)
Raimund Harmstorf and Edward Meeks in Der Seewolf (1971)

Known for

The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried (1971)
The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried
4.0
  • Siegfried(as Lance Boyle)
  • 1971
Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand (1979)
Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand
5.3
  • Götz von Berlichingen
  • 1979
Helmuth Lohner in Babeck (1968)
Babeck
8.3
TV Mini Series
  • Nielsson
Michel Strogoff (1975)
Michel Strogoff
7.3
TV Mini Series
  • Michel Strogoff

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Our Charly (1995)
    Our Charly
    • John Berghaus
    • TV Series
    • 1998
  • Vienna Murder Mystery (1997)
    Vienna Murder Mystery
    • Profi
    • 1997
  • Vier wie wir
    • Pokerface Dieter
    • TV Series
    • 1997
  • Coast Guard (1997)
    Coast Guard
    • Möller
    • TV Series
    • 1997
  • Gaby Dohm and Klausjürgen Wussow in Klinik unter Palmen (1996)
    Klinik unter Palmen
    • Hannes Müller
    • TV Series
    • 1996
  • The Wolves (1996)
    The Wolves
    • King
    • 1996
  • Jede Menge Leben (1995)
    Jede Menge Leben
    • Hanno
    • TV Series
    • 1996
  • Julia Kent, Jonathan Isgar, and Otto Retzer in Royal Destiny (1995)
    Royal Destiny
    • Nick
    • Video
    • 1995
  • The Viking Sagas (1995)
    The Viking Sagas
    • Valgard
    • 1995
  • Ein Bayer auf Rügen (1993)
    Ein Bayer auf Rügen
    • Hein Lück
    • TV Series
    • 1995
  • Eine kleine Erfrischung
    • Juri
    • TV Movie
    • 1994
  • African Skies (1992)
    African Skies
    • Raimund Mautner
    • TV Series
    • 1992–1994
  • Alaska Kid (1993)
    Alaska Kid
    • John Bellew
    • TV Series
    • 1993
  • Mit Leib und Seele (1989)
    Mit Leib und Seele
    • Manfred Mattusek
    • TV Series
    • 1993
  • Tushka Bergen and Tobias Hoesl in Glückliche Reise (1992)
    Glückliche Reise
    • Reinhold Wismar
    • TV Series
    • 1993

Soundtrack

  • Wunderland (1983)
    Wunderland
    • performer: "Wir sind Asterix & Obelix"
    • TV Movie
    • 1983
  • Lodynskis Flohmarkt Company
    • performer: "Ahoi, Kameraden", "Lustig ist das Matrosenleben"
    • TV Series
    • 1972

Personal details

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  • Alternative names
    • Lance Boyle
  • Height
    • 6′ 1½″ (1.87 m)
  • Born
    • October 7, 1939
    • Hamburg, Germany
  • Died
    • May 3, 1998
    • Marktoberdorf, Germany(suicide by hanging)
  • Parents
    • Dr. Ernst Harmstorf
  • Publicity listings
    • 6 Print Biographies
    • 48 Articles
    • 16 Pictorials
    • 11 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Surrounded by a 'potato mystery'. When he crushed a raw potato with his bare hand on-screen in Der Seewolf (1971), the whole nation speculated whether he could really do that and whether it had really been a raw potato or a cooked one.

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