Born in Nuremberg on February 27, 1910, the son of a school teacher,
well-known German actor Wolfgang Preiss started studying philosophy and
theatre sciences alternately (including dance training) and made his
stage debut in 1932 in Munich. He appeared in many theatres throughout
his country in the 30s including Heidelberg, Bonn, Bremen, Stuttgart,
Baden-Baden and Berlin.
Beginning in a couple of early 1940s German films, WWII interrupted Preiss' movie output for quite some time,
but, in many ways, the war never left him, for he would
continue playing war-time colonels, generals, and field marshals for
the duration of his prolific career.
Following more theatre and radio work, Preiss returned to post-war German filming and was seldom seen out of uniform with a mass of pictures including Canaris (1954), Der 20. Juli (1955) (starring role), Der Cornet (1955), Anastasia - Die letzte Zarentochter (1956), Stresemann (1957), Haie und kleine Fische (1957) and Ich war ihm hörig (1958). His diabolical tendencies also lent to his casting as the title criminal mastermind in a series of mystery films: Die 1000 Augen des Dr. Mabuse (1960), Im Stahlnetz des Dr. Mabuse (1961), Die unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr. Mabuse (1962), Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1962) and Scotland Yard jagt Dr. Mabuse (1963).
Preiss continued to keep his Nazi uniform starched and pressed as he branched out internationally for such 1960's war films as Verrat auf Befehl (1962), Der längste Tag (1962), Der Kardinal (1963), Der Zug (1964), Colonel von Ryans Expreß (1965), Brennt Paris? (1966), Schlacht um Anzio (1968) and Die zum Teufel gehen (1969). As the nemesis of such American heroes as William Holden, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum and Peter Falk, he moved into the next decade with portrayals of Rommel in Im Morgengrauen brach die Hölle los (1971) starring Richard Burton and Field Marshal Von Rundstedt in Richard Attenborough's
Die Brücke von Arnheim (1977) which featured an international star cast.
Preiss would appear in over 100 German and continental productions in his lifetime. Other popular filming would include featured roles in Top Secret (1972), The Boys from Brazil - Geheimakte Viertes Reich (1978), Blutspur (1979) and Die Formel (1980). In his twilight years, Preiss turned more and more to TV as part of the ensemble casts of the quality miniseries Wallenstein (1978), Der Feuersturm (1983) and Feuersturm und Asche (1988). He ended his career with a role in the French adventure movie drama Aire libre (1996).
Preiss died on November 27, 2002, at the age of 92, as the result of a fall. Married three times, he was survived by his third wife, Ruth, whom he married in 1955.
