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Karlheinz Böhm

Highest Rated: 95% Peeping Tom (1960)

Lowest Rated: 86% Martha (1974)

Birthday: Mar 16, 1928

Birthplace: Darmstadt, Germany

Raised in Germany, Austrian actor Karlheinz Böhm grew up in the cities of Darmstadt, Hamburg, and Dresden. The son of German soprano Thea Linhard and acclaimed Austrian-born conductor Karl Böhm, Karlheinz Böhm moved to Switzerland at age 11 to attend school. Due to the heavy presence of classical music in his home, Böhm intended to pursue classical piano after completing high school, but performed poorly during auditions. After meandering through studies in literature and art history, Böhm relocated to Vienna and studied acting under Professor Helmut Krauss. He proved a far more gifted actor than pianist, and soon was appearing onstage in theatrical productions across Europe. His film breakthrough came when Böhm was cast opposite Austrian actress Romy Schneider in "Sissi" (1955), the first installment in a successful film trilogy about Elisabeth, Empress of Austria. After several years making his name in German-langauge film, Böhm made his English-language debut in Michael Powell's controversial psychosexual thriller "Peeping Tom" (1960), in which he played the lead role of Mark Lewis, a psychopathic murderer who films his victims. Although the film was shocking enough that it all but ended the estimable Powell's career in the British film industry, Böhm was able to move temporarily to America to expand his career following its release. During the early years of the 1960s, Böhm appeared in a number of American films, including "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" (1962) and "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1962). He also guest starred on a variety of American TV shows, including a two-part episode of the anthology hit "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" (ABC 1961-69), in which he starred as Ludwig Van Beethoven. (For most of his American work, Böhm anglicized his name to Carl Boehm.) In the mid-70s, Böhm appeared in four films helmed by the formidable German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder: "Martha" (1974), "Effi Briest" (1974), "Fox and His Friends" (1975), and "Mother Küsters' Trip To Heaven" (1975). During the 1980s, Böhm became deeply involved in charity work in Ethiopia, founding the organization "Humans for Humans." In 2007, he was honored for his work with the charity, receiving the Balzan Prize for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood among Peoples. Though he had largely retired from acting in the early 1980s as his humanitarian work took precedence, he returned to the screen for a final voiceover role in 2009, dubbing the German-language voice of Carl Fredericksen in Pixar's animated hit "Up." Böhm died in Salzburg Austria in May 2014, reportedly from complications related to Alzheimer's disease.

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Highest-Rated Movies

95% 85% Peeping Tom
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86% 88% Martha
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86% 87% Fox and His Friends
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Court Martial
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44% Too Hot to Handle
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The Witch
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86% Sissi
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47% The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
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Sissi: The Young Empress
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67% Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress
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Filmography

Movies TV Shows
Fox and His Friends 86% 87% 1975 Max Actor Martha 86% 88% 1974 Helmut Salomon Actor Effi Briest 1974 Geheimrat Wullersdorf Actor The Venetian Affair 31% 1967 Robert Wahl Actor The Hour of Truth 1965 Jonathan Actor Come Fly With Me 56% 1963 Baron Franz Von Elzingen Actor Rififi in Tokyo 1963 Carl Mersen Actor Forever, My Love 100% 1962 Emperor Franz Josef Actor The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 47% 1962 Heinrich von Hartrott Actor The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm 61% 1962 Jacob Grimm Actor The Magnificent Rebel 1961 Ludwig van Beethoven Actor Peeping Tom 95% 85% 1960 Mark Lewis Actor Too Hot to Handle 44% 1960 Robert Jouvel Actor The Crook and the Cross 1960 Pater Steiner Actor Court Martial 1959 Oberleutnant Duren Actor Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress 67% 1957 Emperor Franz Josef of Austria Actor Sissi: The Young Empress 1956 Kaiser Franz Josef Actor Sissi 86% 1955 Kaiser Franz Josef Actor Her Crime Was Love 1955 Mitja Actor The Witch 1954 Graf Ulrich Ziszek-Waldstein Actor Unnatural 17% 1952 Frank Braun Actor
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