Karl
Heinz Braun was of German decent born in Tokyo, Japan during the second world war. Per
director Alex Cox, “Charlie’s birth certificate - as he would gleefully point
out - had a swastika on it. He delighted in winding people up, and playing the
bad guy, and yet he had no meanness in him, no cruelty of any kind. He was
working as a ski instructor in Switzerland when he met Sergio Leone. Leone,
always on the lookout for big, tough, blond guys, invited him to come to
Almeria and play a cowboy in his next Western. The
film was “A Genius”, produced by Leone and directed by Damiano Damiani. Charley
had a few scenes with Klaus Kinski: if you see the film, he's playing cards
with Kinski in the “Once Upon a Time in
the West” saloon. Charley liked the film world, liked playing a cowboy, liked
the desert. So he stayed, finding a place in what was then a hippie enclave
called Mojacar. He soon hooked up with Kate Mulock, widow of Al Mulock, another
tough-and-crazy-looking character actor who had died during the filming of
Leone's art Western. Blacklisted after I
made “Walker” (1987), I returned to Spain. Charley had started a production
company - Castillo Films - and opened an office in Tabernas. I became his
partner.
“In
'91 Lorenzo O'Brien invited me to Mexico to direct his script, “El Patrullero”
(Highway Patrolman). We hired Charley to play the nameless drug dealer who
Roberto Sosa kills and buries in an unmarked grave. Charley loved the locations
- in Durango, Parras, Zacatecas and Sombrerete - returned briefly to Mojacar to
pack his bags, and moved to Spain. The following year he produced “Death &
the Compass”, which I directed.
“Thereafter
Charley worked as a line producer, a location manager, and an actor. He fell in
love with one of the locations he discovered - the lagoon at Sontecomapan, in
Vera Cruz - and built a shack there. For a decade he commuted between
Sontecomapan and Mexico City, where the work was. He was diagnosed with lung
cancer a couple of years back. Despite the usual arduous and expensive
treatments, the cancer spread. One of his last features was “Bandidas”: a
mediocre “Viva Maria!” remake which he blessed with incredible locations. He
played a minor bad guy in that film.
“As
Charley's health worsened, his friends came through. Lorenzo and Miguel Camacho
paid for his medicines. His magnificent daughter, Anouschka, travelled from
Spain to care for him. Javier Gunther, the transportation captain, arranged for
his return to Sontecomapan, where old friends visited.” Karl ‘Charley’ Braun
died in his shack in Sontecomapan, Vera Cruz, Mexico on June 27, 2009."
BRAUN, Karl (aka Charles Braun,
Charley Braun, Charlie Braun, Karl ‘Charlie’ H. Braun) (Karl Heinz Braun)
[194?, Tokyo, Japan - 6/27/2009, Sontecomapan, Vera Cruz, Mexico (lung cancer)]
– producer, production manager, stuntman, film actor, father of actress
Anuschka Braun, founded Castillo Films.
My Name is Nobody – 1972
(Jim)
Sting of the West – 1972
(miner)
The Genius - 1975 (poker
player)
Straight to Hell – 1986
(Blacksmith McMahon) [as Charlie Braun] [also production manager]
Renegade – 2002 (Charlie)
Bandidas - 2004 (regulator)
Good ol Charly ,one of the best I've ever met !!
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