Who Are Those Guys? ~ Horst Frank

 

Horst Frank was a prolific German actor renowned for his extensive career in film, television, and theater, appearing in over 150 productions where he frequently embodied complex antagonists and rugged characters in adventure films, westerns, and crime dramas.

Born Horst Bernhard Wilhelm Frank in Lübeck, Germany on May 28, 1929, he initially trained as a trader before pursuing acting studies at the Hamburg Music Academy, graduating in 1951. His early career focused on theater stages in cities like Bonn, Basel, and Wuppertal, alongside work in radio and television with the Südwestfunk ensemble. Frank made his screen debut in 1957 as a cynical pilot in the war film Der Stern von Afrika, marking the start of a versatile filmography that spanned international co-productions from Italy and France beginning in 1959.

Throughout the 1960s, Frank became typecast as steely villains in genres like spaghetti westerns—such as “Preparati la bara!” (1968)—and action thrillers, including “Die Rache des Dr. Fu Man Chu” (1967) and “Django - Ein Sarg voll Blut” (1968). He also portrayed more nuanced figures, such as sensitive loners in “Das Mädchen Rosemarie” (1958) and neurotic roles in “Der Greifer” (1958). In later decades, his television work included gangster parts in crime series like ‘Im Namen des Gesetzes’ (1993–1996), while he balanced these with positive portrayals, notably as a father in ‘Das Traumhaus’ (1980) and the devil in the children's series ‘Timm Thaler’ (1979).

Beyond acting, Frank engaged in theater tours from 1973, staging works by Noël Coward and Peter Ustinov, and appeared in notable productions like Peter Zadek's 1992 adaptation of “Der blaue Engel”. A multifaceted artist, he authored an autobiography in 1981, published a volume of poems in 1989, and recorded a children's album alongside a collection of chansons. Personally, he was married three times first to actress Marion Frank, second to an unknown woman and they had a son, third to actress Chariklia Baxevanos in 1960 and had a daughter Désirée Frank, and later to Brigitte Kollecker in 1979 and briefly lived in Tanzania from 1961 to 1963, where he farmed coffee and vegetables; he had two children. Frank died of a heart attack in Heidelberg on 25 May 1999, just days before his 70th birthday.

FRANK, Horst (aka Horst Franck) (Horst Bernhard Wilhelm Frank) [5/28/1929, Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany – 5/25/1999, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (heart attack)] – film, radio, TV, voicr actor, married to actress Marion Frank (1965-1970), married to ? (19??-19??) father of a son, married to actress, singer Chariklia Baxevanos [1936-    ] (1960-1961) father of Désirée Frank [1960-    ], married to actress Brigitte Kollecker [1948-    ] (1979-1999).

Pirates of the Mississippi – 1963 (Captain Allan Kelly)

Bullets Don’t Argue – 1964 (Billy Clanton/Clayton)

Massacre at Marble City – 1964 (Dan McCormick)

Black Eagle of Santa Fe – 1965 (Blade Carpenter)

The Moment to Kill – 1967 (Jason Forrester)

Viva Django! – 1967 (Martin/David Barry)

The Wild and the Dirty – 1967 (Claude/Claudio Hamilton)

Hate Your Neighbor – 1968 (Chris Malone)

Carlos (TV) – 1971 (Ligo)

The Grand Duel – 1972 (David Saxon, Patriarch)

Carambola – 1973 (Clydeson)

Horst Frank - Der Flußpirat vom Mississippi – 2010 [himself]