German actor Claus Holm (1918-1996) was a star of Heimatfilms in the 1950s. Later he was seen in three Edgar Wallace detectives as well as in films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1979.
German postcard by UFA (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft), Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-89. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Ufa.
Claus Holm was born as Helmut Gerhard Ozygus in Bochum-Werne, Germany in 1918.
He started out as a miner and by 1937 he was a boxer. In the mid-1940s he became an actor in Berlin.
He played supporting parts in films like Das Bad auf der Tenne/The Bath in the Barn (Volker von Collande, 1943) with Heli Finkenzeller. The comedy was shot in Agfacolor, one of only a few German films made in colour during the war years.
After the war, Claus Holm was responsible for the Kurmärkische Theater in Salzwedel.
He made 18 films for the East-German film company DEFA, among them Ehe in Schatten/Marriage in the Shadows (Kurt Maetzig, 1947) with Paul Klinger, and Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor/The Merry Wives of Windsor (Georg Wildhagen, 1950) with Sonja Ziemann.
German postcard by Kolibri-Verloag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf., no. D 24. Photo: Real-Film / Haenchen.
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 160. Retail price: 10 Pfg. Photo: Dührkoop.
In 1953 Claus Holm fled from the DDR to West Berlin, where he was engaged at the Schillertheater and the Schlosspark-Theater.
He starred in the Heimatfilms Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld/The Priest from Kirchfeld (Hans Deppe, 1955) with Ulla Jacobsson, Wenn die Alpenrosen blüh'n/When the Alpine Roses Blossom (Hans Deppe, Richard Häussler, 1955) with Hertha Feiler, and Zwei blaue Augen/Two Blue Eyes (Gustav Ucicky, 1955) with Marianne Koch.
He appeared next opposite Adrian Hoven and Marianne Hold in ...wie einst Lili Marleen/As Once Lili Marleen (Paul Verhoeven, 1956). The title refers to the popular wartime song 'Lili Marleen' popularised by Lale Anderson, who performs it at a concert at the end of the film.
In 1957 he played commissionary Axel Kersten in the Oscar-nominated thriller Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam/The Devil Strikes at Night (Robert Siodmak, 1957). It was the true story of Bruno Luebke who raped and strangled several young women in Hamburg during the last months of WW II.
Holm also appeared in the remake of Der Tiger von Eschnapur/The Tiger of Bengal (Fritz Lang, 1959) and its sequel Das Indische Grabmal/The Indian Tomb (Fritz Lang, 1959) with Debra Paget and Paul Hubschmid. In the USA the films were shown together in an edited version as Journey to the Lost City (1960).
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 111. Photo: Ringpress / Vogelmann.
In the 1960s, Claus Holm played in three popular Edgar Wallace thrillers: Der Fluch der gelben Schlange/The Curse of the Yellow Snake (Franz Josef Gottlieb, 1963), Der Mönch mit der Peitsche/The Monk With the Whip (Alfred Vohrer, 1967), and Der Gorilla von Soho/Gorilla Gang (Alfred Vohrer, 1968).
Holm also appeared in the thriller Dynamit in grüner Seide/Death and Diamonds (Harald Reinl, 1968), starring American actor George Nader. It was part of a series of eight films about FBI agent Jerry Cotton, the titular character of a series of German pulp magazine-type crime novels.
Holm was well known to TV audiences as Commandor Hasso Sigbjörnsen in the cult SF-series Raumpatrouille Orion/Space Patrol (1966). It was the first German science fiction TV series. Being a huge success with several reruns, audience ratings went up to 56%. Over the years, the series acquired a distinct cult status in Germany.
From the late 1960s onwards he could mainly be seen in the theatre, but in 1978 he returned to the screen in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's hit film Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) starring Hanna Schygulla. This was followed by parts in Die Dritte Generation/The Third Generation (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979) and Berlin Alexanderplatz (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1980), the sweeping 16-hour-long TV drama based on the novel by Alfred Döblin.
In 1996, Claus Holm died in Berlin at 78. He was interred at the Friedhof Heerstrasse in Berlin, next to his wife, the singer Dagmar Holm.
Scene from Raumpatrouille Orion/Space Patrol (1966). Source: Permafrost38 (YouTube).
Sources: Stephanie d'Heil (Steffi-line - German), Androom, Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 15 October 2024.
German postcard by UFA (Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft), Berlin-Tempelhof, no. CK-89. Retail price: 30 Pfg. Photo: Ufa.
Miner and boxer
Claus Holm was born as Helmut Gerhard Ozygus in Bochum-Werne, Germany in 1918.
He started out as a miner and by 1937 he was a boxer. In the mid-1940s he became an actor in Berlin.
He played supporting parts in films like Das Bad auf der Tenne/The Bath in the Barn (Volker von Collande, 1943) with Heli Finkenzeller. The comedy was shot in Agfacolor, one of only a few German films made in colour during the war years.
After the war, Claus Holm was responsible for the Kurmärkische Theater in Salzwedel.
He made 18 films for the East-German film company DEFA, among them Ehe in Schatten/Marriage in the Shadows (Kurt Maetzig, 1947) with Paul Klinger, and Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor/The Merry Wives of Windsor (Georg Wildhagen, 1950) with Sonja Ziemann.
German postcard by Kolibri-Verloag G.m.b.H., Minden/Westf., no. D 24. Photo: Real-Film / Haenchen.
German postcard by Filmbilder-Vertrieb Ernst Freihoff, Essen, no. 160. Retail price: 10 Pfg. Photo: Dührkoop.
Heimatfilms
In 1953 Claus Holm fled from the DDR to West Berlin, where he was engaged at the Schillertheater and the Schlosspark-Theater.
He starred in the Heimatfilms Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld/The Priest from Kirchfeld (Hans Deppe, 1955) with Ulla Jacobsson, Wenn die Alpenrosen blüh'n/When the Alpine Roses Blossom (Hans Deppe, Richard Häussler, 1955) with Hertha Feiler, and Zwei blaue Augen/Two Blue Eyes (Gustav Ucicky, 1955) with Marianne Koch.
He appeared next opposite Adrian Hoven and Marianne Hold in ...wie einst Lili Marleen/As Once Lili Marleen (Paul Verhoeven, 1956). The title refers to the popular wartime song 'Lili Marleen' popularised by Lale Anderson, who performs it at a concert at the end of the film.
In 1957 he played commissionary Axel Kersten in the Oscar-nominated thriller Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam/The Devil Strikes at Night (Robert Siodmak, 1957). It was the true story of Bruno Luebke who raped and strangled several young women in Hamburg during the last months of WW II.
Holm also appeared in the remake of Der Tiger von Eschnapur/The Tiger of Bengal (Fritz Lang, 1959) and its sequel Das Indische Grabmal/The Indian Tomb (Fritz Lang, 1959) with Debra Paget and Paul Hubschmid. In the USA the films were shown together in an edited version as Journey to the Lost City (1960).
German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. F 111. Photo: Ringpress / Vogelmann.
Edgar Wallace thrillers
In the 1960s, Claus Holm played in three popular Edgar Wallace thrillers: Der Fluch der gelben Schlange/The Curse of the Yellow Snake (Franz Josef Gottlieb, 1963), Der Mönch mit der Peitsche/The Monk With the Whip (Alfred Vohrer, 1967), and Der Gorilla von Soho/Gorilla Gang (Alfred Vohrer, 1968).
Holm also appeared in the thriller Dynamit in grüner Seide/Death and Diamonds (Harald Reinl, 1968), starring American actor George Nader. It was part of a series of eight films about FBI agent Jerry Cotton, the titular character of a series of German pulp magazine-type crime novels.
Holm was well known to TV audiences as Commandor Hasso Sigbjörnsen in the cult SF-series Raumpatrouille Orion/Space Patrol (1966). It was the first German science fiction TV series. Being a huge success with several reruns, audience ratings went up to 56%. Over the years, the series acquired a distinct cult status in Germany.
From the late 1960s onwards he could mainly be seen in the theatre, but in 1978 he returned to the screen in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's hit film Die Ehe der Maria Braun/The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) starring Hanna Schygulla. This was followed by parts in Die Dritte Generation/The Third Generation (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979) and Berlin Alexanderplatz (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1980), the sweeping 16-hour-long TV drama based on the novel by Alfred Döblin.
In 1996, Claus Holm died in Berlin at 78. He was interred at the Friedhof Heerstrasse in Berlin, next to his wife, the singer Dagmar Holm.
Scene from Raumpatrouille Orion/Space Patrol (1966). Source: Permafrost38 (YouTube).
Sources: Stephanie d'Heil (Steffi-line - German), Androom, Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 15 October 2024.
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