Heinz Engelmann

Heinz Engelmann (1911–1996) was a blond German film star during the National Socialist era. He got into film in the late 1930s and appeared in several Propaganda films. After the war, he worked for television and he was very popular for his synchronising work. He was the German voice of such Hollywood stars as John Wayne and Rock Hudson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. G 90. Photo: Binz / Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2548/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3587/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Binz.

An angular, blond man

Heinrich Georg Ludwig ‘Heinz’ Engelmann was born in 1911 in Berlin. He joined the Physical Education Institute. After leaving school, he completed a commercial apprenticeship and initially worked as a car salesman and racing car driver.

Then he decided to become an actor. He attended Lilly Ackermann's ‘training centre for young German stage talent’ in Berlin. In 1938, he signed a contract at the Ufa, where he initially only played minor roles. Thanks to his physical education studies, he found roles requiring sportsmanship. On the other hand, he was also often cast as a soldier or an officer.

He made his screen debut in the Nazi propaganda film Pour le Mérite (Karl Ritter, 1938) starring Paul Hartmann. The film chronicles the rise of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) from World War I until Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. Soon Engelmann played larger roles in cinema productions as an ‘angular, blond man’.

An example is his role as Lieutenant Strehl in Drei Unteroffiziere/Three Non-Coms (Werner Hochbaum, 1939). He enjoyed great success with audiences alongside Magda Schneider in Mädchen im Vorzimmer/Girl in the front room (Gerhard Lamprecht, 1940). Engelmann played his first leading role as Lieutenant Wiegand alongside Ilse Werner in U-Boote westwärts/Submarines Westwards (Günther Rittau, 1941). This Nazi propaganda film that follows the exploits of a German submarine as it prowls the North Atlantic, is still considered a ‘reserved film‘ today.

Then Engelmann played the role of goalkeeper Jupp Jäger in the sports drama Das große Spiel/The Big Game (Robert A. Stemmle, 1942) with René Deltgen. In the final years of the war, Engelmann was banned from performing and was drafted into the Wehrmacht. During World War II, he was a soldier and later a captain with an anti-aircraft artillery unit of the Luftwaffe. He was taken prisoner of war by American Allies, from which he was able to escape.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3357/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Binz / Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3289/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Urban-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3103/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann / Ufa.

Popularity on television

After the war, Heinz Engelmann continued his acting career. From 1946 to 1948, he was engaged at the Stadttheater Hildesheim. In the 1950s, he made a comeback as a film actor. He was usually cast as a soldier, a detective inspector or a ‘tough guy’ in such films as the thriller Die Spur führt nach Berlin/Adventure in Berlin (Frantisek Cáp, 1952) and Made in Germany (Wolfgang Schleif, 1956) with Winnie Markus.

In 1957, he played flotilla commander Erich Wegener in Haie und kleine Fische/Sharks and Little Fish (Frank Wisbar, 1957), starring Hansjörg Felmy. A year later he was a crew member in U47 - Kapitänleutnant Prien/U-47 Lt. Commander Prien (Harald Reinl, 1958) featuring Dieter Eppler as Prien. His portrayal of Matti Altonen opposite Curt Bois as Punbtilla in the Bertold Brecht adaptation Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti/Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1960) was remarkable. Thanks to his voice full of character, he left a lasting impression.

Engelmann also appeared in various Heimat films. He played carver Matthias Feldner in Der Jäger vom Roteck/The Hunter From Roteck (Hermann Kugelstadt, 1955) and as forester Harkort in Wenn die Heide blüht/When The Heath Was In Blossom (Hans Deppe, 1960). From 1959 he experienced an even greater popularity on television with his role as a detective in the successful series Stahlnetz/Steel Net (Jürgen Roland, 1959). The series ran till 1968.

In the 1960s, he played at several theatres in Berlin. However, his work continued to focus on film and increasingly on television. He is remembered particularly for TV series such as Förster Horn/Forester Horn (Erik Ode, 1966) in which he played the title role, the comedy series Drei Frauen im Haus/Three Women in the House (Hermann Leitner, 1968) with Magda Schneider, and Junger Herr auf altem Hof (Hermann Kugelstadt, 1969). Between 1951 and 1999, Engelmann was one of the busiest German dubbing actors. He was the German voice of stars like John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Rock Hudson, Gary Cooper and William Holden. He wrote the German text of American films and series and supervised their post-synchronisation.

One of his last film appearances was as a wealthy ex-Nazi called Wolf in Barbet Schroeder's debut film about drugs, More (Barbet Schroeder, 1969) starring Mimsy Farmer. Engelmann probably made his last TV appearance in 1984 in the anniversary show of Wer bin ich?/Who Am I? Heinz Engelmann died of heart failure in 1996, in Tutzing, Bavaria, at age 85. He was buried in the new cemetery in Tutzing. Engelmann was married twice. His first marriage to actress Gertrud Meyen ended in divorce. In 1943, he married Tilla Bedendieck with whom he was married till he died. They had a son, actor and production manager Christian Engelmann (1944).


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 184. Photo: Binz, Berlin.


German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 147. Photo: Astra-Film / Hochreiter. Heinz Engelmann in Grenzstation 58/Border Station 58 (Harry Hasso, 1951).


West German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg. Photo: Michael Foth, Hamburg.

Sources: Guy Bellinger (IMDb), Stephanie d’Heil (Steffi-Line - German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.