# Hans Meyer (actor)

Hans Meyer (21 July 1925 – 3 April 2020) was a French actor. In Britain, he was known for his portrayal of Hauptmann Franz Ulmann in the television series Colditz (1972–1974).

## Early life and education

Meyer was born to German parents in Paulpietersburg, Natal Province, Union of South Africa in July 1925. He worked initially as a model where he posed for book covers until a friend in Germany working for an advertising agency lined up his first work as an actor, a television advert for Puschkin Vodka. The brand became Germany's best-selling vodka and Meyer became known as "Frank S. Thorn, the Puschkin Man".

## Career

Meyer was hired by Anatole Litvak as an extra for his film The Night of the Generals (1967). He went on the play supporting roles in French films alongside French cinema stars such as Lino Ventura, Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo. In 1966, he was engaged for La grande vadrouille, where he embodied an angry SS representative. In 1968 he played in the action thriller The Devil's Garden by Yves Boisset. In 1969, he took on the role of Sheriff Blade in the thriller Les Étrangers, shot in Spain. In 1970 he played in the Western Cannon for Cordoba, in the role of the Swedish major Svedborg, the leader of a private mercenary army. In 1975 he had a small role in Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Barry Lyndon.
In the 1970s, Meyer also worked for television. He played a continuous series role in the British television series Colditz. In 1978, he appeared in the mini-series Holocaust - The History of the Weiss Family; in it, he played the SS official Ernst Kaltenbrunner. In the TV movie The Girlfriend from Childhood (L'amie d'enfance, 1981) from the Commissaire Moulin- series, he played the assassin, whom Yves Rénier and title heroine Claude Jade ultimately put to the test. He then appeared in other television series. He later appeared in Steven Spielberg and George Lucas's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles as well as the French cult movie Brotherhood of the Wolf.

## Death

Meyer died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France on 3 April 2020 at the age of 94.

## Films and television

* 1961: The President - Un motard (uncredited)
* 1965: Pierrot le Fou - Gangster (uncredited)
* 1966: Culpable para un delito - Martín Baumer
* 1966: La Grande Vadrouille - Officer S.S. Otto Weber
* 1966: Little Girls - Mike
* 1967: The Night of the Generals - Wehrmacht Adjutant (uncredited)
* 1967: The Last Adventure - Le mercenaire
* 1967: Salut les copines [fr] - Mike
* 1967: Réseau secret - Hermann Glöckel
* 1967: Un épais manteau de sang [fr] - Sorenson
* 1967: Le Crime de David Levinstein [fr] - Schrank
* 1968: Coplan Saves His Skin - Hugo
* 1968: Koenigsmark (TV Movie) - Le grand Duc
* 1969: Erotic Trap [fr] - Varen
* 1969: The Troubleshooters (TV Series) - Joachim Schmitt-Klever
* 1969: S.O.S. fréquence 17 (TV Series)
* 1969: Les Étrangers [fr] - Blade
* 1969: Department S (TV Series) - Lucky Le Beau
* 1970: Codename (TV Series) - General Hovaths
* 1970: Cannon for Cordoba - Svedborg
* 1970: The Great White Hope - Prussian Officer in beer garden (uncredited)
* 1970: Comme il est court le temps d'aimer [fr] - Marc
* 1970: Les enfants de Caïn
* 1971: Paul Temple (TV Series) - Brad
* 1971: Perched on a Tree - Colonel Muller
* 1971: Kate (TV Series) - Frohl Svenson
* 1971: Valparaiso, Valparaiso [fr] - Helmut
* 1971: Jason King (TV Series) - Angelo
* 1972: Pic et pic et colegram - Jeroboam
* 1973: Le Magnifique - Colonel Collins
* 1973: La folie Almayer (TV Movie) - Le capitaine Linguard
* 1972–1974: Colditz (TV Series) - Hauptmann Franz Ulmann
* 1974: Thriller (TV Series) - Karl Vorster
* 1974: Heidi - Grandfather
* 1975: Quiller (TV Series) - Major Hardtmann
* 1975: Barry Lyndon - Prussian Officer
* 1976: Blondie - Inspector
* 1976: Les Monte-en-l'air (TV Movie) - Breifer
* 1976: The Howerd Confessions (TV Series) - Lieutenant Gruber
* 1977: Fachoda, la mission Marchand [fr] (TV Mini-Series) - L'agent des trafiquants
* 1977: Le mille-pattes fait des claquettes [fr] - Général Von Richter
* 1978: Holocaust (TV Mini-Series) - Ernst Kaltenbrunner
* 1978: Les grandes conjurations: Le connétable de Bourbon (TV Movie) - Frunsberg
* 1979: La nuit claire - Pluton
* 1979: The Riddle of the Sands - Grimm
* 1979: La Gueule de l'autre - Richard Krauss
* 1979: Quest of Eagles (TV Series) - Sandor
* 1980: Strangulation Blues (short)
* 1980: Opération Trafics [fr] (TV Series)
* 1981: BBC2 Playhouse (TV Series) - Janos Almasy
* 1981: Commissaire Moulin (TV Series): L'Amie d'enfance - L'assassin au grenade
* 1981: Sans famille [fr] (TV Series) - Driscoll
* 1982: Les Amours des années grises [fr] (TV Series) - Von Postel
* 1982: Inside the Third Reich (TV Movie) - Ernst Kaltenbrunner
* 1983: Les poneys sauvages (TV Mini-Series)
* 1984: Boy Meets Girl - Le cosmonaute
* 1984: Tueur maison (Short)
* 1985: Ça n'arrive qu'à moi [fr] - Le responsable de la station Malabar
* 1985: Red Sonja - Red Sonja's Father
* 1979–1985: Minder (TV Series) - Kurt Wengler / Maurice Bonnet
* 1986: The Night Is Young - Hans
* 1988: Ville étrangère - L'ambassadeur
* 1988: M'as-tu-vu ? (TV Series)
* 1989: Céleri remoulade (Short)
* 1987–1989: William Tell (TV Series) - Tyroll / Tyrrol
* 1989: Roselyne et les lions - Rainer
* 1989: La Révolution française - Le Duc de Brunswick
* 1989: Bunker Palace Hôtel - Le président
* 1989: L'Orchestre rouge [fr] - Nazi General
* 1990: Counterstrike (TV Series) - Kurtz
* 1990: Cantara (TV miniseries)
* 1990: Artcore oder Der Neger
* 1991: Navarro (TV Series) - Sauveur
* 1991: Un privé au soleil (TV Series)
* 1991: Dingo - Paris Jazz Club owner (uncredited)
* 1991: Renseignements généraux (TV Series) - Baltar
* 1992: The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (TV Series) - Hebworth (Alias Veitch)
* 1983–1992: Les Cinq Dernières Minutes (TV Series) - Haltman / Hafner
* 1992: The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV Series) - German Officer #2
* 1992: Sniper 2: L'affaire Petracci (TV Movie) - Bababoum
* 1992: Lycée alpin (TV Series)
* 1992: The New Statesman (TV Series) - Herr Wessel
* 1992: Une cuillerée pour papa (Short)
* 1992: John (Short) - John / Tarzan
* 1993: La grande collection: Senso (TV Movie) - Le général Hautmann
* 1993: Le JAP, juge d'application des peines (TV Series)
* 1993: Artcore oder Der Neger
* 1994: Le Terminus de Rita [fr]
* 1995: Machinations (TV Movie)
* 1995: La Rivière Espérance (TV Mini-Series) - Commandant du Duguay-Trouin
* 1995: L'entretien (Short)
* 1997: Entre les vagues (Short)
* 1997: Double Team - British Man
* 1997: K - Gûter
* 1997: Inspecteur Moretti (TV Series) - Le Vieux
* 2000: Le birdwatcher - Mitch Glassborough
* 2001: Le pacte des loups - Marquis d'Apcher
* 2002: Morteterre (Short) - Compt Klaus de Rexel
* 2003: The Dope - Rudolf Maier
* 2003: Baptiste (Short)
* 2003: Ripoux 3 - Van der Brook
* 2004: Albert est méchant - James Lord Cooke
* 2005: Sauf le respect que je vous dois - Lunel
* 2006: Final Sentence (Short) - The Inquisitor - The priest
* 2007: La piscine de maman (Short)
* 2007: How Much We Hated Each Other (TV Movie) - Konrad Adenauer
* 2008: Collection Fred Vargas (TV Series) - Fulgence
* 2010: Hitler à Hollywood - Luis Aramchek
* 2014: Cruel - Le libraire (final film role)