Charles Régnier

Charles Régnier
Karl Friedrich Anton Hermann "Charles" Régnier (22 July 1914 – 13 September 2001) was a German actor, director and translator. He appeared in more than 135 films between 1949 and 2000. In the 1950s and the 1960s, he was one of the busiest German theatre and film actors.
Family life and upbringing
Born at Freiburg in 1914, Regnier owed his name to his grandfather, a native Frenchman. Regnier was the first child of Anton Karl Regnier and Emile (Milly) Maria Friederike Harrer, born in Freiburg im Breisgau. His father was a general practitioner and Charles initially wanted to become a doctor.
Charles Regnier grew up in Strasbourg and Badenweiler where his maternal grandparents owned the Schloss Hausbaden hotel. After his father's suicide in 1924, his mother first moved with her four sons to Heidelberg, and then to Montreux on Lake Geneva. When his mother contracted tuberculosis in 1929, the family decided to move to the sanatorium at Davos. Here, Charles met a number of celebrities, including the writer Klabund, who awakened Regnier's interest in literature and the theatre. Together with his brothers, Charles produced Klabund's comedy XYZ: For three actors in three acts for a performance in Klabund's private living room. His first acting performance was starring as the Countess Y in this piece. "As an actor I never again had the opportunity to play a lady, but often showed how one plays a lady," Regnier wrote in his personal memoirs.
Career
Regnier's first engagement was in 1938 at the theatre at Greifswald, where he met actress and singer Pamela Wedekind, a daughter of the playwright Frank Wedekind. They married on 21 June 1941 in Berlin. In 1941, Regnier was invited by Otto Falckenberg to join the ensemble of the Munich Kammerspiele, where he remained until 1958. From 1946, Regnier worked as a drama teacher at the newly founded Otto-Falckenberg-Schule.
From 1961 to 1962, he was an ensemble member of the Wiener Burgtheater. Regnier preferred not to make a distinction between high art performances and entertainment, saying, "The public should find my work effective, entertaining, in short: agreeable."
Regnier lived in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. He died on 13 September 2001 after suffering a stroke in Bad Wiessee. He was buried in the Badenweiler-Lipburg cemetery, close to his childhood home.
His literary estate can be found in the archives of the Academy of the Arts in Berlin.
Selected filmography
(1949)
The Last Illusion (1949), as Bertram
Royal Children (1950), as Count Larissa
Die Tat des Anderen (1951)
Decision Before Dawn (1951), as German Prisoner (uncredited)
Captive Soul (1952)
My Name is Niki (1952), as Newspaper editor Claus
The Sergeant's Daughter (1952)
The Chaplain of San Lorenzo (1953), as Police detective Morro
Street Serenade (1953), as Sachetti
A Life for Do (1954), as Maurice
Cabaret (1954), as Music critic
Sauerbruch – Das war mein Leben (1954), as Head of the psychiatric section
Consul Strotthoff (1954), as Conrad Eylers
Clivia (1954)
Captain Wronski (1954), as Judge of the Volksgerichtshof
The Witch (1954), as Dr. Harz
The Phantom of the Big Tent (1954)
Canaris (1954), as Baron Trenti
Secrets of the City (1955), as Morton
Hello, My Name is Cox (1955), as Police detective Carter
Ein Mann vergißt die Liebe (1955)
Oasis (1955), as Van Grouten
Heroism after Hours (1955), as Marro the Magican (segment "Der Zauberer Maro")
Heaven Is Never Booked Up (1955), as Borelli
The Ambassador's Wife (1955), as Legationsrat Mattusch
Island of the Dead (1955), as Father Markus
Bandits of the Autobahn (1955), as Paul Barra
Operation Sleeping Bag (1955), as Oberfeldrichter Dr. Kratz
The Forest House in Tyrol (1955), as Milazzo
Two Blue Eyes (1955), as Hergentheimer
Alibi (1955), as Dietmar
San Salvatore (1956), as Professor Dr. Monthé
Magic Fire (1956), as Giacomo Meyerbeer
(1956), as Stadtrat Praun
My Husband's Getting Married Today (1956), as Niki Springer
Kitty and the Great Big World (1956), as Monsieur Jeannot
The Story of Anastasia (1956)
A Heart Returns Home (1956), as Boerner
Queen Louise (1957), as Talleyrand
The Power and the Glory (1957, TV film), as The Governor's Cousin
Beneath the Palms on the Blue Sea (1957), as Cesare, the Contessa's butler
Der geheimnisvolle Dr. Mander (1957, TV film), as David West
(1957), as Hartmann
El Hakim (1957), as Dr. Kolali
(1958), as Richard Allhard
A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), as Joseph
(1958), as Polizei-Chemiker Dr. Wagenknecht
Taiga (1958), as Becker
(1958), as Roberts
(1958), as Mr. Kenneweg, teacher
The Journey (1959), as Capt. Ornikidze
(1959, TV film), as Lesgate
(1959, TV film), as Sheppard / Alain Chartier
Court Martial (1959), as Judge Schorn
The Rest Is Silence (1959), as Police Inspector Fortner
(1959), as Metternich
Reclining Figure (1959, TV film), as Paul Weldon
Mistress of the World (1960), as Norvald
Emilia Galotti (1960, TV film), as Marinelli, chamberlain of the prince
The Man in the Black Derby (1960), as Herr von Seelisberg
(1960), as Ernst Schenker
The Secret Ways (1961), as The Count
The Nina B. Affair (1961), as Schwerdtfeger
The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi (1961), as Sir Thomas Jones, Minister of Justice
Bankraub in der Rue Latour (1961), as Camarro
(1961), as Dr. Hauenstein
(1962), as Dr. Kampmann
Der Marquis von Keith (1962, TV film), as Marquis von Keith
(1962), as Prosecutor Reeder
The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), as Wilhelm Kortner
Adorable Julia (1962), as Lord Charles Tamerly
Lulu (1962), as Jack the Ripper
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (1962), as Mortimer
Freud: The Secret Passion (1962) (uncredited)
The Curse of the Yellow Snake (1963), as Major Spedwell
Love Has to Be Learned (1963), as Kramer
Miracle of the White Stallions (1963), as Gen. Stryker
The Black Abbot (1963), as Detective Puddler
(1963), as Dr. Alois Kämpfer, newspaper publisher
Banana Peel (1963), as Le vrai Bontemps
Les Tontons flingueurs (1963), as Tomate
(1963), as Director
An Alibi for Death (1963), as Dr. Hartleben
(1963), as Charley Nelson
(1964, TV film), as J. Robert Oppenheimer
(1964), as Defense attorney
Condemned to Sin (1964)
Sicher ist sicher (1964, TV film), as Commodore
Angélique, Marquise des Anges (1964), as Conan Bécher, inquisitor
(1965), as Ronald Bruck
Shots in Threequarter Time (1965), as Henry
Marvelous Angelique (1965), as Conan Bécher, inquisitor
Code Name: Jaguar (1965), as Simon Walter
Pleins feux sur Stanislas (1965), as Man with cat (uncredited)
Doktor Murkes gesammelte Nachrufe (1965, TV film), as Badallas
A Study in Terror (1965), as Joseph Beck
(1965), as Doctor
Das Leben des Horace A. W. Tabor (1965, TV film), as William H. Brown
Berta Garlan (1966, TV film), as Klingemann
The Strangler of the Tower (1966), as Mr. Cliften
The Doctor Speaks Out (1966), as Professor
Caligula (1966, TV film), as Cherea
To Skin a Spy (1966), as Ehrfurt
Once a Greek (1966), as Petit-Paysan
Les Femmes Savantes (1966, TV film), as Vadius
Run Like a Thief (1967), as Piet de Jonge
Joséphine (1967, TV film), as Talma
: Nach all den Jahren (1967, TV series episode), as Gunnar Gustavsson
Marat/Sade (1967, TV film), as Marquis de Sade
(1968, TV miniseries), as Kaminsky
(1968), as Professor Sauermann
(1969), as The General (voice)
(1970, TV film), as Dr. William Chumley
Slap in the Face (1970), as Finance minister
Hier bin ich, mein Vater (1970, TV film), as Mr. von Griese
Under the Roofs of St. Pauli (1970), as Night club owner
Der Kommissar: Der Moormörder (1971, TV series episode), as Dr. Strobel
Preußen über alles... – Bismarcks deutsche Einigung (1971, TV film), as Benedetti
Die Münchner Räterepublik (1971, TV film), as Kurt Eisner
The Night in Lisbon (1971, TV film), as Lachmann
Oliver (1971, TV film), as Finanzdirektor Kaenel
Kein Geldschrank geht von selber auf – Die Eddie Chapman Story (1971, TV film), as Superintendent
Der Zeuge (1971, TV film), as Padre Ignacio
(1971, TV miniseries), as George Baker
Der Kommissar: Ein Amoklauf (1972, TV series episode), as Dr. Förster, Gefängnispsychologe
The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of (1972), as Prof. Vladimir Monerow
Death Under Sail (1973, TV film), as Finbow
Der Kommissar: Das Komplott (1973, TV series episode), as Jakob Bachmann
The Devil's Disciple (1973, TV film), as General Burgoyne
(1973–1975, TV Series, 26 episodes), as Detective Chief Inspector Georg Wieker
Tod und Teufel (1974), as Lonely man
Steppenwolf (1974), as Loering
The Serpent's Egg (1977), as Doctor
Fabian (1980), as Erfinder
(1982), as Pharao (voice)
(1983), as Mr. X
The Roaring Fifties (1983), as Igor
(1984), as Yvonne
Rosa Luxemburg (1986), as Jean Jaurès
The Passenger – Welcome to Germany (1988), as Silbermann
Jenseits von Blau (1989), as The Professor
(1998), as Professor Waldheim
No Place to Go (2000), as Hanna's Father
Further reading
Thomas Blubacher: Charles Regnier, in: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theaterlexikon der Schweiz. Vol. 3, Chronos, Zürich (2005) , P. 1469.
Bernard Gasser/BE: Regnier, Charles. In Historischen Lexikon der Schweiz
Jörg Hahn: Regnier, Charles. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Vol. 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin (2003) , P. 274.
Anatol Regnier: Du auf deinem höchsten Dach. Tilly Wedekind und ihre Töchter. Eine Familienbiografie. Knaus, München (2003) ; also in audio-book format on 3 CDs, .
Notes
References
External links
1914 births
2001 deaths
German male film actors
German male television actors
German people of French descent
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
20th-century German male actors
Actors from Freiburg im Breisgau
Male actors from Baden-Württemberg