Hannes Messemer
Hannes Messemer was a German actor from Dillingen an der Donau, Bavaria.
Biography
World War II
Messemer served on the Eastern Front of World War II and was eventually captured by Soviet soldiers and was held as a POW in Russia. He managed to escape and made it back to Germany on foot, walking hundreds of miles to the German border. He was wounded by Russian fire but was not recaptured by the Soviets. He surrendered to British forces and then spent two years in a POW facility in London known as the London Cage.Acting career
After the war, Messemer tried his hand at several jobs, before falling into acting in 1946. With only his natural talent and no training, he successfully secured roles with several major theatre companies in Tübingen, Hamburg, Munich and Berlin in the following ten years.His big break in films came with a role in Rose Bernd in 1956. He was then cast in the major role of Colonel Rossdorf in the production of The Devil Strikes at Night the following year - a role which saw him awarded a Best Actor accolade. A series of successful roles followed, including The Doctor of Stalingrad, Der Transport, Die Brücke des Schicksals and the comedy Babette Goes to War with Brigitte Bardot. He achieved critical international acclaim for his role as Colonel Muller in the Roberto Rossellini production of General della Rovere, with the film winning the Golden Lion at Venice that year.
Messemer is probably best known for his role as Oberst von Luger, the Kommandant in The Great Escape.
He continued to star in TV and theatre productions, becoming a familiar face to German television audiences for over 20 years. Some of his roles included major TV productions such as Union der festen Hand and , as well as two years as Commissioner Deeds in the TV drama series Sergeant Berry. He also lent his distinctive voice to radio and recorded works, including the writings of Mao, and a reading of the four books of the Gospels.