Hans Meyer (actor)


Hans Meyer was a French actor. In Britain, he was known for his portrayal of Hauptmann Franz Ulmann in the television series Colditz.

Early life and education

Meyer was born to German parents in Paulpietersburg, Natal Province, 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. 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 the 1970s, Meyer acted in the Western Cannon for Cordoba, in the role of the Swedish major Svedborg, the leader of a private mercenary army. He played a continuous series role in the British television series Colditz. In 1975 he had a small role in Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Barry Lyndon. In 1978, he appeared in the miniseries Holocaust: The History of the Weiss Family, in which played the SS official Ernst Kaltenbrunner.
In the 1980s, Meyer's roles included an assassin, whom Yves Rénier and title heroine Claude Jade ultimately put to the test in the television movie The Girlfriend from Childhood, from the Commissaire Moulin series. Meyer portrayed Red Sonja's father in Red Sonja opposite Brigitte Nielsen.
In the 1990s, he appeared on The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes as Hebworth/Veitch in "The Master Blackmailer", and in a small part as a German Officer in Steven Spielberg's and George Lucas's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
In the 2000s, Meyer's roles included Marquis d'Apcher in the French cult movie Brotherhood of the Wolf, Konrad Adenauer in the television movie How Much We Hated Each Other, and Luis Aramchek in the Hitler in Hollywood. His final screen appearance was in the thriller Cruel.

Death

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

Filmography

Film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1968KoenigsmarkLe grand DucTV movie
1969The TroubleshootersJoachim Schmitt-Klever1 episode
1969S.O.S. fréquence 17Joseph Kieffer1 episode
1969Department SLucky Le Beau1 episode
1970CodenameGeneral Hovaths1 episode
1971Paul TempleBrad1 episode
1971KateFrohl Svenson1 episode
1971Jason KingAngelo1 episode
1972–1974ColditzHauptmann Franz Ulmann23 episodes
1973La folie AlmayerLe capitaine LinguardTV movie
1974ThrillerKarl Vorster'The Next Scream You Hear', episode
1974HeidiGrandfatherTV miniseries
1975QuillerMajor Hardtmann1 episode
1976Les Monte-en-l'airBreiferTV movie
1976The Howerd ConfessionsLieutenant Gruberepidode 2
1977'L'agent des trafiquantsTV miniseries
1978HolocaustErnst KaltenbrunnerTV miniseries
1978Les grandes conjurations: Le connétable de BourbonFrunsbergTV movie
1979Quest of EaglesSandor2 episodes
1979, 1985MinderKurt Wengler / Maurice Bonnet2 episodes
1980'Hans1 episode
1981BBC2 PlayhouseJanos Almasy1 episode
1981Commissaire MoulinL'assassin au grenadeEpisode: "L'Amie d'enfance"
1981'DriscollTV movie
1982'Von Postel1 episode
1982Inside the Third ReichErnst KaltenbrunnerTV movie
1983Les poneys sauvagesTV miniseries
1983, 1992Les Cinq Dernières MinutesHaltman / Hafner2 episodes
1987, 1989William TellTyroll / Tyrrol2 episodes
1988M'as-tu-vu ?1 episode
1990CounterstrikeKurtzEpisode: "The Lady of the Rhine"
1990CantaraTV miniseries
1991NavarroSauveur1 episode
1991Un privé au soleil1 episode
1991Renseignements générauxBaltar1 episode
1992The Case-Book of Sherlock HolmesHebworth 1 episode
1992The Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesGerman Officer #21 episode
1992Sniper 2: L'affaire PetracciBababoumTV movie
1992Lycée alpin
1992The New StatesmanHerr Wessel1 episode
1993La grande collection: SensoLe général HautmannTV movie
1993Le JAP, juge d'application des peinesPol Van Hesse1 episode
1995MachinationsTV movie
1995La Rivière EspéranceCommandant du Duguay-TrouinTV miniseries
1997Inspecteur MorettiLe Vieux1 episode
2007Konrad AdenauerTV movie
2008Collection Fred VargasFulgence2 episodes