Mario Adorf


Mario Adorf is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, among them the 1979 Oscar-winning film The Tin Drum. He is also the author of several successful mostly autobiographical books.

Biography

Adorf was born in Zürich, Switzerland, the illegitimate child of Matteo Menniti, an Italian surgeon and Alice Adorf, a German medical assistant. He grew up in his maternal grandfather's hometown, Mayen, where he was raised by his unmarried mother. He rose to fame in Europe, and particularly Germany, and also made appearances in international films, including Ten Little Indians and Smilla's Sense of Snow. He also played a small role in the BBC adaptation of John le Carré's Smiley's People as a German club owner. He also appeared in a number of Italian movies.
In the 1960s, he married Lis Verhoeven. The couple had a child, Stella, prior to their divorce. He starred with Barbara Bouchet in Milano Calibro 9 in 1972. In 1985, he married Monique Faye.
Adorf has expressed regret that he declined roles in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather and Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three. He also turned down the role of General Mapache in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, because he felt the character was too violent. In 1996, he provided the German dubbing voice for the character Draco in Dragonheart, a role performed by Sean Connery.

Awards

Among many others:
  • 2000 Bavarian Film Awards Honorary Award
  • 2011 Best Human Brand Award
  • 2024: Deutscher Fernsehpreis: Ehrenpreis der Stifter

    Selected filmography

  • 08/15, as Wagner
  • ', as Unteroffizier Stamm
  • Fruit in the Neighbour's Garden, as Landstreicher
  • The Girl and the Legend, as Bertie
  • Sand, Love and Salt, as Coco
  • '
  • The Devil Strikes at Night, as Bruno Luedke
  • The Doctor of Stalingrad, as Pelz, Sanitäter
  • Rosemary, as Horst
  • The Death Ship, as Lawski, Polnischer Kohlenschlepper
  • The Day the Rains Came, as Werner Maurer
  • Boomerang, as Georg Kugler
  • My Schoolfriend, as Niedermoser
  • Brainwashed, as Mirko Centowic
  • Who Are You, Mr. Sorge?, as Max Klausen
  • Le goût de la violence, as Chamaco
  • On the Tiger's Back, as Mario Tagliabue
  • Lulu, as Rodrigo Quast
  • Freddy and the Song of the South Pacific, as Cameo during brawl at harbour pub
  • The Last Charge, as Nardone
  • Street of Temptation, as Joe
  • Station Six-Sahara, as Santos
  • ', as Juanitas Bekannter
  • ', as Axel Rottmann, Reporter
  • ', as Juror 7
  • Apache Gold, as Frederick Santer
  • La visita, as Cucaracha
  • A Mission for Mr. Dodd, as Buddy Herman
  • The Last Ride to Santa Cruz, as Pedro Ortiz
  • Massacre at Marble City, as Matt Ellis
  • Major Dundee, as Sgt. Gomez
  • The Dirty Game, as Callaghan
  • The Camp Followers, as Sergeant Castagnoli
  • That Man in Istanbul, as Bill
  • The Gentlemen, as Verleger Blech – episode 'Die Intellektuellen'
  • Ten Little Indians, as Herr Grohmann
  • ', as Abel Dragna
  • I Knew Her Well, as Emilio Ricci, aka Bietolone
  • ', as Orje
  • The Treasure of San Gennaro, as Sciascillo
  • A Rose for Everyone, as Paolo
  • Zärtliche Haie, as Spion SB 3
  • Ghosts – Italian Style, as Alfredo Mariano
  • Anyone Can Play, as Traffic cop
  • A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof, as Harry
  • Up the Establishment, as Augustin 'Gustl' Wohlfahrt
  • Gli specialisti, as El Diablo
  • The Red Tent, as Biagi
  • Safety Catch, as Le sadique aux cheveux longs
  • The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, as Berto Consalvi
  • Gentlemen in White Vests, as Bruno 'Dandy' Stiegler
  • Deadlock, as Charles Dump
  • Long Live Robin Hood, as Brother Tuck
  • Million Dollar Eel, as Nane Mora – the Guardiapesca
  • Short Night of Glass Dolls, as Jacques Versain
  • The Sicilian Checkmate, as Amedeo Barrese
  • Caliber 9, as Rocco Musco
  • When Women Lost Their Tails, as Pap
  • Execution Squad, as District Attorney Ricciuti
  • King, Queen, Knave, as Prof. Ritter
  • The Italian Connection , as Luca Canali
  • The Adventures of Pinocchio, as Circus Director
  • ', as L'ex-commandant Pierre Capra
  • The Assassination of Matteotti, as Benito Mussolini
  • Trip to Vienna, as Fred Scheuermann – Ortsgruppenleiter
  • Brigitte, Laura, Ursula, Monica, Raquel, Litz, Florinda, Barbara, Claudia, e Sofia le chiamo tutte... anima mia, as Il commissario Marzoli
  • What Have They Done to Your Daughters?, as Insp. Valentini
  • Processo per direttissima, as Procuratore Benedikter
  • Weak Spot, as Manager
  • The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, as Kommissar Beizmenne
  • ', as Edgar Burgmann
  • Dog's Heart, as Bormenthàl
  • Bomber & Paganini, as Bomber
  • ', as Police Officer Erwin
  • I Am Afraid, as Judge Moser
  • ', as Max
  • ', as Schikowski – der Vater
  • Difficile morire
  • ', as Drunken Poet
  • Germany in Autumn, as Member of the board of TV producers
  • Fedora, as Hotel Manager
  • The Tin Drum, as Alfred Matzerath
  • ', as Thanasis
  • ', as Meru
  • The Little World of Don Camillo, as Don Camillo
  • La disubbidienza, as Mr. Manzi
  • Lola, as Schuckert
  • Invitation au voyage, as Timour
  • Smiley's People, as Claus Kretzschmar
  • La côte d'amour, as Louis Zannella
  • Marco Polo, as Giovanni
  • State buoni se potete, as Pope Sixtus V
  • Klassenverhältnisse, as Karl Roßmann's Uncle
  • ', as Siemann
  • ', as Pope Urban VIII
  • The Holcroft Covenant, as Erich Kessler / Jürgen Mass
  • Via Mala, as Jonas Lauretz
  • Momo, as Nicola
  • La ragazza dei lillà, as Albert
  • Kir Royal, as Generaldirektor Heinrich 'Heini' Haffenloher
  • Mino, as Maggiore Lupo
  • ', as Schomberg
  • The Second Victory, as Dr. Sepp Kunzli
  • Italian Night, as Alvise Tornov
  • Vado a riprendermi il gatto
  • ', as Alfons Rogalla
  • The Post Office Girl, as Anthony van Boolen
  • Incident at Twilight, as Maximilian Friedrich Korbes
  • La piovra, , as Salvatore 'Acidduzzu' Frolo
  • I ragazzi di via Panisperna, as Orso Mario Corbino
  • Francesco, as Cardinal Ugolino
  • La luna negra, as Padre
  • Try This One for Size, as Radnitz
  • Ocean, as Damian Centeno
  • ', as Levin Austerlitz
  • The Bachelor, as Gräsler's Friend
  • Présumé dangereux, as Radnitz
  • Quiet Days in Clichy, as Ernest Regentag
  • Mother
  • ', as Mikis
  • ', as Heinrich Hartholz
  • ', as Istvan Kaltenbach
  • Money, as The Turk
  • ', as Francesco Serboli
  • Fantaghirò, as The King
  • ', as Peter Bellheim
  • Abissinia, as Enzo Pagnini
  • ', as Franz Graf Waldeck
  • Amigomío, as Grandfather
  • ', as Janusz 'Jan' Herzog
  • Life Is a Bluff, as Willi Butzbach
  • Schwarzmüller
  • ', as Paolo Rossini
  • Smilla's Sense of Snow, as Capt. Sigmund Lukas
  • Alle für die Mafia, as Don Michele
  • ', as Coda del diavolo
  • Die Affäre Semmeling, as Walter 'Beton-Walter' Wegener
  • ', as Jochen Epstein
  • ', as Abel Znorko
  • ', as Santa Claus
  • ', as Fisherman Gorian
  • Rebecca Ryman: Olivia and Jai, as Sir Joshua Templewood
  • Same Same But Different, as Publishing Director Mr. Behr
  • Das Geheimnis der Wale, as Prof. Johannes 'Joe' Waldmann
  • ', as Konrad Hansen
  • ', as Baldu
  • ', as Martin Burian
  • ', as Nino Winter
  • Crocodile, as Richard
  • ', as Hermann von Kirsch
  • ', as Marcus Schwarz
  • ', as Johann Schäfer
  • Schubert in Love: Vater werden ist schwer, as Professor Schubert
  • Winnetou, as Frederick Louis Santer
  • Einmal Sohn, immer Sohn
  • Alte Bande
  • Real Fight, as Wechselburg

    German-language voice acting

  • The Brave Little Toaster, as Kirby
  • Felidae, as Bluebeard
  • Dragonheart, as Draco
  • The Fearless Four, as Fred the Donkey
  • Jester Till, as Bürgermeister
  • Racing Stripes, as Tucker
  • Little Dodo, as Darwin