KINSKI, KLAUS

born 1926, Zopport, Danzig [now Gdansk, Pol.] died Nov. 23, 1991, Lagunitas, Calif., U.S. original name Nikolus Gunther Nakszynski German actor of Polish descent who had a stage and film career of more than 40 years but was best known for his starring roles in the films of Werner Herzog. Kinski's family moved to Germany during the Great Depression of the 1930s, and during World War II, at the age of 16, he entered the army. On his second day of combat, he was captured, and for the remainder of the war he was a prisoner of war in a British camp. A show put on in the camp gave him his first stage experience. After the war Kinski acted on the stage and in minor roles in some 200 German films. He went on to play a small role in Doctor Zhivago (1965) and small parts in spaghetti westerns, including Clint Eastwood's For a Few Dollars More (1965), but not until his appearance in Herzog's Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972; Aguirre, the Wrath of God) did he begin to achieve wide recognition. Other Herzog films in which he starred included Woyzeck (1979), Nosferatu, Phantom der Nacht (1979; Nosferatu, the Vampire), and Fitzcarraldo (1982). He also appeared prominently in The Little Drummer Girl (1984). Kinski had a self-cultivated image of hedonism and excess, which was reflected in his autobiography Ich bin so wild nach deinem Erdbeermund (1975; I Am So Wild About Your Strawberry Mouth). Because of its contents, his daughter, actress Nastassja Kinski, threatened to sue him for libel. In 1989 Kinski wrote, directed, and starred in a sexually explicit biographical film, Paganini, which was not released.