Jewish actors who portrayed TV/movie Nazis

A quick look at some of the better known Nazi era German characters in TV and cinema that were actually portrayed by Jewish actors. From evil to funny they brought to the screen depictions of the best and the worst of people in that dark time. Irony is not dead in Hollywood.
Interview with Derren Nesbitt about playing SS Major Von Hapen.
• A Conversation with De...

[@twalrus1]

Hogan's Heroes had many more Jewish actors playing shop keepers, French Underground, assorted background actors. Many of them had come from Vaudeville so they had good comedic timing. I jokingly say that Hogan's Heroes had more Jewish actors than a whole Seinfeld season.

[@amadeusamwater]

Werner Klemperer played sub captain Gunther Prien in an episode of the Silent Service. A very good performance. He only agreed to be in Hogan's Heroes if they made Klinck look stupid and inept. He nailed that role.

[@rubenaraujo319]

He also came out ONE STEP BEYOND.

[@trudigoodman4825]

He had in his contract for Hogan's Heroes that if they ever made Col. Klink sympathetic in any way he would quit the show. He was insistent about this. He was only partly Jewish. His Mother was not Jewish, but he identified as being Jewish and was very proud of that. He was also a classical musician.

[@garfieldsmith332]

Werner Klemperer insisted that Hogan always got the better of Klink and that Klink would always be portrayed as an incompetent buffoon.

[@maxsmodels]

correct

[@matocinstinalittlebeargarv5716]

He made that PERFECTLY clear to the producers. "The Americans win, at the end of every episode, "Or I WALK!"

[@matocinstinalittlebeargarv5716]

Werner Klemperer, made it abundantly clear: " At the end of every episode, Allies win,' or I walk.! He made sure that stipulation was in his contact.

[@matocinstinalittlebeargarv5716]

For us, here in America, it was nothing for us to hear Colonel Klink, and other staff officers to say "Heil Hitler." In Germany However, his name is illegal to say. So to overcome this obstacle while broadcasting in Germany, they would say "How high is your corn?"

[@theflorgeormix]

John Banner magnificent actor...underrated

[@maxsmodels]

agreed

[@julianneremley4430]

He survived the holocaust of the final solution of the Jewish question.

[@thetetrarchofapathy9728]

Though Robert Clary (Corporal LeBeau on Hogan's Heroes) didn't play a nazi, like many his co-stars, he was a Jew who fled the nazis (in his case, from France), and actually was imprisoned in a nazi camp.

[@dave8599]

Hogan's Hero's the greatest TV show yet. love that show.

[@tomjustis7237]

Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) also portrayed German U-boat ace Gunther Prien in an episode of "Silent Service" documenting the successful German attack on the British naval bastion at Scapa Flow. If you want to see just how well he can play a dramatic role, the episode is available on You Tube.

[@peterblahut5106]

I’m a Canadian Jew, and I didn’t know a few of those actors were Jewish.

[@m.j.c.6969]

Well Veidt wasn't for sure. This was poorly researched.

[@dm-gq5uj]

@@m.j.c.6969 Veidt wasn't - his wife was. Nimoy and Shatner were definitely Jewish.

[@m.j.c.6969]

@@dm-gq5uj yes. I know this but thank you. I might not have.

[@brianlam1663]

I'm a South African Jew and i didn't know some of these actors were Jewish!

[@trudigoodman4825]

Canada had that great actor and director, Al Waxman. He was from Kensington. He made Cagney and Lacey a wonderful program.

[@jackkircher1755]

Kemplerer was fortunate to have a famous dad who was an orchestra conductor so was able to flee to America with his family. Warner was a very good violinist despite being portrayed as playing terribly. There is a video shown during an interview with him that shows him conducting an orchestra and doing a beautiful job. He was better than Lenard Bernstein! A saw a clip of him conducting. Klemperer had no desire to become a conductor since he knew acting was in his blood. The scar on BURKHOLTER's face was from a real beating suffered by the hands of the Nazis. Thanks for mentioning that John Banner was the only member of his family that was able to escape death. He was a wonderful actor and actually MADE the show. Like so many other funny actors, there will n very be another John Banner. I never knew there were so many other Jews who portrayed Nazis. I admire their willingness to do so and they did it well!

[@michaelsteal9128]

Interesting video thank you. just finished watching an episode of Hogans Heroes

[@matocinstinalittlebeargarv5716]

My name is Little Bear Garvie. I grew up watching Hogan's Heroes. Absolutely hysterical. With a great theme song to whistle to. I was surprised to find out that General Burkhalter, (Leon Askin). Was Austrian. Although of Jewish descent. Growing up in Austria, during the onset of WWII, and Adolf Hitler's regime, he was beaten physically, by the Hitler youth, and others. For his ancestry. Werener Klemperer, and John Banner, were also German Jews. It says a lot about their personal character to laugh in the face of such adversity. We recently lost Robert Clarey, (Corporal Louis Le Beau), was a French Jew, and was taken as a child to Auschwitz. He bore a tattoo on his left forearm. Which is why he Always wore long sleeve shirts.

[@judithsturm5021]

Incredible info!

[@r.mercado9737]

Outstanding commentary!

[@garyvision3938]

Great historical video. Jewish people playing nazis is one of 2 great motion picture ironies. The other irony is white actors in old movies portraying native Americans who are fighting white men.

[@ohioborn9929]

Great topic for this video, thankyou.

[@OlagGan]

On the subject of Anton Differing one of the main reasons he played the rolwe in Doctor Who was that Wimeldon was playing nearby the shooting locations and he could do his scenes and slope off to watch the tennis after. For those of you who want to know this stuff the episode was called "Silver Nemesis ", which is sort of ironice or revealling taking into account that the monsters of the week were Cybermen who are of course silver and this was actually the 25th anniversary of Doctor Who which started in 1963. Of course the silver anniversary is the 25th. Also Perer Sellers is only half Jewish (his father was Christian) but since his mother (Margaret or Peg) was Jewish and whether or not you are Jewish runs down the mothers line, technically he was classed as being Jewish. And on Anto n Differing again, whilst not actually a Nazi he did play a bookburner - a fireman in Francoise Truffauts version of Ray Bradbury's 1984.

[@metacosmos]

Anton differing, real family name was Pollack, he akways played nazi characters because his face seems very germanic , and besides he was gay.

[@sillyone52062]

A paycheck is a paycheck. Where Eagles Dare music, thank you!

[@samkohen4589]

Nothing could beat The Producers by Mel Brooks where yo see Mr Hitler, sing dance and joke like Gene Kelly

[@markhyatttynan7522]

Played by Dick Shawn who also was Jewish. Spring Time for Hitler

[@binaway]

Kempler was raised from birth as a Catholic. His Lutheran mother had married his Jewish born but already converted Catholic father and then herself converted to her new husbands religion before the marriage ceremony. In later life his father returned to his Jewish faith.

[@trudigoodman4825]

Klemperer was very direct about this when asked. He identified as being Jewish.

[@trudigoodman4825]

I'm sorry to tell you this....Conrad Veidt was not Jewish. His wife was Jewish. He was a wonderful actor and a truly good person. He got Paul Henried and Henried's wife out of Germany. He himself, had to escape as well. All four of them were marked for death by Hitler. They were members of the Die Weisse Rose, The White Rose, the largest Anti-Hitler Underground in Europe. Based in Germany. Henried returned the favor by suggesting Veidt as the perfect actor to play Col. Strasser in CASABLANCA. Veidt was a truly kind man who cared for Jewish People. He became a British Citizen and helped Refugee Children, many of whom were Jewish. I don't think he would take offense as being thought of as Jewish. He very much loved his Jewish Wife. And he knew many Jewish People.

[@kimmoj2570]

It was not mentioned that almost all Jewish of European heritage spoke Yiddish as their mother tongue, which is closely related to German language. In screen they could mimic German accent, even when speaking English. Hebrew, which is spoken in modern Israel was near extinct language in WW2 era. Israeli state forced reborn of it.

[@selfdo]

Steven Berkoff is one incredibly talented actor...with that peculiar harsh voice, where he makes a nasal whine seem threatening, he's absolutely unforgettable. I hadn't realized he'd played a Nazi, but no surprise there. He was already the memorable General Orlov in the Bond film "Octopussy", and some years after that, plays an arrogant and downright maniacal weapons merchant in "Star Trek: DS9".

[@stellertonybeller1972]

totally left out the very first actors to mock Hitler and the nazi's The 3 Stooges ...... Moe Howard as Hitler

[@antoniod]

But in an anti-Nazi context it makes perfect sense!

[@theolgeneralstorecom]

I Miss Schultz !

[@MrJking065]

A Major Hollywood Movie Hit. The Producers - Springtime for Hitler and Germany

[@selfdo]

I'm certain that any of the Jewish actors that actually took their religion and/or ethnicity seriously did these portrayals for sincere reasons. It's akin to folks at times were surprised that Rock Hudson (McMillan and Wife on TV, "Tobruk" among MANY other memorable movie roles), Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle), and Robert Reed (Brady Bunch) were gay. They're all ACTORS, all quite considered to be consummate professionals, who were obviously very GOOD. The second would be, either the Nazi characters themselves were mocked, as with "Hogan's Heroes" or Mel Brooks' version of "To Be or Not To Be", or their evil nature is not exactly glossed over nor apologized for. I had an excellent book of a relative of Werner Klemperer titled "I Will Bear Witness", unfortunately lost in a house fire some five years ago. The Klemperer family had been well-known in Germany prior to the Nazis, and they suffered a lot during the Nazi era. Also, although IIRC he never portrayed a German nor a Nazi, the "little cock-a-roach" in Hogan's Heroes, Cpl. LeBeau, Robert Clary, himself was a French Jew that survived Nazi captivity.

[@RAD6150]

Christoph Waltz, not Christopher...

[@mikhailthetenor3387]

But why were you playing the symphonic poem "Les Preludes" by Franz Liszt (1811-1886)?

[@DaviChaves89]

if i may suggest a march for your appreciation, listen do the RJ firemen corp's play the Batista de Melo

[@jeffberkeley9656]

Had no idea that all four of the primary German characters in Hogan's Heroes were Jewish...what irony...

[@MM-yi9zn]

Oh the tremendous talent of so many Jewish actors! Especially in Hogans Heroes! Bravo! You gave your best & we think you’re the Best!

[@donmcc6573]

Actor often portray characters other than themselves.....

[@bpeterfeso]

Maxmodels I don't know if it's coincidence or not but the song les preludes you used for your video is the theme the Nazis used for Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Their propaganda weekly report

[@antoniod]

Conrad Veidt wasn't Jewish, but his Wife was.

[@robinlillian9471]

Which means his son the Rabbi is definitely considered to be Jewish. Jewish identity passes down through the Mother. He could have converted, of course, but it wasn't necessary.

[@m.j.c.6969]

Veidt did not have a son, only one daughter. You are confusing him with Christophe Waltz a modern actor.

[@Catlover2016]

@@robinlillian9471 and one is either Jewish or a Gentile. No such thing as half Jewish.

[@Farm_fab]

Robert Clary who played LeBeau in Hogan's Heroes was also Jewish.

[@terenceangelo8714]

Aya Cash as Stormfront in The Boys

[@willibeckenlehner443]

Oh my God!

[@esterherschkovich6499]

Excellent 🔯Thank you.

[@lizzychrome7630]

Conrad Veidt was not Jewish, though his wife was.

[@ujoepost]

Noah Wyle

[@brianmorris8045]

One of the biggest jokes played on anti-Jews. The number of Jew haters I found who loved the show didn't know the major cast members were indeed Jewish.

[@Samtheman85844]

Very awesome Actors.

[@ryvmovcanroys3631]

cobra kai season 2

[@FreeThePorgs]

Ironically enough…..Something can be offensive and funny at the same time, offensively funny!!!!

[@julianneremley4430]

Interesting

[@GregOrCreg]

I don't mind when it's a comedy, and a Jewish actor, like the wonderful Mel Brooks, is spoofing and lampooning Nazis by making them look absurd, but I really don't care for this trend of casting Jewish actors as Nazis or Nazi sympathisers in more serious dramas. I want to be able to loathe and despise these anti-Semitic characters, but it's hard for me to do so if I'm watching a Jew. Yes, I know they're actors playing a role, but it's not always easy to separate an actor from the role they're playing, and I'd rather be hating on a Nazi played by a gentile rather than a Nazi played by a Jew. I noticed this yesterday during an episode of "The Plot Against America", when Zoe Kazan, a gentile actor, was playing a Jewish character who was being discriminated against by two Lindbergh-supporting women, incongruously played by Jewish actors. Well, it's hard for me to sympathise with Kazan, knowing she's not Jewish, and it's hard for me to take the anti-Semitism of her tormentors seriously, knowing that those actors are Jewish. I'd find those characters much more hateful and loathsome if they had been played by genuine WASPs. Instead I am led to believe that maybe they're in fact misguided Jews who are supporting an anti-Semitic political candidate against their own interests, and I'm not sure that was the intent of the show's creators. Also, if it's offensive for white actors to play black characters, straight actors to play gay characters, able-bodied actors to play disabled characters, and cis actors to play trans characters, why is it okay for gentile actors to play Jewish characters? Are we pretending that gentiles have any more understanding of what it is like to be Jewish than a straight person understands what it is like to be gay? Are we pretending that there aren't unique experiences and characteristics that define different races and ethnic groups? Aren't we erasing and ignoring the unique characteristics of various ethnic groups by pretending 'we're all the same'? Doesn't that notion go against multi-culturalism and the need to preserve distinct minority cultures? It is wrong to embrace (and thus celebrate) our differences? I partially understand why Hollywood casts Jewish actors as Nazis. They don't want real neo-Nazis turning such characters into pinups (which is also why there was so much pressure on the gentile Taylor Swift to distance herself from her white supremacist fans), but the danger is that Jewish actors are stuck playing hate figures, whilst gentile actors, like Daniel Craig (who played Jewish characters in Defiance and Munich) get to play Jewish heroes (whilst also having no real understanding of what it means to be Jewish - and yes, I know Craig has a Jewish partner, but that would be akin to saying that he knows what it's like to be a woman, simply because he is married to one). Maybe we should stop worrying about a tiny number of far-right loons, and instead start catering for normal people, both in terms of performers and audience members, and finally allow Jewish actors to play Jewish heroes, and force gentile actors to face-up to their gentile privilege by casting them as the anti-Semitic bad guys. Really, my suggestion should be simple common-sense, but somehow it still continues to allude some of the smartest people in the industry.

[@marcia3660]

You are wrong about Zoe Kazan. Her grandfather was director, etc. Elia Kazan who was Jewish. Kazan is a Jewish name!

[@GregOrCreg]

@@marcia3660 Do you do research before you make comments? Zoe Kazan's grandfather, Elia, was Greek Orthodox. His original surname was 'Kazantzoglou', not Kazan (he changed it), and he was despised among many left-wingers because he chose to name names during the 1950s HUAC hearings. It only takes a quick Wikipedia search to confirm this.

[@marcia3660]

Greg, I am sorry that I was wrong about Elia Kazan. I heard yrs ago that he was Jewish. You are right, I should have researched this information. Marcia

[@dave8599]

You are one messed up person, I pity you. I dont give a rip what race, gender, handicap is of anyone, much less an actor. Fools like you sow division and hate. We is all people, and if an actor can play the part well, that is all that counts.

[@dm-gq5uj]

You're a German Jewish actor who has fled Europe and you're trying to find work in America during the War. Of course, you're going to play Nazis because America's making a ton of war movies and you have exactly the right accent. And, being from Germany, you've seen the Nazis in person and know how they behave. That's when the die was cast. I think it would be next to impossible for any actor from a German-speaking country, Jew or gentile - to make a living in Hollywood without ever playing a Nazi.

[@bermuda1964]

Don't forget Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator...he wasn't Jewish, but his half-brother Sidney was.

[@l.salisbury1253]

His then-wife Paulette Goddard was Jewish.

[@m.j.c.6969]

No. Sidney Chaplin was NOT half Jewish. That's been disproven.

[@SouthwestRanger]

HOWARD CAINE ALSO PLAYED WEEZER IN THE LITTLE RASCALS

[@daleschroeder5582]

not true

[@alouiciousjackson5812]

Yep... just like Hollywood's Chosenites to twist everything to the opposite of it's natural expression. Jews playing Germans, and non-Jews playing Jews. Sort of like the prevalence of transsexuals among actors/actresses also.

[@Ironmike2233]

A shekel is a shekel nonetheless

[@christopherkalble4373]

Anything for a buck...

[@dave8599]

your inner nazi is showing, get lost.

[@ThePetekA]

stupid comment!