Gottfried John

Gottfried John

Birth : 1942-08-29, Berlin, Germany

Death : 2014-09-01

History

Gottfried John (German: [ˈjoːn];[1] 29 August 1942 – 1 September 2014) was a German stage, screen, and voice actor. A long-time collaborator of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, John appeared in many of the filmmaker's projects between 1975 and his death in 1982, including Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven, Despair, The Marriage of Maria Braun , and Berlin Alexanderplatz. His distinctive, gaunt appearance saw him he frequently cast as villains, and he is best known to audiences for his role as the corrupt General Arkady Orumov in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, and for his comedic turn as Julius Caesar in Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar, the latter for which he won the Bavarian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Profile

Gottfried John
Gottfried John

Movies

Emerald Green
Dr. White (archive footage)
Emerald Green is the stunning conclusion to Kerstin Gier's Ruby Red Trilogy, picking up where Sapphire Blue left off, reaching new heights of intrigue and romance as Gwen finally uncovers the secrets of the time-traveling society and learns her fate.
A World Beyond
Dr. Jan Kersebohm
Hans and Fridel are a marriage that come to Java fleeing of the pursuit Nazi just before the Second World war comes untied. In this paradise Hans finds an employment as municipal police, but his wife, always unsatisfied, turns into one addicted to the opium. One day Hans knows Helen, the daughter of an important businessman, with whom he falls in love almost to the instant. But Fridel is his major worry, and can´t leave her, though it will not be able to forget Helen either.
Ruby Red
Dr. White
Gwendolyn Shepherd is a normal 16-year-old, but her family holds a secret: A time-travel gene is expressed in the clan inherited, but not every member of the family is blessed with. Everyone is certain that Gwen's cousin Charlotte has the gene. However, someday Gwendolyn suddenly finds herself in London at the end of the 19th century and realizes that it is her, who was born a time traveler. While she is not very enthusiastic about it, she will do everything possible to solve the ancient mysteries of the red ruby.
Die Löwin
Jo
Das Leben ist zu lang
Georg Maria Stahl
Aghet
Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein
2010 documentary film on the Armenian Genocide by the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It is based on eyewitness reports by European and American personnel stationed in the Near East at the time, Armenian survivors and other contemporary witnesses which are recited by modern German actors.
Rumpelstilzchen
König Gustav
The king locks the miller’s daughter, Lisa, in a room full of straw to turn into gold in just one night. If she doesn’t succeed she would be executed.
Black Flowers
Curtis
Following the failure of his last mission, RFG spy Michael Roddick decides to disappear, taking along Elena, the daughter of a Russian spy who died under strange circumstances. They settle in Barcelona and open a restaurant, to help them to forget about the past. Nevertheless, his former colleagues reappear alleging there are still some matters yet to be settled.
John Rabe
Dr. Oskar Trautmann
A true-story account of a German businessman who saved more than 200,000 Chinese during the Nanjing massacre in 1937-38.
The Papal Council
Paolo Naldini
Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz: A Mega Movie and Its Story
Self
A documentary about the making of the television mini-series by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, including interviewees with the principal actors.
Flood
Arthur Moyes
Timely yet terrifying, The Flood predicts the unthinkable. When a raging storm coincides with high seas it unleashes a colossal tidal surge, which travels mercilessly down England's East Coast and into the Thames Estuary. Overwhelming the Barrier, torrents of water pour into the city. The lives of millions of Londoners are at stake.
Das zweite Leben
Robert Kreutzer
A Pirate's Heart
Konrad von Wallenrod
The end of the 14th century. Parents send the eldest son Jan to study in Hamburg, and the youngest - Klaus - to the monastery. No sooner had the children moved away from their homes, as on Klaus'es eyes the robbers kill their parents and burn the house. Only thanks to the loyal monk Wigbold Klaus managed to survive the shock. A few years later Klaus Störtebeker finds his brother Jan and his long-time friend Elizabeth Pren in Hamburg. From her, he learns that she is expected to marry Simon von Wallenrod, whose father Klaus suspects of killing his parents. But the Pranks and the Wallenrods are rich and respected people, and Klaus is a poor man. And now he becomes a pirate...
The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes
Dr. Emmanuel Droz
Dark fairytale about a demonic doctor who abducts a beautiful opera singer with designs on transforming her into a mechanical nightingale.
Julie, chevalier de Maupin
Henri, duc d'Armagnac
Agnès Dormes, a famous opera singer, saves Julie, a baby girl who was about to be sacrificed during a black mass. Twenty years later, the baby has turned into a beautiful energetic twenty-year-old young lady determined to find out about her origins. In Avignon, Julie manages to meet Agnès and discovers on the occasion she is not her real mother. A series of adventures will ensue and at a time Julie is nearly burned on the stake. But she eventually achieves her end and can marry, a street performer close to her heart.
Cowgirl
Hans Krahl
Die schöne Braut in Schwarz
Aldo Caldini
Sylvia Rosch is a woman with dangerous obsessions. Camouflaged by perfectly rehearsed masquerades, she wages a merciless campaign of revenge. Anyone who gets too close will succumb to an insidious murder. The marriage swindler's preferred victims are men worth millions. Barbara Lahn and Til Wegner from the BKA are facing a huge challenge. They are supposed to collect evidence against the angel of death.
Renzo e Lucia
Innominato
Loose adaptation of Italy's national epic, Alessandro Manzoni's “The Betrothed”. In war-torn 17th century Italy, shady feudal lord Don Rodrigo eyes young and beautiful Lucia, who loves—and is reciprocated by—commoner Renzo. The two lovers plan to marry in secret, but Rodrigo discovers it and they are forced to flee their village, becoming separated and each facing many dangers, includine the Plague.
Sams in Gefahr
School Inspector
Sams in danger, it is said, when Mr. Taschenbier's son Martin brings the Sams back into the household, which, however, is kidnapped shortly afterwards by the sports teacher because of his special skills.
Imperium: Augustus
Cicero
Caesar Augustus tells of how he became the emperor to his reluctant daughter, Julia following the death of her husband Agrippa.
Entrusted
Thomas von Gall - grandfather
Hoping to entrap Maria von Gall, who runs a courageous underground railroad for Jews in France, the Nazis kidnap her son Thomas, a brilliant 11-year-old chess master. An exchange arrangement goes awry and he sees her die in a hail of bullets; but he is rescued by his American father, whom he has never met before, and who plans to flee with him to Spain. However, Queen Maria had solemnly entrusted her little pawn Thomas with a precious secret and a terrifying mission, and it was time for him to move. A pawn may become an important piece by slowly, quietly advancing all the way through the enemy's ranks. Or a pawn may die trying. Retreat is what a pawn can never do.
Best Ever Bond
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Roger Moore presents the ten best sequences ever to have appeared in the James Bond series, and cast members recall their favourite moments.
The Gathering Storm
Friedrich von Schroder
A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives.
Der Solist - In eigener Sache
Martin Krohn
Proof of Life
Eric Kessler
Alice hires a professional negotiator to obtain the release of her engineer husband, who has been kidnapped by anti-government guerrillas in South America.
Mary Magdalene
Erode Antipa
Employed as a spy and given the task of investigating the threat posed by John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene is overwhelmed by John's powerful message of the coming of the Messiah. Gazing into John's eyes before he dies, Mary is left with the certainty that her place is at the side of this great man, Jesus Christ.
Balzac: A Life Of Passion
Count Hanska
This is the sprawling saga of Honoré de Balzac, a man who created a great literary oeuvre from the dramas and adventures of his own life - a life that he shaped into one spectacular and unforgettable blaze of passion. At the heart of the story are the women in Balzac's life. Although gruff, unsophisticated, and far from handsome, Balzac exerts an irresistible fascination on women.
Beckmann und Markowski: Gehetzt
Max Beckmann
Asterix & Obelix Take on Caesar
Jules César
Set in 50 B.C., Asterix and Obelix are living in a small but well-protected village in Gaul, where a magic potion concocted by Druids turns the townsfolk into mighty soldiers. When Roman troops carve a path through Gaul to reach the English Channel, Caesar and his aide de camp Detritus discover the secret elixir and capture the Druid leader who knows its formula, and Asterix and Obelix are sent off to rescue them.
Die Fremde in meiner Brust
Richard Keller
Am I Beautiful?
Herbert
German people having trouble with love and identity.
Life, Love & Celluloid
Documentary musing upon the work of German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Mein zweites Leben
Richard Keller
Glatteis
Kurt Wallmann
La casa dove abitava Corinne
Michele Wolf
The story of Doriana, a young lawyer, who moves to Rome, because a criminal she convicted has escaped prison and threatens to kill her. But the flat she takes in Rome doesn't bring her any luck either: In her new flat, unbeknownst to her, a call girl called Corinne has been stabbed to death almost a year ago, and the killer has never been caught. As soon as she lives there, she gets anonymous telephone calls and other hints to the murder. When she learns about the unsolved case, she starts to investigate by herself.
Beckmann und Markowski: Im Zwiespalt der Gefühle
Kommissar Beckmann
The Ogre
Chief Forester
Frenchman Abel Tiffauges is a naive man who lives a simple life working as a mechanic. Falsely accused of being a child abuser, he is recruited as a soldier when World War II begins, but is captured soon and taken to the heart of Nazi Germany.
GoldenEye
General Arkady Grigorovich Ourumov
When a powerful satellite system falls into the hands of Alec Trevelyan, AKA Agent 006, a former ally-turned-enemy, only James Bond can save the world from a dangerous space weapon that -- in one short pulse -- could destroy the earth! As Bond squares off against his former compatriot, he also battles Xenia Onatopp, an assassin who uses pleasure as her ultimate weapon
Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life
Herr Benjamenta
Jakob arrives at the Institute Benjamenta (run by brother and sister Johannes and Lisa Benjamenta) to learn to become a servant. With seven other men, he studies under Lisa: absurd lessons of movement, drawing circles, and servility. He asks for a better room. No other students arrive and none leave for employment. Johannes is unhappy, imperious, and detached from the school's operation. Lisa is beautiful, at first tightly controlled, then on the verge of breakdown. There's a whiff of incest. Jakob is drawn to Lisa, and perhaps she to him. As winter sets in, she becomes catatonic. Things get worse; Johannes notes that all this has happened since Jakob came. Is there any cause and effect?
Brüder auf Leben und Tod
Renato Calvi
Die Zeit danach
man from Klagenfurt
An economics expert from the West is contracted by a large firm to assist in the reorganization of a debt-ridden steel plant in the former Eastern Bloc. Believing himself to be eagerly awaited, he finds that his position has already been taken: Another man has already begun the job in his name, obviously with official approval. What first appears to be a strange mix-up soon turns into a threat to his existence when he discovers that not only his professional, but also his private identity has been assumed by the stranger.
Ein letzter Wille
Paul Elling
Deadly Web
Kommissar Max Beckmann
Abraham
Eliezer
This engrossing dramatization of the life of Abraham, the most tested servant of God and the father of Judaism, spans from the patriarch's quest for the Promised Land to the sacrifice of his son, Isaac.
Das Sahara-Projekt
Collani
Novalis - Die blaue Blume
Sophies Vater
The Mistake
Jacob Alain
It is 1988. Jacob (Gottfried John), from Hamburg in West Germany, falls in love with Elisabeth (Angelica Domröse) in East Germany. When they secretly meet in East Berlin, it seems the Stasi (secret police) knows about it. When Jacob visits her village, someone informs on him and he is deported. Elisabeth knows who begrudges her this love and takes her revenge. Critics note that in this film, director Heiner Carow revisits the themes of his 1972 smash hit, The Legend of Paul and Paula, which became a cult film throughout Germany.
Ich schenk’ Dir die Sterne
Robert Dallburg
An eccentric pop singer from a dreary social background in a Munich suburb turns men's heads by the dozen and makes an unexpected career when a serious businessman asks for her hand in marriage. This could put her life in new order, but the practicing tantric, whose top priority is always to say yes, is only at the beginning of her complicated existence.
Elfenbein
Nicholas Messier
Wings of Fame
Zlatogorski
A famous movie actor claims that he has written a book. As result, a real author, not a very well known writer, vengefully kills him but then dies as a result of an accident. Next, they both find themselves in after-life, where souls of all famous people are gathered.
Death Has A Bad Reputation
Rodimstev
Adaptation from a novel by Frederick Forsyth.
Schön war die Zeit
Franz Bauer
Pattberg's Legacy
Ulrich Vogtmann
Of Pure Blood
Paul Bergmann
A mother investigating her son's mysterious death finds much more than she bargained for. Casting director Alicia Browning (Remick) takes leave of her job in NYC to investigate what happened to her son Mark (Browning) in Germany. Her persistence uncovers perplexing details that lead to the discovery of some very unsettling, and dark personal memories!
Mata Hari
Wolff
Based loosely on the real-life story of the World War I spy. The exotic dancer uses her contacts in European high society, along with her seductive charm, to collect military secrets during the war. She successfully plays both sides against each other until at last her deceptions catch up with her.
Otto - The Movie
Sonnemann
East Friesian Otto moves to the big city Hamburg. There he gets into trouble with a loan shark and needs to find a way to impress his love interest Silvia.
Die Mitläufer
Verworrene Bilanzen
Karl M. Kronen
Bartolome oder Die Rückkehr der weißen Götter
Bartolomé de las Casas
Chinese Boxes
Zwemmer
An American in West Berlin finds himself caught up in murder and intrigue after his associate is killed and a diplomat's daughter is found dead in his room.
Super
The Earth shortly before its end. The houses in the cities are deserted, the streets smashed. The sky shimmers dark gray.
Die Matrosen von Kronstadt
Petritschenko
Lili Marleen
Aaron
The story of a German singer named Willie who while working in Switzerland falls in love with a Jewish composer named Robert whose family is helping people to flee from the Nazis. Robert’s family is skeptical of Willie, thinking she could be a Nazi as she becomes famous for singing the song “Lili Marleen”.
Theodor Chindler - Die Geschichte einer deutschen Familie
Clemens Koch
The Marriage of Maria Braun
Willi Klenze
Maria marries a young soldier in the last days of World War II, only for him to go missing in the war. She must rely on her beauty and ambition to navigate the difficult post-war years alone.
Die Ratten
Bruno Mechelke
Wo die Liebe hinfällt
In a Year with 13 Moons
Anton Saitz
Elvira Weishaupt, once a burly working-class butcher, has made an enormous sacrifice for love. She has undergone a sex change for a romantic interest who has abandoned her, and she now must struggle to reconcile her past life with her present identity.
1982: Gutenbach
Peter Kessel
Despair
Perebrodov
Berlin, 1930, during the rise of Nazism. Hermann Hermann, a Russian emigrant and chocolate manufacturer, married to the capricious Lydia, loses his temper more and more every day when dealing with his workers and other businessmen; until he meets Felix, a vagrant, who seems to be physically identical to him; a disconcerting fact that leads Hermann Hermann to plot a particular way out of a fake world he actually hates.
Marija
Filipp
Fedora
Kritos
An ambitious Hollywood hustler becomes involved with a reclusive female star whom he tries to lure out of retirement.
The Stationmaster’s Wife
The lackluster and plodding Bolweiser has the (mis)fortune to be married to the town’s siren; his trusting nature leads him into serious trouble when she beds nearly every available guy.
The Stationmaster’s Wife
Finkelberger
The lackluster and plodding Bolweiser has the (mis)fortune to be married to the town’s siren; his trusting nature leads him into serious trouble when she beds nearly every available guy.
Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven
Jörg Niemeyer
After a worker kills a superior and commits suicide, each of his family members attempts to forge a path forward in life.
Carlos
Carlos
In the Southwest of 1915 Carlos backs an intended uprising of the common countymen against his father Phillip, a despotic landowner who exploits the rural poors in his silver mines. But Carlos' indecision and his love for his young and beautiful stepmother leads into a failure.
Jaider, the Lonely Hunter
Jaider
Café Oriental