- Born
- Died
- Birth nameFriedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- During the heyday of German silent cinema, Rudolf Klein-Rogge was the prototype for the master criminal, the irredeemable arch villain or mad scientist. Born in Cologne, he served as a cadet in a Prussian military academy before finishing his matriculation. He then began to attend acting classes and studying art history in Berlin and Bonn, making his debut on the stage in 1909. After playing in theatres in towns and cities along the Rhine and northern Germany for nearly ten years, he started making films in 1919.
His villainous roots first came to the fore in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), but he really established his reputation in a series of classic expressionist films written by his then-wife Thea von Harbou and directed by Fritz Lang. Of these, the most memorable were his forceful Moriarty-inspired portrayals of the titular character in Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922), and its later sequel, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933). The latter, which has an evil mastermind directing his empire from a madhouse, was so obviously aimed at the Hitler regime, that it was banned by Joseph Goebbels. Klein-Rogge's other noteworthy appearances include King Etzel in Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (1924); and his insane scientist C.A. Rothwang, creator of the robot creature in Fritz Lang's masterpiece Metropolis (1927). A powerful personality possessed of an almost hypnotic stare and a strong, resonant voice, Klein-Rogge continued on through the 1930's in supporting roles. However, the period of expressionist cinema in Germany had all but run its course and he died in relative obscurity in Graz, Austria, in April 1955.
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis
- SpousesMary Johnson(1932 - April 30, 1955) (his death, 2 children)Margarete Neff(1921 - 1932) (annulled)Thea von Harbou(1914 - 1921)Gerda Melchior (divorced)
- Was once married to Thea von Harbou, who was Fritz Lang's wife and collaborator until Lang fled Nazi Germany. (Harbou, a Nazi sympathizer, stayed behind.)
- Frequently worked with director Fritz Lang, for whom he starred in ten films.
- Klein-Rogge and von Harbou were separated in 1920 and later divorced, while Fritz Lang's first wife committed suicide, freeing him and von Harbou to marry in 1922.
- When Thea von Harbou created with Fritz Lang one of the most fruitful connections in the history of the German film, Rudolf Klein-Rogge appeared in most of Fritz Lang's future movies (till 1932), from which many went down into film history.
- While working in Aachen, he met Thea von Harbou, a young actress and writer with ambition and beauty to whom he became a friend, mentor, and lover. The two married in 1914 and were one of the "power couples" of the era in the arts -- he a gifted and increasingly prominent stage actor in Nuremberg, equally skilled in lead or character roles and, with his thick blond hair, intense eyes, and severe features, appropriate to either, and she a best-selling author with a wide audience.
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