René Deltgen

Renatus Heinrich Deltgen (30 April 1909 in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg – 29 January 1979 in Cologne, West Germany) was a Luxembourgish stage and film actor, who spent most of his career in Germany.

Biography

Deltgen was the son of the chemist Mathias Deltgen and his wife Katharina, née Pütz. After graduating from high school, he went to Cologne in 1927 to attend the drama school there. From 1931 to 1934 he gained stage experience at the Städtische Bühnen Köln. He had his first successes in the play Der Graue by Friedrich Forster. After a one-year engagement at the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt, he got his first film role at UFA in 1935 in Das Mädchen Johanna, a film about Joan of Arc.

Until 1944 he played on various stages in Berlin and appeared in numerous films. His parade roles were those of the charming lover or the unscrupulous adventurer. German cultural policy in Luxembourg, which was annexed by Germany, attempted to represent Deltgen during the Second World War as a type of Luxembourgian who had established himself in the Reich; in 1939 he was appointed a state actor.^[1] In 1944, Deltgen was on the Gottbegnadeten list of the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda. Posters on which he promoted the entry of Luxembourg youth into the Hitler Youth offended the population's former pride in Luxembourg's best-known actor. Even in the post-war years, his compatriots did not forgive him for collaborating with the Germans. In 1945/46, therefore, there was a much-publicized trial against Deltgen in Luxembourg for treason. The sentence was two years in prison, a fine of 100,000 francs and the loss of his Luxembourg nationality, which was, however, restored to him in 1952. He had to serve only part of the prison sentence.^[2]

Selected filmography

Das Mädchen Johanna (1935) – Maillezais
One Too Many on Board (1935) – I. Offizier Rohlfs
Savoy Hotel 217 (1936) – Sergei Gavrilovitch Schuvalov
Port Arthur (1936) – Ivamoura, Youki's brother
Under Blazing Heavens (1936) – Groppi
Starke Herzen (1937) – Viktor
Urlaub auf Ehrenwort (1938) – Grenadier Emil Sasse
Secret Code LB 17 (1938) – Lieutenant Robby Glawar
Schwarzfahrt ins Glück (1938) – Werkstatter Rudi Winkler
Nordlicht (1938) – Olaf Hansen
Kautschuk [de] (1938) – Henry Wickham
After Midnight (1938) – Fedor
The Green Emperor (1939) – Jan Karsten
Twelve Minutes After Midnight (1939) – Niels Terström
Congo Express (1939) – Gaston Thibault
Brand im Ozean [fr] (1939) – Tom Finberg
The Three Codonas (1940) – Alfredo Codona
Achtung! Feind hört mit! (1940) – Karl Ludwg Färber
Das leichte Mädchen (1940) – Student Brutus
My Life for Ireland (1941) – Robert Devoy
Spähtrupp Hallgarten (1941) – Hannes Hallgarten
The Big Game (1942) – Mittelstürmer Werner Fehling
Attack on Baku (1942) – Percy Forbes, Chef der englischen Agenten
Front Theatre (1942) – Dr. Paul Meinhardt
Doctor Crippen (1942) – Düwell
Whom the Gods Love (1942) – Ludwig van Beethoven
Circus Renz (1943) – Ernst Renz
When the Young Wine Blossoms (1943) – Kapitän Tonning
Summer Nights (1944) – Dr. Thomas
The Wedding Hotel (1944) – Viktor Hoffmann, Pressephotograph
Wir beide liebten Katharina (1945)
The Silent Guest (1945) – Matthias Radscheck
Tromba (1949) – Kurt Tromba, Tigerdompteur
Keepers of the Night (1949) – Stefan Gorgas
Blondes for Export (1950) – Frank Olman
Tobias Knopp – Abenteuer eines Junggesellen [de] (1950) – Förster Knarrtje (voice)
Eyes of Love (1951) – Günther Imhoff
Torreani (1951) – Robert Torreani
Desires (1952) – Dr. med. Steininger
Under the Thousand Lanterns (1952) – Kommissar Dr. Hennings
No Way Back (1953) – Major Kazanow
Stars Over Colombo (1953) – Lakamba
The House on the Coast (1954) – Beppo
The Prisoner of the Maharaja (1954) – Lakamba
The Man of My Life (1954) – Nils Ascan
The Last Summer (1954) – Gawan Massi
Spring Song (1954) – Eduard Fabricius
The Phantom of the Big Tent (1954) – Alfredo Capelli, der Direktor
Special Delivery (1955) – Kovak
Hotel Adlon (1955) – Gravic
Without You All Is Darkness (1956) – Charly Justin
The House of Intrigue (1956) – Hermann
Queen Louise (1957) – Napoleon
The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) – Prince Ramigani
The Indian Tomb (1959) – Prince Ramigani
Der Hexer (1964) – Henry Arthur 'Der Hexer' Milton
Golden Goddess of Rio Beni (1964) – Bernard
Neues vom Hexer (1965) – Arthur Milton
The Doctor Speaks Out (1966) – Dr. Diener
Slap in the Face (1970) – Wan Tan, Chinese
Christmas Not Just Once a Year [de] (1970, TV film) – Uncle Franz
Das Messer [de] (1971, TV miniseries) – Philip Cooper
Die Herausforderung (1975, TV film) – Paul Sander
Die Affäre Lerouge [de] (1976, TV film) – Tabaret
Scrounged Meals [de] (1977) – Schiller
Schwarz und weiß wie Tage und Nächte (1978, TV film) – Lindford
Heidi [de] (1978, TV series) – Grandfather

References

^ Deltgen, René, in: Ernst Klee: Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Frankfurt am Main : S. Fischer, 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5, S. 110f.
^ Horst O. Hermanni: Das Film ABC. 2009.

External links

René Deltgen at IMDb

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[1] Deltgen, René, in: Ernst Klee: Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Frankfurt am Main : S. Fischer, 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-039326-5, S. 110f.

[2] Horst O. Hermanni: Das Film ABC. 2009.

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