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Arthur Brauss boasts an extensive list of acting credits both in Germany and internationally. He has been directed by renowned filmmakers such as John Huston, Sam Peckinpah, Jack Arnold, Richard Brooks, and Mark Robson. His co-stars include Warren Beatty, Goldie Hawn, Steve Martin, Burt Lancaster, James Mason, and James Coburn. Tall, lean, and sinewy, Brauss has often portrayed police officers on television, but he is best known for roles as ruthless henchmen, double-crossing villains, assassins, bank robbers, and mercenaries.
An accomplished pole-vaulter in his youth, winning the 1954 German junior championship, Brauss worked in a factory before moving to the U.S. on a sports scholarship at the University of Wyoming. There, he studied mathematics and economics and discovered a passion for acting through college theater. Returning to Germany in 1960, his fluency in English helped him secure a position at Radio Free Europe. Under the name Art Brauss, he made his film debut three years later. From the start, he was in high demand for supporting roles in international productions, mainly action films like The Train (1964), Jack of Diamonds (1967), The Swiss Conspiracy (1976), Avalanche Express (1979), and Cross of Iron (1977). Brauss also appeared in several Jerry Cotton films, played a terrorist gang member in Verrat ist kein Gesellschaftsspiel (1972), portrayed the cold-blooded killer Abdul Carraco in the lavish TV production Härte 10 (1974), and took on the role of Charly Clayton, the greedy owner of the Tivoli saloon, in Lockruf des Goldes (1975), a miniseries loosely based on Jack London's works. His portrayal of the ruthless drug smuggler Candy Man in $ (1971) was originally intended for Horst Frank, an actor similarly known for villainous roles.
Brauss had a standout role as a murderous footballer in Wim Wenders’s quirky, noir-inspired crime drama The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1972). More recently, he appeared as Russian chess master Viktor Yurilivich in the thriller Knight Moves (1992) and as King Ottokar in the fairy tale König Drosselbart (2008). Throughout the 1960s and 70s, he remained true to type as the persistent villain in TV series such as Die fünfte Kolonne (1963), Okay S.I.R. (1972), Derrick (1974), Tatort (1970), and The Old Fox (1977). Aside from occasional ventures into lighter fare like Münchner Geschichten (1974) and The Black Forest Hospital (1985), Brauss earned enduring popularity as Chief of Police Richard Block in the long-running procedural series Großstadtrevier (1986).
In addition to acting, he has lent his German dubbing voice to stars including David Warner, Robbie Coltrane, Scott Glenn, James Caan, and Max von Sydow.
Since retiring in 2014, Brauss has devoted his free time to car racing, furniture making, playing classical guitar, cooking, and golfing at a club that counts Franz Beckenbauer among its members. He has lived for around forty years in Munich’s Schwabing district. His wife is Marie Poccolin.
