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Kreuger was born in Michenberg, Germany, but grew up in St. Moritz, Switzerland. His father disapproved of his son's desire to travel and his passion for acting. Kreuger briefly attended the London School of Economics before transferring to Columbia University in New York. After dropping out, his allowance was discontinued. In 1939, he worked as a travel agent and joined the Provincetown Players on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He became a U.S. citizen in 1944. In 1941, he secured a minor role in the Broadway play "Candle in the Wind," starring Helen Hayes, where he also understudied a lead role.
He made his film debut with a small role in the 1943 war film Edge of Darkness, about the Nazis in Norway, starring Ann Sheridan and Errol Flynn. That same year, he appeared briefly in Action in the North Atlantic, another war film featuring Humphrey Bogart. Also in 1943, he played Captain von Schletow, a German pilot, in Sahara alongside Bogart. Concerned about being typecast as a Nazi, he left his studio contract after a dispute and traveled to Germany, where he starred in several leading roles—opportunities he had not found in Hollywood.
Following a car accident in 1955, he returned to the United States. He had significant screen time in The Enemy Below (1957) with Curd Jürgens and Robert Mitchum, portraying the third-in-command on a U-boat. A major disappointment occurred when Marlon Brando was cast in the role Kreuger had desired in The Young Lions (1958). His final film was The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967). After retiring, he divided his time between homes in Beverly Hills and Aspen, Colorado, investing his earnings in luxury properties which he renovated or rented to other celebrities. This investment allowed him to live comfortably until his death in 2006, just 11 days shy of his 90th birthday.
