Biography
Ernst Winar, originally named Wilhelm Joseph Carl Eichhoff (1894–1978), was a German-Dutch actor, film director, and novelist. He appeared in 34 films from 1916 to 1955 and directed 14 films during that time. In 1920, he co-authored the novel 'Peccavi...???' with actor Adolphe Engers; the book was controversial then due to its gay protagonist.
Born into a German family as Wilhelm Joseph Carl Eichhoff, Winar left his engineering studies early to join Filmfabriek Hollandia in Haarlem. He worked as an assistant to directors and crew and made his acting debut in a supporting role in Majoor Frans (1916). He was also active in theater, briefly joining the Bouwmeester company. Later, he took acting roles in Germany, landing his first lead role in Zirkus Renz ('Circus Renz', 1927) directed by Austrian Wolfgang Neff. He honed his directing skills at Terra Film's school in Berlin and directed his first film, Der Mann im Hintergrund ('The Man in the Background'), in 1923.
In the early 1930s, he returned to the Netherlands, signing with Cinetone Studios. There, he directed De kribbebijter (1935) and Op stap (1935), both starring Louis Davids. Winar was regarded as one of the few Dutch directors at Cinetone to have truly mastered filmmaking. After World War II, he focused on children's films, including Dik Trom en zijn dorpsgenoten ('Dik Trom and his fellow villagers', 1947) and Vier Jongens en een Jeep ('Four Guys and a Jeep', 1955), the latter marking his final work as actor and director. In the 1960s, Winar mentored young filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, serving as editor and co-writer on the short film Eén hagedis teveel ('One Lizard Too Many', 1960) and the documentary Het Korps Mariniers ('The Marine Corps', 1965).
