Günter Meisner

Günter Meisner (18 April 1926 – 5 December 1994) was a German film and television character actor. He is remembered for his several cinematic portrayals of Adolf Hitler and for his role as Arthur Slugworth in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He was fluent in four languages and appeared in many English-language, German-language and French-language films.

Career
Born in Bremen, Meisner briefly worked at a steel foundry before training as a radio operator with the Luftwaffe's Fallschirmjäger (paratroopers). After the war, though he was interested in a career in sculpture and painting, in 1948 he switched to drama and studied under Gustaf Gründgens at Düsseldorf's State Conservatory, where he also got his first job at the local Schauspielhaus.

Film and TV
Meisner often played stock character Nazi officers and other sinister characters. He portrayed Hitler in the 1982 Franco-German action comedy, L'as des as (Ace of Aces), and in the ABC television miniseries, The Winds of War (miniseries). He also appeared in the CBS miniseries, Blood and Honor and Southern Television's, Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years.

Other films Meisner took part in were Is Paris Burning?, The Quiller Memorandum, Funeral in Berlin, and The Boys from Brazil. He was Mr. Slugworth/Mr. Wilkinson in the 1971 film version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He also appeared in several television commercials.

Theatre
As a theatre actor and director, Meisner founded the Gallery Diogenes in Berlin in 1959 for visual art and mainly absurd theater. In 1961, he also founded the International Association for Arts and Sciences.

Africa
From 1967 to 1969 Meisner participated in relief efforts in Biafra, Nigeria. He also produced two films criticising racial discrimination: Don't Look for Me in Places Where I Can't Be Found and Bega Dwa Bega (One for All), a Swahili-language film for the Tanzanian Film Unit.

Death
Meisner died on 5 December 1994 at the age of aged 68 of heart failure, during the filming of an episode of the television series Tatort. He is buried in Berlin's Friedhof Heerstraße Cemetery.

Selected filmography

 * 1957: A Time to Love and a Time to Die (uncredited)
 * 1957: Kopf oder Zahl as Kid
 * 1958: Viel Lärm um nichts
 * 1958: Here I Am, Here I Stay (Hier bin ich – hier bleib ich)
 * 1959: Aus dem Tagebuch eines Frauenarztes
 * 1959:  (Babette s'en va-t-en guerre)
 * 1959: The Death Ship (Das Totenschiff) as Paul, Trimmer auf der Yorikke
 * 1959: The Black Chapel as 1. Killer
 * 1961: Question 7 as Schmidt
 * 1961: The Miracle of Father Malachia (Das Wunder des Malachias) as Crazy Preacher
 * 1961:  as Redner Meetingsaal
 * 1961: Diesmal muß es Kaviar sein as Redner (uncredited)
 * 1962: The Counterfeit Traitor as Priest (uncredited)
 * 1962:  as Kurzschluß-Henry (uncredited)
 * 1963: The Black Cobra (Die schwarze Kobra) as Wunderlich ('Mr. Green')
 * 1963: Hafenpolizei - Der blaue Brief (TV series) as Johnny Massels
 * 1964: Murderer in the Fog as Kriminalassistent Behrend
 * 1965: Code Name: Jaguar as Russian Officer
 * 1966:  (1966, TV miniseries) as Smiler Jackson
 * 1966: Is Paris Burning? (Paris brûle-t-il?) as Commandant SS à Pantin
 * 1966: The Quiller Memorandum as Hassler
 * 1966: Funeral in Berlin as Kreutzman
 * 1967: Der Mönch mit der Peitsche as Greaves
 * 1969: The Bridge at Remagen as SS Gen. Gerlach
 * 1970: Hauser's Memory as Korowiew
 * 1970: Poker - Poker (Short film)
 * 1971: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as Arthur Slugworth
 * 1971: Ludwig L (Short film) as Der Betrunkene
 * 1973: The Battle of Sutjeska as German General
 * 1973: Werwölfe
 * 1974: Die Verrohung des Franz Blum as Borsig
 * 1974: The Odessa File as General Greifer
 * 1974: Borsalino & Co. as Le médecin
 * 1974: Between Wars as Karl Schneider
 * 1975: La Chair de l'orchidée as L'avocat-conseil
 * 1975: Familienglück as Hektiker
 * 1975: Inside Out as Schmidt
 * 1976: Voyage of the Damned as Robert Hoffman
 * 1977: Die Brüder as Pfarrer
 * 1977: Heinrich
 * 1977: The Serpent's Egg as Convict
 * 1978: The Boys from Brazil as Farnbach
 * 1979: Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo as Betrunkener Arbeiter (uncredited)
 * 1979: Breakthrough as SS-Offizier
 * 1979: Avalanche Express as Rudi Muehler
 * 1979:  as Direktor Willi
 * 1979:  (TV miniseries)
 * 1980: The American Success Company as Maitre d'
 * 1980: Gibbi Westgermany as Patient
 * 1980:  as Grimme
 * 1980: Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (TV series) as Adolf Hitler
 * 1981: Silas (TV miniseries) as Fabian Fedder
 * 1982: Night Crossing as Major Koerner
 * 1982: Blood and Honor: Youth Under Hitler (TV series) as Schneider
 * 1982: Rom ist in der kleinsten Hütte (TV series)
 * 1982:  as Dr. Steiner
 * 1982: L'As des as as Adolf Hitler / Angela Hitler
 * 1982: Zwei Tote im Sender und Don Carlos im Pogl (TV movie) as Maskenbildner
 * 1983: The Winds of War as Adolf Hitler
 * 1983: Plem, Plem - Die Schule brennt
 * 1983: Chamäleon (TV series)
 * 1984: Under the Volcano as Herr Krausberg - the German Attaché (uncredited)
 * 1984: Der Mord mit der Schere (Short film)
 * 1985: Drei gegen Drei as Prof. Holl
 * 1986: Close Up (Short film) as KGB-Chef
 * 1986: Tras el cristal as Klaus
 * 1986: Das Geheimnis von Lismore Castle (TV movie) as Sir Ralph Whitecombe
 * 1986: Gestatten, Bestatter as Herr Abendroth
 * 1987: Die Saat des Hasses (Visperas) (TV series)
 * 1987: Indras Rache (Tout est dans la fin) as Hamerstein
 * 1987: Der elegante Hund (TV series)
 * 1988: Zum Beispiel Otto Spalt as Bobby Steinbeck
 * 1989: Magdalene as Prior
 * 1989: Bride of the Orient (La Fiancée thaïlandaise / Gekauftes Glück) as Pfarrer Barmettler
 * 1989: Roselyne et les lions as Klint
 * 1989: The Saint: The Big Bang (TV series) as Kuhler
 * 1989: Moon Child (El niño de la luna) as Abuelo militar
 * 1990: Estación Central as Alex' friend
 * 1990: The Man Inside as Judge
 * 1990: Il piccolo popolo (TV movie) as Schneider
 * 1990: Te Rua as Prof. Biederstedt
 * 1991: Leporella
 * 1992: Ruby Cairo as Herr Bruchner, EDK Executive
 * 1993: Faraway, So Close! (In weiter Ferne, so nah!) as Fälscher
 * 1993: Posthuman as Doctor
 * 1993: Harry & Sunny (TV series) as Kneipenwirt
 * 1994: The Violin Player (Le joueur de violon)
 * 1994: Air Albatros (TV series) as Lauffendingk Sr.
 * 1994: Eine Mutter kämpft um ihren Sohn as Wegener