Walter Slezak

Walter Slezak (3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian television and movie actor who appeared in many movies. Slezak mostly played villains or thugs, most notably the German U-boat captain in Alfred Hitchcock's movie Lifeboat (1944), but occasionally he got to play lighter roles, as in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962). He also played a cheerfully corrupt and philosophical private detective in the film noir Born to Kill (1947) and appeared as Squire Trelawney in Treasure Island (1972). He is also known for playing the Clock King in Batman (1966). Slezak won a Tony Award in 1955.

Slezak in a photo (1957)

Slezak was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Slezak was married to Johanna Van Rijn from 1943 until his death in 1983. They had three children. Slezak died on April 21, 1983 after he shot himself in his home in Flower Hill, New York. He is buried in Rottach-Egern, Germany.

Movies

Slezak in March 1934

Slezak in 1943

Slezak with his daughter, Erika Slezak in 1974

• Sodom and Gomorrah (1922)
• Michael (1924)
• Addio giovinezza (1927)
• Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942)
• This Land Is Mine (1943)
• The Fallen Sparrow (1943)
• Lifeboat (1944)
• The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
• Step Lively (1944)
• The Spanish Main (1945)
• Cornered (1945)
• Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
• Born to Kill (1947)
• Riffraff (1947)
• The Pirate (1948)
• The Inspector General (1949)
• Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950)
• The Yellow Cab Man (1950)
• Bedtime for Bonzo (1951)
• People Will Talk (1951)
• Call Me Madam (1953)
• White Witch Doctor (1953)
• The Miracle (1959)
• Come September (1961)
• The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
• Wonderful Life
  (US title: Swingers' Paradise 1964)
• Dr. Coppelius (1966)
• Heidi (1968)
• Black Beauty (1971)
• Treasure Island (1972)

Other websites

• Walter Slezak at AllMovie
• Walter Slezak at Find a Grave
• Walter Slezak at the Internet Broadway Database
• Walter Slezak on IMDb
• Photographs and literature