Gustaf Gründgens (22 December 1899 – 7 October 1963), born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg. His career continued unimpeded through the years of the Nazi regime; the extent to which this can be considered as deliberate collaboration with the Nazis is hotly disputed. His best known roles were that of Mephistopheles in Goethe's Faust in 1956/57, and as "Der Schränker" (The Safecracker) who is the chief judge of the kangaroo court presiding over Peter Lorre in Fritz Lang's M.

Filmography

• 2017Hitler's Hollywood — Various Roles (archive footage)
• 2015A Physical History of 'M' — Schränker (archive footage)
• 1964Don Gil von den grünen Hosen — Director
• 1960A Glass of Water — Sir Henry St. John
• 1960Faust — Mephisto, Director
• 1941Friedemann Bach — Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Director
• 1941Uncle Krüger — Joseph Chamberlain
• 1940Two Worlds — Director
• 1939Der Schritt vom Wege — Executive Producer, Director
• 1938Tanz auf dem Vulkan — Jean-Gaspard Debureau
• 1937Love in Stunt Flying — Jack Warren, Director
• 1936A Woman of No Importance — Lord George Illingworth
• 1935Hundert Tage — Fouché
• 1935Joan of Arc — König Karl VII. von Frankreich
• 1935Pygmalion — Professor Higgins
• 1934Black Fighter Johanna — Dr. Frost, politischer Agent
• 1934Inheritance in Pretoria — Eugen Schliebach
• 1934So Ended a Great Love — Count Metternich
• 1934The Grand Duke's Finances — Director, Writer
• 1933Der Tunnel — Mr. Woolf
• 1933Die schönen Tage von Aranjuez — Alexander
• 1933Le Tunnel — Woolf
• 1933Liebelei — Baron v. Eggersdorff
• 1933Love Story — Baron von Eggersdorf
• 1933The Town Stands on Its Head — Director
• 1932Teilnehmer antwortet nicht — Fahrlehrer
• 1932The Countess of Monte Cristo — Der 'Baron' Hochstapler
• 1931Danton — Robespierre
• 1931Luise, Queen of Prussia — König Friedrich Wilhelm III
• 1931M — Schränker
• 1931The Theft of the Mona Lisa — Unbekannter
• 1931Yorck — Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg
• 1930Fire in the Opera House — Otto van Lingen
• 1930Hokuspokus — Staatsanwalt Dr.Wilke
• 1930Never Trust a Woman — Jean
• 1930Va Banque — John James Brown, Privatdetektiv

Appearances as themselves (2)

• Das Jahrhundert des Theaters — Self (archive footage)
• Zur Person — Self