Biography

Adorf was born in Zürich, Switzerland, the illegitimate child of an Italian surgeon and a German medical assistant. He grew up in his maternal grandfather's hometown, Mayen, where he was raised by his unmarried mother. He rose to fame in Europe, and particularly Germany, and also made appearances in international films, including Ten Little Indians and Smilla's Sense of Snow. He also played a small role in the BBC adaptation of John le Carré's Smiley's People as a German club owner. In Italy he was the main protagonist of the Zu Gino TV series (1985), as well as a number of movies.

In the 60's, he married Lis Verhoeven. The couple had a child, Stella, prior to their divorce. He starred with Barbara Bouchet in Milano Calibro 9 in 1972. In 1985, he married Monique Faye. Adorf remains very active in German shows, television, and theatre.

Adorf still regrets that he refused parts in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972) and Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (1961). He also turned down the role of General Mapache in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969), because he felt the character was too violent. In 1996, he provided the German dubbing voice for the character Draco in Dragonheart, a role performed by Sean Connery.

Awards

Among many others:

• 2000 Bavarian Film Awards Honorary Award
• 2011 Best Human Brand Award

Selected filmography

• Sand, Love and Salt (1957, directed by František Čáp)
• The Devil Strikes at Night (1957, directed by Robert Siodmak)
• The Doctor of Stalingrad (1958, directed by Géza von Radványi)
• Rosemary (1958, directed by Rolf Thiele)
• The Death Ship (1959, directed by Georg Tressler)
• Am Tag, als der Regen kam (de) (1959, directed by Gerd Oswald)
• Cry Double Cross (de) (Bumerang) (1960, directed by Alfred Weidenmann)
• Brainwashed (1960, directed by Gerd Oswald)
• A cavallo della tigre (1961, directed by Luigi Comencini)
• Lulu (1962, directed by Rolf Thiele)
• Station Six-Sahara (1963, directed by Seth Holt)
• Apache Gold (1963, directed by Harald Reinl)
• La visita (1964, directed by Antonio Pietrangeli)
• The Last Ride to Santa Cruz (1964, directed by Rolf Olsen)
• Massacre at Marble City (1964, directed by Paul Martin)
• Major Dundee (1965, directed by Sam Peckinpah)
• Ten Little Indians (1965, directed by George Pollock)
• The Dirty Game (1965, directed by Terence Young, Christian-Jaque, Carlo Lizzani, Werner Klingler)
• That Man in Istanbul (1965, directed by Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi)
• I Knew Her Well (1965, directed by Antonio Pietrangeli)
• The Camp Followers (1965, directed by Valerio Zurlini)
• Ganovenehre (de) (1966, directed by Wolfgang Staudte)
• The Treasure of San Gennaro (1966, directed by Dino Risi)
• A Rose for Everyone (1967, directed by Franco Rossi)
• A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof (1967, directed by Giulio Petroni)
• Zärtliche Haie (1967, directed by Michel Deville)
• Ghosts - Italian Style (1968, directed by Renato Castellani)
• Anyone Can Play (1968, directed by Luigi Zampa)
• Engelchen macht weiter - hoppe, hoppe Reiter (de) (1969, directed by Michael Verhoeven)
• The Red Tent (1969, directed by Mikhail Kalatozov)
• Gli specialisti (1969, directed by Sergio Corbucci)
• Die Herren mit der weißen Weste (de) (1970, directed by Wolfgang Staudte)
• The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970, directed by Dario Argento)
• Deadlock (1970, directed by Roland Klick (de))
• King, Queen, Knave (1972, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski)
• Caliber 9 (1972, directed by Fernando Di Leo)
• Execution Squad (1972, directed by Steno)
• The Sicilian Checkmate (1972, directed by Florestano Vancini)
• La mala ordina (1972, directed by Fernando Di Leo)
• Short Night of Glass Dolls (1972, directed by Aldo Lado)
• The Assassination of Matteotti (1972, directed by Florestano Vancini)
• The Adventures of Pinocchio (TV miniseries) (1972, directed by Luigi Comencini)
• Sans sommation (fr) (1973, directed by Bruno Gantillon)
• Trip to Vienna (1973, directed by Edgar Reitz)
• What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974, directed by Massimo Dallamano)
• Processo per direttissima (1974, directed by Lucio De Caro (it))
• Weak Spot (1975, directed by Peter Fleischmann)
• The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (1975, directed by Volker Schlöndorff)
• MitGift (de) (1976, directed by Michael Verhoeven)
• Cuore di cane (1976, directed by Alberto Lattuada)
• I Am Afraid (1977, directed by Damiano Damiani)
• Tod oder Freiheit (de) (1977, directed by Wolf Gremm)
• Der Hauptdarsteller (de) (1977, directed by Reinhard Hauff)
• Fedora (1978, directed by Billy Wilder)
• The Tin Drum (1979, directed by Volker Schlöndorff)
• The Little World of Don Camillo (TV miniseries) (1981, directed by Peter Hammond)
• Lola (1981, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
• La disubbidienza (1981, directed by Aldo Lado)
• Invitation au voyage (1982, directed by Peter Del Monte)
• Marco Polo (TV miniseries) (1982, directed by Giuliano Montaldo)
• Smiley's People (TV miniseries) (1982, directed by Simon Langton)
• State buoni se potete (1983, directed by Luigi Magni)
• Klassenverhältnisse (1984, directed by Straub-Huillet)
• Via Mala (TV miniseries) (1985, directed by Tom Toelle (de))
• The Holcroft Covenant (1985, directed by John Frankenheimer)
• Kir Royal - Aus dem Leben eines Klatschreporters (TV series) (1986, directed by Helmut Dietl)
• Mino (TV miniseries) (1986, directed by Gianfranco Albano (it))
• Momo (1986, directed by Johannes Schaaf)
• The Second Victory (1986, directed by Gerald Thomas)
• Des Teufels Paradies (1987, directed by Vadim Glowna)
• Italian Night (1987, directed by Carlo Mazzacurati)
• Vado a riprendermi il gatto (1987, directed by Giuliano Biagetti)
• La piovra (TV series) (1989, directed by Luigi Perelli (it))
• Francesco (1989, directed by Liliana Cavani)
• Mother (1989, directed by Gleb Panfilov)
• I ragazzi di via Panisperna (1989, directed by Gianni Amelio)
• Rosamunde (de) (1990, directed by Egon Günther)
• The Bachelor (1990, directed by Roberto Faenza)
• Quiet Days in Clichy (1990, directed by Claude Chabrol)
• Fantaghirò (TV miniseries) (1991, directed by Lamberto Bava)
• Money (1991, directed by Steven Hilliard Stern)
• Der große Bellheim (de) (TV miniseries) (1992, directed by Dieter Wedel (de))
• König der letzten Tage (de) (TV movie) (1993, directed by Tom Toelle (de))
• Felidae (voice-over) (1994, directed by Michael Schaack (de))
• The Fearless Four (film)(1997, directed by Michael Coldewey)
• Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997, directed by Bille August)
• Rossini - oder die mörderische Frage, wer mit wem schlief (de) (1997, directed by Helmut Dietl)
• Caraibi (it) (TV miniseries) (1999, directed by Lamberto Bava)
• Die Affäre Semmeling (TV miniseries) (2002, directed by Dieter Wedel (de))
• Es ist ein Elch entsprungen (de) (2005, directed by Ben Verbong)
• Die Libelle und das Nashorn (de) (2012, directed by Lola Randl)
• Der letzle Mentsch (de) (2014, directed by Pierre-Henry Salfati)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]