Biography for
Klaus Kinski

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Date of Birth

18 October 1926, Zoppot, Free City of Danzig [now Sopot, Poland]

Date of Death

23 November 1991, Lagunitas, California, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Nikolaus Günther Nakszynski

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Biography

Kinski grew up in Berlin, was drafted into the German army in 1944 and taken POW by the British in Netherlands. He began acting on the stage, quickly gaining a reputation for his ferocious talent and equally ferocious temper. He started acting in films shortly afterwards, showing complete lack of discrimination as to their quality (a complete filmography is almost impossible to establish), but turning out memorable work for director Werner Herzog a similarly driven and obsessive character. Herzog and Kinski pushed each other to extremes over a fifteen-year working relationship, but finally split after irreconcilable differences when filming Cobra Verde (1987). Kinski subsequently directed and starred in Kinski Paganini (1989), his only film as director. His autobiography 'All I Need is Love', one of the most vicious attacks on the film business ever written, was withdrawn for legal reasons and subsequently re-released as 'Kinski Uncut' in the US & UK, 'Ich brauche Liebe' in Germany, and in various other languages.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Michael Brooke

Spouse

Deborah Caprioglio	(1987 - 1989)
Minhoi Geneviève Loanic	(1971 - February 1979) (divorced) 1 child
Brigitte Ruth Tocki	(30 October 1960 - 1971) (divorced) 1 child
Gislinde Kühbeck	(11 June 1952 - 1955) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Father, with Ruth Tocki, of Nastassja Kinski.

Father of actress Pola Kinski.

Father of Nikolai Kinski.

Klaus Kinski's autobiography was originally released under the title "All I Need Is Love", but was withdrawn in 1989 due to a contract dispute: a German publisher claimed Kinski had previously released an autobiography for them entitled 'Ich, Kinski', and sued the publishers. It was reissued in 1997 under the title "Kinski Uncut", adding material that had been excluded from the first version of the book.

For a brief time he lived in an apartment in Munich which he shared with several other people. One of the children living there was thirteen-year-old Werner Herzog. They later collaborated in five movies: Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972), Woyzeck (1979), Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Cobra Verde (1987).

Grandchildren: Aljosha, Sonja and Kenia.

His countenance and screen persona gave his film career a boost in the 1960s when he was cast in a number of German productions based upon the thrillers of Edgar Wallace.

Uncle of actress Lara Naszinsky.

Son of Bruno Nakszynski, a Polish-German pharmacist, and his wife Susanne Lutze, daughter of a German pastor from Danzig.

Of his three children, only his son Nikolai Kinski attended the funeral in California, where his ashes were strewn in the Pacific Ocean (February 1992).

Turned down the role of a German villain in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), although he wanted to do a movie with Steven Spielberg, but thought "the script is as moronically shitty as so many other flicks of its ilk.".

His provocative TV appearance on "Je später der Abend ..." (1973) became legendary because he didn't answer a single question during an interview of and called the host Reinhard Münchenhagen "Herr Münchhausen" (1977).

He was recently honored by his city of birth, Sopot.

Spoke at least five languages: English, French, German, Italian & Spanish.

His father was a struggling opera singer who abandoned Kinski and his family when Kinski was still a child.

He was offered a part in Hammer's last movie To the Devil a Daughter (1976), but turned it down as his scenes would take more than ten days to shoot.

Was announced to play Dr.Hans Fallanda in Lifeforce but dropped out .

Personal Quotes

"Man muß den Menschen vor allem nach seinen Lastern beurteilen. Tugenden können vorgetäuscht sein. Laster sind echt. (One should judge a man mainly from his depravities. Virtues can be faked. Depravities are real.)"

"I'd have been better than Adolf Hitler. I could've delivered his speeches a lot better. That's for certain."

"I choose films with the shortest schedule and the most money."

"Wer mich beleidigt, entscheide ich." (I decide who offends me.)

"So I sell myself, for the highest price. Exactly like a prostitute. There is no difference."

"Making movies is better than cleaning toilets."

"I'm like a wild animal who's behind bars. I need air, I need space."

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