Gérard Tichy

Gerhard Johannes Alexander Tichy Wondzinski (11 March 1920 – 11 April 1992), known as Gérard Tichy, was a German-Spanish actor who appeared in numerous films, including several international productions.

Gerard Tichy
Tichy in 100.000 dollari per Ringo (1965)
Born
Gerhard Johannes Alexander Tichy Wondzinski

(1920-03-11)11 March 1920
Weißenfels, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Died11 April 1992(1992-04-11) (aged 72)
Madrid, Spain
NationalityGerman, Spanish
Other namesGerardo Tichy
OccupationActor
Years active1949-1992

Early life

Tichy was born Gerhard Johannes Alexander Tichy Wondzinski in Weißenfels, Saxony-Anhalt, the son of a doctor. After a short period as an artist, he was conscripted into the Reich Labour Service during World War II, but was later transferred into the Wehrmacht as an infantry soldier. He served in the Polish and French campaigns, but was captured by Allied forces in 1945.

He was held in a prisoner-of-war camp in Bordeaux for 18 months. Not wanting to be repatriated back to Germany, he made an escape attempt on Christmas Eve, but was quickly re-captured taken to another camp. He escaped, this time successfully, while in transit and fled to Hendaye, near the Spanish border. He attempted to enter neutral Spain by wading through the Bidasoa, and was caught by Spanish authorities. He was released from custody after being vouched for by other German expats, and settled in Madrid.

Career

While working as a waiter in 1948, Tichy was spotted by director César Fernández Ardavín, who was looking for someone to play a German officer in the war film Neutrality. He subsequently starred in the war epic Balarrasa (1951) and quickly became a prominent character actor in Spanish cinema, ultimately appearing in 99 films over the course of his career. He won the CEC Award for Best Foreign Actor for his role in the 1955 film El canto del gallo.[1]

A capable if not fluent English speaker, Tichy also appeared in several international productions that were filmed in Spain, most notably King of Kings (1961) as Joseph, El Cid (1961) playing King Ramiro, and Doctor Zhivago (1965) as Liberius, a Red partisan commander.

He appeared in numerous spaghetti Westerns, most notably Sergio Corbucci's Compañeros (1971). He also worked with noted Spanish horror film directors such as Jesus Franco (Marquis de Sade: Justine), Paul Naschy (The Beast and the Magic Sword), Amando de Ossorio (Serpiente del mar) and Juan Piquer Simón (Pieces) and famed Italian director Mario Bava (Hatchet for the Honeymoon).

Tichy also periodically returned to his native Germany, performing at the Hamburg Kammerspiele and acting in the Zarah Leander film Cuba Cabana.

Death

Tichy died in Madrid on April 11, 1992.

Selected filmography

References
  1. "Premios del CEC a la producción española de 1955 | CEC | Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos | Madrid | Cine" (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 July 2023.
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