photo:
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Biography
Life
Kinski was born Nikolaus Karl Gunther Nakszynski in Zoppot, now Sopot, Poland, to a Polish-German father, Bruno Nakszynski, a pharmacist, a German pastor's daughter from Danzig, named Susanne Lutze. At the time, Zoppot was located within the territory of the Free City of Danzig. In 1930/31, the family moved to Berlin and Kinski attended the Prinz-Heinrich-Gymnasium in Schöneberg.
As World War II engulfed Europe, Kinski was drafted into the German Army and served in the Netherlands. Kinski reputedly went AWOL and surrendered to the British forces, spending most of his time during the war as a POW. Whilst in a POW camp near Colchester he discovered his acting talent, performing for fellow prisoners.
After the war, he returned to West Germany. He began acting and changed his name to Klaus Kinski. He started on stage in Germany, became a legend as a monologist (presenting the prose and verse of William Shakespeare and Francois Villon, among others), soon moved, pragmatically, to film, where the money was better. His last stage appearances were in November 1971, part of his "Jesus Tour", a one-man show in which Kinski reinterpreted the Gospels with Jesus as a ranting psychopath.
Off-screen, Kinski often appeared as a wild eyed, sex-crazed maniac, chronicling his exploits in an autobiography - Kinski Uncut - that rivals Wilt Chamberlain's in terms of sexuality. He was married three times and had three children, two daughters (Nastassja Kinski and Pola Kinski, both being actresses) and a son (Nikolai Kinski, also an actor). His brother Arne lives in Berlin, still bitter about the way Klaus portrayed him in his autobiography. He alienated his family with claims of incest with his sister, and when he died of a heart attack in Lagunitas, California, United States at age 65, only his son Nikolai attended the funeral (his ashes were strewn in the Pacific Ocean).
Reputation
His international reputation is built on five collaborations with director Werner Herzog, in the films Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), Woyzeck (based on the play by Georg Büchner) (1979), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), and finally Cobra Verde (1987). Several of these collaborations are now recognised as considerable masterpieces of European cinema, but the two men's working relationship proved to be a volatile and explosive one. Some of Kinski and Herzog's arguments during these productions have been preserved on both tape and film, with both apparently threatening to even kill each other during one heated dispute. The love-hate relationship between the two obsessive men drove them to creative heights, but eventually to a final split in 1987. Herzog's retrospective on his work with Kinski was released in the United States as My Best Fiend (1999).
Kinski was an extremely hard worker and strove for perfection, but was frequently at odds with co-workers and directors, rarely a team player. On one infamous occasion Kinski hurled a lit candelabra from the stage at an audience deemed insufficiently appreciative, almost burning the theatre down. On another, whilst filming Aguirre: The Wrath of God, irritated by the noise from a hut where cast and crew were playing cards, Kinski fired three shots at it, blowing the top joint off one extra's finger. Subsequently Kinski started leaving the jungle location (over Herzog's refusal to fire a sound assistant), only changing his mind after Herzog threatened to shoot Kinski and then himself.
Often referred to as a crazy genius, Werner Herzog described him as "an outright egomaniac". His behaviour may have been influenced by the German theatre directors of his early career, some of whom would frequently scream and shout abuse during rehearsals. Karl Paryla, for example, saw it as part of his methodology to drive his actors close to a nervous breakdown, on the basis that they would then perform better. Fritz Kortner (whom Kinski mentions in his autobiography) was also famous for being very harsh and brutal during rehearsals.
With his fluency in English, his unique appearance, and his ability to project on-screen intensity, Kinski was always able to get roles, although the quality of the productions varied wildly, most of them considered "junk" (Schrott) by Kinski himself. When Steven Spielberg offered him the part of one of the German villains in Raiders of the Lost Ark, he turned it down, stating: "[...] as much as I'd like to do a movie with Spielberg, the script is as moronically shitty as so many other flicks of this ilk.", preferring a part in Venom (1982), reportedly because the money was better. Of his film choices he once said "So I sell myself, for the highest price. Exactly like a prostitute. There is no difference."
Kinski's last film (which he also wrote and directed) was Kinski Paganini (1989) in which he played the legendary violinist Niccolo Paganini. His earlier film roles include - as well as the Edgar Wallace movies - Decision Before Dawn (1950), A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), The Counterfeit Traitor (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), For a Few Dollars More (1965), Grand Slam (1968), The Great Silence (1969).
Recently he was honoured by his city of birth, Sopot.
Books
All I Need Is Love (1988)
