Klaus Kinski

Klaus Kinski (born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski; 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor. He appeared in more than 130 films, and was a leading role actor in the films of Werner Herzog, including Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Woyzeck (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), and Cobra Verde (1987). He was considered a controversial figure in Germany. Some of his violent outbursts on set were filmed in Herzog's documentary My Best Fiend.

He is the father of Pola, Nastassja, and Nikolai Kinski, born of three different marriages. They have all become actors and have worked in Germany and the United States, primarily in film and TV.

Early life

Klaus Kinski was born to German nationals in Zoppot in what was from 1920–1939, under League of Nations supervision, the Free City of Danzig. (It is now Sopot, Poland.) His father, Bruno Nakszynski, a German of Polish descent, was a failed opera singer turned pharmacist; his mother, Susanne (née Lutze), was a nurse and the daughter of a local pastor. Klaus had three older siblings: Inge, Arne and Hans-Joachim.