Biography
Helmut Griem was a German stage, film and television actor and theatre director. Born in Hamburg, he trained in literature and philosophy before beginning his career in cabaret and amateur theatre, later appearing at the Thalia Theater and Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, the Burgtheater in Vienna, the Munich Kammerspiele and the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich.
He became known internationally for his film roles, notably as the SS officer Aschenbach in Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969), the Baron Maximilian von Heune in Bob Fosse's Cabaret (1972), Count Dürckheim in Visconti's Ludwig (1973) and Lieutenant Simeon in The Desert of the Tartars (1976). Other credits include Voyage of the Damned (1976) and the television mini-series Peter the Great (1986) as Alexander Menshikov. Griem also directed stage productions, including Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night.
