---
name: "Rudolf Klein-Rogge"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/rudolf-klein-rogge"
fi1m_id: "rudolf-klein-rogge"
imdb_id: "nm0459030"
tmdb_id: 77
wikidata_id: "Q65154"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "24 November 1885"
died: "29 May 1955"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-25T05:47:48.592124+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Rudolf Klein-Rogge

## Identity

Rudolf Klein-Rogge

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/rudolf-klein-rogge
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** rudolf-klein-rogge
- **IMDb ID:** nm0459030
- **TMDB ID:** 77
- **Wikidata ID:** Q65154
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Klein-Rogge, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65154, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459030/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/77

Actor. Born 24 November 1885 in Cologne, Germany. Died 29 May 1955.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 24 November 1885, Cologne, Germany
- **Died:** 29 May 1955
- **Active:** 1922–1927
- **Also known as:** Friedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Friedrich Rudolf Klein
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 2 acting, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [Alfred Abel](https://film.one/person/alfred-abel.md), [Erich Pommer](https://film.one/person/erich-pommer.md), [Fritz Lang](https://film.one/person/fritz-lang.md), [Thea von Harbou](https://film.one/person/thea-von-harbou.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Klein-Rogge, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65154, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0459030/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/77

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Metropolis*](https://film.one/film/metropolis.md) (87)
- **Apple TV:** [*The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari*](https://film.one/film/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari.md) (87)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Rudolf Klein-Rogge

> Rudolf Klein-Rogge makes obsession visible through an intense stare and a willingness to look excessive. His acting finds a good home in Fritz Lang's *Metropolis*, where we welcome its force without wishing everyone would follow suit.

Rudolf Klein-Rogge's intense stare is well suited to men who expect obedience. His obsessive inventor Rotwang in *Metropolis* (1927) belongs in a film that expects people to express their convictions with their whole bodies. We rate the performance for its willingness to meet that demand. There is no attempt to make him unobtrusive among the scenery, and little reason why there should be.

His uncredited criminal in *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* (1920) offers an early link to expressionist villainy. Our affection for that film rests chiefly on Conrad Veidt and the crooked sets, so it would be misleading to make Klein-Rogge central to its achievement. The more substantial landmark is *Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler* (1922), his breakthrough as the criminal mastermind. Lang repeatedly cast him as villains, establishing the partnership that gives this work its clearest shape.

Lang's *Metropolis* also shows why such acting needs other performers to work differently. Alfred Abel gives Joh Fredersen control, while Brigitte Helm's Maria holds our attention through stillness; Rotwang has permission to be less restrained. We enjoyed his excess because it suits a film so willing to exaggerate. Yet Helm's restraint is welcome precisely because so much else is insisting that we look at it. Klein-Rogge contributes to the excitement, but we would not want everyone in the cast performing at his pitch.

The parts continued to favour men who wanted control: the criminal mastermind and spy chief Haghi in *Spies* (1928), then Mabuse again in the sound film *The Testament of Dr. Mabuse* (1933). The latter was his final collaboration with Lang. His later career included supporting roles into the 1930s. The concentration of criminals and tyrants among his principal parts gives us plenty of evidence of his force, though less reason to claim he could do anything.

Our reservation about *Metropolis* is its easy proposed cure for class conflict. Klein-Rogge's emphatic acting is much easier to accept when the film around him is working on that scale. Start with Rotwang, but keep an eye on what Abel and Helm are doing beside him.

## Biography

Rudolf Klein-Rogge (born Friedrich Rudolf Klein) was a German film and stage actor. He was born in Cologne on 24 November 1885 and died in Wetzelsdorf, Austria, on 29 May 1955. After studying art history in Berlin and Bonn and taking acting lessons, he made his stage debut in 1909 and appeared in his first film in 1912. He worked regularly in cinema from 1919.

Klein-Rogge became known for playing sinister or villainous characters in 1920s and 1930s German films. He appeared in several works directed by Fritz Lang, including *Destiny* (1921), *Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler* (1922), *Die Nibelungen* (1924), *Metropolis* (1927) as the inventor C.A. Rotwang, *Spies* (1928) and *The Testament of Dr. Mabuse* (1933) as Dr. Mabuse. He had earlier been married to screenwriter Thea von Harbou, who collaborated with Lang.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, filmportal.de.*

## On Fi1m (3)

### Performed in (2) — the average rests on these

- *Metropolis* (1927), Fi1m 87, as C.A. Rotwang — [page](https://film.one/film/metropolis.md)
- *Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler* (1922), Fi1m 77, as Dr. Mabuse — [page](https://film.one/film/dr-mabuse-the-gambler.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* (1920), Fi1m 87, as Criminal (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari.md)

## Complete filmography (77)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Witches* (1949), Actor
- *Wedding in Barenhof* (1942), Actor
- *Kora Terry* (1940), Actor
- *The Heart of a Queen* (1940), Actor
- *Die unvollkommene Liebe* (1940), as Konsul Henry Rasmus
- *Robert Koch, der Bekämpfer des Todes* (1939), as Rechnungsrat
- *Rheinische Brautfahrt* (1939), as Landrat
- *Kennwort Machin* (1939), as Schnellrichter in New York
- *Wibbel the Tailor* (1939), as Pangdich
- *Parkstrasse 13* (1939), as Direktor Bremer
- *Menschen vom Varieté* (1939), as Kommissar Wiedemann
- *Sergeant Berry* (1938), Dialogue
- *Two Women* (1938), Actor
- *After Midnight* (1938), Actor
- *Cat Walk* (1937), as Landrat Krotkeim
- *The Yellow Flag* (1937), as Kapitän Ellis
- *Madame Bovary* (1937), as Prof. Canivet
- *Die göttliche Jette* (1937), as Stadtrat Müller
- *The Sovereign* (1937), as Direktor Bodlfing
- *Truxa* (1937), as Varieté-Direktor
- *The Court Concert* (1936), as Oberst Flumms
- *Intermezzo* (1936), as Ponbiquet
- *Dissatisfied Woman* (1936), as Professor der Nervenklinik
- *The Hour of Temptation* (1936), as Kriminalrat Brandt
- *Moral* (1936), as Polizeipräsident von Simbach
- *The Kaiser of California* (1936), Actor
- *The Cossack and the Nightingale* (1936), as Dschahid-Bey, Tabakgroßhändler
- *A Strange Guest* (1936), as Polizeipräfekt
- *The Valley of Love* (1935), as Herr von Roden
- *Love's Arithmetic* (1935), Actor
- *The Old and The Young King* (1935), as Leopold Dessauer
- *The Tannhof Women* (1934), as Jakob Aigner
- *Der Fall Brenken* (1934), as Bert Benson
- *Paganini* (1934), as Graf Hédouville, Kurier Napoleons
- *Border Patrol* (1934), as Der Einäugige, ein Schmuggler
- *The Assumption of Hannele* (1934), as Maurer Mattern
- *The World Without a Mask* (1934), as Merker
- *Elisabeth and the Jester* (1934), as Michele
- *The Testament of Dr. Mabuse* (1933), as Dr. Mabuse
- *The Testament of Dr. Mabuse* (1933), as Dr. Mabuse
- *Tarakanova* (1930), as Le Comte Chouvalof
- *The Shark* (1930), as Vasseur
- *You Belong to Me* (1929), as Burat-Laussade
- *La maison des hommes vivants* (1929), Actor
- *Die schönste Frau von Paris* (1928), Actor
- *Wolga Wolga* (1928), as Kosak Hadschi-Ali
- *Mädchenschicksale* (1928), as Lormand
- *Spies* (1928), as Haghi
- *Die Sandgräfin* (1928), Actor
- *Das Mädchen aus Frisco* (1927), Actor
- *Die raffinierteste Frau Berlins* (1927), as William Pitts
- *Tingel Tangel* (1927), as Don Fabio Coridon
- *Loves of Casanova* (1927), as Peter III
- *Fighting the White Slave Traffic* (1927), as Simpat Karamanian / Arut Akkunian
- *The Queen Was in the Parlour* (1927), as General Kish
- *The Gypsy Baron* (1927), Actor
- *Metropolis* (1927), as C.A. Rotwang — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/metropolis.md)
- *Die lachende Grille* (1926), as Rossini
- *Der rosa Diamant* (1926), Actor
- *Pietro der Korsar* (1925), Actor
- *Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge* (1924), as King Etzel (Attila)
- *Die Nibelungen: Siegfried* (1924), as King Etzel
- *Warning Shadows* (1923), Actor
- *Die Prinzessin Suwarin* (1923), as Cyrus Proctor
- *The Stone Rider* (1923), as Der Herr vom Berge
- *Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler* (1922), as Dr. Mabuse — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/dr-mabuse-the-gambler.md)
- *Destiny* (1921), as Dervish / Girolamo
- *Four Around the Woman* (1921), as Upton
- *The Wandering Image* (1920), as Georgs Vetter Wil Brand
- *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* (1920), as Criminal (uncredited) — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari.md)
- *Wildes Blut* (1920), Actor
- *Die Schreckensnacht im Irrenhaus Ivoy* (1920), as Dr. Harry Walker
- *Das Licht am Fenster* (1919), Actor
- *Morphium* (1919), Actor
- *Das Geheimnis der Irren* (1919), Actor
- *Der Film von der Königin Luise - 1. Abteilung: Die Märtyrerin auf dem Königsthron* (1913), Actor
- *Der Film von der Königin Luise - 2. Abteilung: Aus Preußens schwerer Zeit* (1913), Actor

## Gallery

- ![Rudolf Klein-Rogge](https://film.one/media/person/104032/gallery-64cb7981ff11.jpg) Rudolf Klein-Rogge — Suse Byk, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Rudolf_Klein-Rogge.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Set photograph from Metropolis, a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang (1890–1976). (1926)](https://film.one/media/person/104032/gallery-53dc115fa1ac.jpg) Set photograph from Metropolis, a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang (1890–1976). (1926) — Horst von Harbou, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Horst_von_Harbou_-_Metropolis_set_photograph_13.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Set photograph from Metropolis, a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang (1890–1976). (1926)](https://film.one/media/person/104032/gallery-e4f436808062.jpg) Set photograph from Metropolis, a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang (1890–1976). (1926) — Horst von Harbou, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Horst_von_Harbou_-_Metropolis_set_photograph_14.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![A photographic still by Horst von Harbou taken on the set of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, showing Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel), Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) and the  (1926)](https://film.one/media/person/104032/gallery-79d74c1d413d.jpg) A photographic still by Horst von Harbou taken on the set of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, showing Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel), Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) and the  (1926) — Horst von Harbou, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Metropolis_Joh_Fredersen%2C_Rotwang_and_Maschinenmensch_by_Horst_von_Harbou.jpg/1280px-Metropolis_Joh_Fredersen%2C_Rotwang_and_Maschinenmensch_by_Horst_von_Harbou.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Rudolf Klein-Rogge by Frieda Riess (1919)](https://film.one/media/person/104032/gallery-0f4afc8f6492.jpg) Rudolf Klein-Rogge by Frieda Riess (1919) — Frieda Riess, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Rudolf_Klein-Rogge_by_Frieda_Riess_-_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/rudolf-klein-rogge