{{Short description|German actor (1923–2017)}} {{Infobox person | name = Gordon Sterne | image = | caption = | birth_name = Gerhard Paul Stern | birth_date = {{birth date|1923|01|16|df=y}} | birth_place = Essen, Germany | death_date = {{death date and age|2017|04|04|1923|01|16|df=y}} | death_place = Westminster, London, England | other_names = {{Hlist | Gordan Sterne | Gordon Stearne | Gordon Stern}} | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1956–2009 (film & TV) }}
'''Gordon Sterne''' (16 January 1923 – 4 April 2017) was a German-born English actor.
==Early life and education== Sterne was born on 16 January 1923 in Essen, Germany<ref>{{cite book |last=Lentz III |first=Harris M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FspZDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22++gordon+sterne+%22+actor+2017&pg=PA375|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2017 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers |edition= |location= |date=2018 |page=375 |oclc= |isbn=978-1-4766-7032-4}}</ref> of Jewish descent.<ref>[https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10789-791617/gerhard-stern-in-jewish-holocaust-memorials-jewish-residents-of-germany Jewish Holocaust Memorials and Jewish Residents of Germany 1939-1945]</ref> He left his native Nazi-dominated birth country in 1941 and became a native of Windsor, Ontario with a father who worked in the tobacco business and mother, who was supportive of his theatre aspirations. Sterne studied economics at the University of Western Ontario before volunteering for the Canadian Army in 1944, serving in the infantry as a sergeant.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ex-Windsorite on N.Y. stage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LyA_AAAAIBAJ&dq=gordon+sterne&pg=PA3&article_id=2012,2179346 |date=4 October 1947 |accessdate=9 June 2025 |work=Windsor Star |page=3}}</ref><ref name="StaffSen">{{cite news |title=Newcomer baffled by Vic cash row |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/808112271/ |date=9 March 1990 |accessdate=3 November 2024 |work=Staffordshire Sentinel |page=16}}</ref>
Heading to New York in 1945, he trained and graduated from the Dramatic Workshop<ref>https://www.regisautographs.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Scan-79-1-e1579350856974.jpeg Biography in ''South Pacific'' programme{{Dead link|date=June 2025|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> under the tutelage of its founder Erwin Piscator, at the same time as Rod Steiger, Bea Arthur, Walter Matthau, Tony Curtis and Harry Belafonte.<ref name="StaffSen"/><ref>{{cite news |title=A 'court-martial' worth seeing (we kid you not) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/805688172/ |date=12 April 1957 |access-date=3 November 2024 |work=Norwood News |page=2}}</ref>
==Career== Sterne then began his acting career in America, working on radio and TV, in summer stock and off-Broadway.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=31 March 2026|title=Sexual Perversity in Chicago & Duck Variations at Regent Theatre|website=infotextmanuscripts.org|url=https://www.infotextmanuscripts.org/webb/webb_sexual_chicago.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=31 March 2026|title=The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane|website=infotextmanuscripts.org|url=https://www.infotextmanuscripts.org/webb/webb_best_little.pdf}}</ref>
After a career on stage, playing the leading man in various plays in New Jersey during the 1940s,<ref>{{cite news |title=Deal Theater Group Seen In 'Death Takes A Holiday' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/144215740/ |date=7 July 1948 |access-date=3 November 2024 |work=Asbury Park Press |page=14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title="No Exit" Big Hit At Deal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/497520498/ |date=22 July 1948 |access-date=3 November 2024 |work=The Daily Record |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Blithe Spirit' Played at Deal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/144623163/ |date=12 August 1948 |access-date=11 November 2024 |work=Asbury Park Press |page=21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=To Play Lead In 'Claudia' On Deal Stage |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/497521817/ |date=23 August 1948 |access-date=11 November 2024 |work=The Daily Record |page=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Hasty Heart' Pleases at Deal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/144221759/ |date=1 July 1949 |access-date=11 November 2024 |work=Asbury Park Press |page=19}}</ref> as well as Benvenuto Cellini in ''The Firebrand'' at Washington's Arena Stage and Joseph K in ''The Trial'' at New York's Provincetown Playhouse during the early 1950s, Sterne moved to Britain in 1956 where he had over 50 years working in theatre, TV and film.
Being able to speak German (and French)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-4rAQAAIAAJ&q=gordon+sterne+german Spotlight - Issue 131, Part 2 - Page 1400]</ref> enabled Sterne to perform in ''Drop Dead Darling'' on tour in Germany as well as a spell with the English Theatre in Vienna.<ref name="StaffSen"/>
==Selected filmography== ===Film=== {{Div col}} * ''Battle of the V-1'' (1958) - Margraaf * ''The Great Van Robbery'' (1959) - Robledo * ''The Child and the Killer'' (1959) - Sergeant * ''Libel'' (1959) - Maddox * ''Murder at Site 3'' (1959) - Uncredited * ''Sink the Bismarck!'' (1960) - German Officer (uncredited) * ''The Millionairess'' (1960) - 2nd Secretary * ''Taste of Fear'' (1961) - Policeman (uncredited) * ''The Guns of Navarone'' (1961) - German Officer (uncredited)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://moviedude.co.uk/Gordon%20Sterne.htm|title=Gordon Sterne|work=movie-dude.co.uk}}</ref> * ''The Fur Collar'' (1962) - Duclos * ''Stranglehood'' (1963) * ''The V.I.P.s'' (1963) - Official (uncredited) * ''From Russia with Love'' (1963) - SPECTRE Helicopter Pilot (uncredited) * ''The Vulture'' (1967) - Edward Stroud * ''The Assassination Bureau'' (1969) - Corporal (uncredited) * ''The Chairman'' (1969) - U.S. Airforce Sergeant * ''Mosquito Squadron'' (1969) - Resistance Leader (uncredited)<ref name="mislabelled">{{IMDb name|0831894|name=Gordon Stone}}</ref> * ''The Adding Machine'' (1969) - Yard guard * ''This, That and the Other'' (1970) - Producer * ''Sex Play'' (1974) - Randolph O'Hara * ''An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) - Mr. Kessler * ''The Razor's Edge'' (1984) - Doctor * ''Orion's Belt'' (1985) - American tourist * ''Highlander'' (1986) - Dr. Willis Kennedy * ''Fourplay'' (2001) - Actor in Color of My Life * ''Laws of Attraction'' (2004) - Judge Baker {{div col end}}
===Television=== {{Div col}} * ''I Spy'' (1956) - Captain Price * ''ITV Play of the Week'' (1956) - Lieutenant Charles / Dr. Aristides Agramonte * ''Armchair Theatre'' (1956–1962) - Harry / Lionel / Schroder * ''Sunday Night Theatre'' (1956–1959) - Samuel Ellis / Howie Newson / Leander Nolan / Administrator / Clark * ''Escape'' (1956) - Colonel Goodwin, USAAF * ''O.S.S.'' (1958) - Flight Medic * ''White Hunter'' (1958) - Richardson * ''Rendezvous'' (1959) - Man (uncredited) * ''The Four Just Men'' (1959–1960) - Franconi / Dr. Wayne * ''The Charlie Drake Show'' (1959) - Mike Slade * ''No Hiding Place'' (1959) - Ward Mayhoff * ''International Detective'' (1960) - The Records Officer / The Professor * ''Hancock's Half Hour'' (1960) - Canada House Clerk<ref>{{Cite web |last=Guide |first=British Comedy |title=Gordon Sterne |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/gordon_sterne/ |access-date=28 March 2024 |website=British Comedy Guide |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/7ea7c699dfc04521a227f90ea9252cba |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328130222/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/7ea7c699dfc04521a227f90ea9252cba |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 28, 2024 |access-date=28 March 2024 |title=Hancock's Half Hour: The Emigrant (Tue 6th Jan 1987, 20:00; rpt) |work=Radio Times |date=3 January 1987 |issue=3293 |via=BBC Archives}}</ref> * ''Man from Interpol'' (1960) - Lebois * ''Interpol Calling'' (1960) - Rebel Captain (uncredited) * ''Garry Halliday'' (1960) - Viner * ''One Step Beyond'' (1961) - Man * ''Tales of Mystery'' (1962) - Steve Brodie * ''Out of This World'' (1962) - Journalist * ''Zero One'' (1962–1965) - Ziggy * ''Suspense'' (1963) - Mr. Shenner * ''The Saint'' (1963–1966) - Fritz Kapel / Vopos * ''Maigret'' (1963) - Inspector Clark * ''Espionage'' (1964) - Aide to US Ambassador * ''The Plane Makers'' (1964) - Oberst Leutnant * ''Court Martial'' (1966) - Captain Carey * ''The Prisoner'' (1964) - Bystander * ''Man in a Suitcase'' (1968) - Ernst Liebkind * ''Doctor Who'' (1970) - Heldorf * ''Crossroads'' (1970) - George Baxter * ''UFO'' (1970–1971) - German Delegate / Helmsman Ellis * ''Paul Temple'' (1970) - Hotel receptionist * ''The Troubleshooters'' (1970) - Dan Harper / Andy Shelton<ref name="mislabelled"/> * ''The Protectors'' (1973) - Barman * ''Skiboy'' (1974) - Brubaker * ''Anne of Avonlea'' (1975) - Thomas Lynde * ''Second Verdict'' (1976) - Dr. Dolan * ''The New Avengers'' (1977) - Professor Vasil * ''Panorama'' (1982) - Prosecutor * ''American Playhouse'' (1982) - Louis Lefkowitz * ''Reilly, Ace of Spies'' (1983) - Ford * ''Bulman'' (1985) - Legal Counsellor * ''John and Yoko: A Love Story'' (1985) - New York Critic * ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1992) - Diner * ''Gulliver's Travels'' (1996) - Brobdingnag Scientist * ''Kavanagh QC'' (1997) - Old Timer * ''Little Britain'' (2005) - Mr. Jeffreys * ''The Tudors'' (2007–2009) - Bishop Tunstall {{div col end}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|0827936}} * {{IBDB name|id=73624|name=Gordon Sterne}} * [https://theatricalia.com/person/2zpt/gordon-sterne Gordon Sterne] at Theatricalia * [https://web.archive.org/web/20221006213552/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba828ee6b Gordon Sterne] at British Film Institute
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterne, Gordon}} Category:1923 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Male actors from Essen Category:English male actors Category:English male film actors Category:English male television actors Category:Jewish German male actors Category:German expatriates in Canada Category:German emigrants to the United Kingdom