Karl Lieffen

Karl Lieffen (17 May 1926 – 13 January 1999), born Karel František Lifka, was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 140 films on screen and television between 1949 and 1998. He was born in Ossegg (Osek), Czechoslovakia and attended drama classes at Brunswick and the Heer School of Music in Bückeburg. In 1946 he started his theatre career in Freiburg followed by engagements at the Hessian State Theatre in Wiesbaden, the Munich Kammerspiele and the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt. In 1975 he joined the ensemble of the Bavarian State Theatre (Residenz Theatre) in Munich. From the 1950s on Lieffen became known to a wider public for his film appearances, like the role of the brisk chauffeur Fritz in Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three. He died in Starnberg, Germany.