Biography
Although German-born, actor Walter Gotell's most famous role was as a Russian KGB general in the "James Bond" films. His family fled Germany to England when the Nazis came to power, and his early roles were often playing German villains in military films, which he did in the U.K. feature "At Dawn We Die" and in "Secret Mission." He played a World War I officer in the adventure classic "The African Queen" and a Gestapo officer in a 1957 television episode of the show "Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!" He played yet another German military man in the war drama "The Guns of Navarone" in 1961 and had one of his only recurring series roles, on the U.K. sci-fi show "The Andromeda Breakthrough." His first role in a Bond film came in the 1963 entry "From Russia with Love," playing Russian agent Morzeny before returning to playing guest roles on TV and small film parts. He had a role as Chief Constable Cullen on the British crime drama "Softly Softly" and appeared intermittently over several seasons from 1969 until 1975. He could also be seen in the disaster thriller "Black Sunday" in 1977, the same year he made his debut as General Anatol Gogol in "The Spy Who Loved Me." He would reprise his role in five more of the franchise's films, most recently "The Living Daylights" from 1987.
