Emigrating to England in 1933 as the Nazis began their rise to power Wengraf appeared unbilled in a couple of films there as well as in some of the first BBC livetelevision shows ever presented but his career began to languish In late 1941 however he had the good fortune of appearing on Broadway with Helen Hayes in Candle in the Wind and decided to stay The following year he headed west and settled permanently in the Los Angeles area A dark coldeyed thinlipped player with a precise meticulous air about him he found himself invariably playing the very characters he detested Some of his more nefarious nasties surfaced in such films as the Humphrey Bogart classic Sahara 1943I as well as The Boy from Stalingrad 1943 UBoat Prisoner 1944 and Till We Meet Again 1944 In postwar years he was often spotted portraying ethnic professionals scientists doctors professors foreign royalty Some of the more quality pictures he enhanced were Tomorrow Is Forever 1946 Count Von Papen in 5 Fingers 1952 and Ronchin in the Ethel Merman musical Call Me Madam 1953 Although Wengraf never made it to the very top of the Hollywood character ranks he remained a throughly strong and reliable player In the 1950s and 1960s he transferred his talents to TV appearing on a number of dramatic showcases and on such popular programs as The Untouchables 1959 Hawaiian Eye 1959 The Man from UNCLE 1964 and The Time Tunnel 1966 His last few films included minor roles in the warthemed Judgment at Nuremberg 1961 Hitler 1962 and Ship of Fools 1965 He retired in 1966 and died in Santa Barbara California at age 77 on May 4 1974
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