Otto Kruger

Otto Kruger (September 6, 1885 – September 6, 1974) was an American actor born in Toledo, Ohio, to Bernard Alben Kruger and Elizabeth Winers Kruger. His family was of German and South African descent, and he was the grandnephew of South African president Paul Kruger. Kruger received musical training before shifting direction, studying engineering at the University of Michigan and completing his education at Columbia University. He went on to accumulate more than 120 film, television, and stage roles between 1915 and 1965.

Kruger made his Broadway debut in 1915 and became a matinee idol in the years that followed. His stage career, which extended through 1949, included appearances in productions such as Little A, the drama The Moon Is Down, The Great Barrington, As Good as New, and The Long Road. Though he gained notice in the early 1920s, his career reached its peak during the 1930s.

His sound film debut came with Turn Back the Clock in 1933, followed by an appearance in Chained in 1934. While he occasionally took on heroic roles, Kruger became most closely associated with villains and corrupt or charming businessmen. He is remembered for playing the villain Tobin in Alfred Hitchcock's spy film Saboteur (1942), mob boss Stevens in the film noir 711 Ocean Drive (1950), and a supporting role as Judge Percy Mettrick in High Noon (1952), in which his character unsuccessfully urges Will Kane to leave town. One of his most prominent later film appearances was in Douglas Sirk's Magnificent Obsession (1954).

Kruger also built a substantial television career. His roles included Dr. Mumford in the 1959 episode "Experiments in Terror" of the NBC series The Man and the Challenge, Ben Tully in "Gun City" on the ABC western series The Rebel, Franklyn Malleson Ghentin in the 1961 episode "A Fool for a Client" of the ABC legal drama The Law and Mr. Jones, and Karl in the 1961 CBS series The Investigators. He made four guest appearances on CBS's Perry Mason, playing Mason's client in "The Case of the Grumbling Grandfather" (1961) and "The Case of the Counterfeit Crank" (1962), and Judge Norris in "The Case of the Missing Button" (1964). In 1955, he appeared in a live telecast of The Desert Song as General Birabeau. Kruger was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film and one for television.

On March 20, 1920, Kruger married Broadway actress Susan MacManamy. Their daughter, Ottilie Kruger (1926–2005), was also an actress and became the first wife of cinematographer Gayne Rescher. Ottilie portrayed Esther in Queen Esther: A Story from the Bible in 1947. In 1960, Kruger suffered a stroke and continued working for approximately four more years before retiring. He died at the Motion Picture and Television Country House in Woodland Hills, California, on his 89th birthday.