RE German:
Once you get typecast into a role, it’s hard to break out of it.
Wolfgang Preiss was another one - they always had him playing Rommel or some other high-ranking German general. He was in The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, Von Ryan’s Express, Is Paris Burning, The Train...basically, “The German General” each time.
James Mason played Rommel in “The Desert Fox”; he had that icy Teutonic character about him as well. Mason was delightfully evil in Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest”. An all around great actor.
“Wolfgang Preiss” “Look at me, I’m Wolfgang Preiss!”
James Mason...”The Boys From Brasil”. What a frigging over-the-top cheesefest that was!!!
A modern-day version is Thomas Kretschmann, if there is a movie involving Nazis, he’s most likely in it.
He’s been in Valkyrie, Eichmann, The Pianist, Downfall, Stalingrad (the German movie), as well as the upcoming Russian Stalingrad movie.