SPOKEN GERMAN
Can anyone shed some light on the GERMAN SOLDIERS?? Were they extras?, ex vets ( yuk ) or just people that could speak German AND I hope they were VETTED.. Dave W, can you contribute?
shareHey Richie,
Yes, they used quite a number of European folks to play the various parts in the episodes. Paul Busch was a not so well known German actor at the time, but he was probably in half or more of the episodes in both speaking and non-speaking parts. Hans Gudegast came to the USA not too long before Combat! first aired, and he was in maybe six or seven episodes as different German characters. Today he is now known as Eric Braedon and has been a star on CBS' The Young and the Restless daytime soap.
There were, of course, many German and French characters played by American actors who managed to speak one way or another their German lines. Just off the top of my head, I can think of Richard Basehart, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Roddy McDowell (he is English I think), Telly Savalas, Skip Homier, Claude Akins, and many more. In fact, some of those I mentioned played GIs in some episodes and Germans in others.
Hope that helps.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile