German actor Hardy Kruger, star of adventure movies, dies

His Hamburg-based literary agent, Peter Kaefferlein, said Thursday that Kruger died “suddenly and unexpectedly” Wednesday in California, where he lived with his third wife, American-born writer Anita Park.

Kruger starred in the 1957 British movie “The One That Got Away” about a captured German fighter pilot who stages a series of daring attempts to escape the Allies and, as the title suggests, finally succeeds.

His charm, good looks and the fact that he deserted from the Nazi army toward the end of World War II helped Kruger land further roles at a time when Germans of his generation were still eyed with suspicion abroad.

Kruger appeared in a string of English-language adventure and war movies, including “Barry Lyndon” (1975), “A Bridge too Far” (1977) and “The Wild Geese” (1978).

In later years, he focused on making travel films for German television, writing books and the occasional stage performance.

Franz Eberhard August Krueger was born April 12, 1928, in Berlin.

Initially, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his engineer father, but while at an elite Nazi boarding school he appeared in the 1944 film “Junge Adler.”