BRANDAUER, KLAUS MARIA

Contributed by: The James Bond Movie Encyclopedia by Steven Jay Rubin

Marvelous Austrian character actor of stage and screen who made his English-speaking screen debut as Maximilian Largo in Never Say Never Again. The previous year, Brandauer had attracted worldwide attention with his starring role in István Szabó’s Mephisto, which won the 1982 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and the notice of producer Jack Schwartzman. He cast Brandauer as Largo, resulting in the most interesting 007 villain since Auric Goldfinger. Youthful, handsome, and urbane, Brandauer also gave Largo a fascinating touch of the psychotic, particularly in his moments with Domino Petachi (Kim Basinger).

A native of Bad Aussee, Styria, Brandauer made his feature acting debut in the Cold War thriller The Salzburg Connection (1972). He was later nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for playing Meryl Streep’s husband Baron Bror von Blixen in Out of Africa (1985). He later joined Sean Connery again in director Fred Schepisi’s romantic thriller The Russia House (1990).

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