# Actors who played many nationalities **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080 "2014-01-29T23:21:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/101 "2016-01-17T20:39:05Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > I always thought that James mason was a german…he was British, but seemed to play German officers in WWII films. Erwin Rommel in _ **The Desert Rats** _ and _ **The Desert Fox** _. Were there others? 😕 _“If I wanted to take Tobruch, I would crush it as if it were a fly!”_ He was also the perfect Humbert Humbert for Kubrick’s _ **Lolita** _. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/102 "2016-01-17T20:46:50Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Post #66. D’oh! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/103 "2016-01-18T14:24:01Z")
> [@john\_b\_2](#): > > Worthy of most honorable mention is general purpose British actor (of Czech descent, I believe), the late Herbert Lom, who was when I was growing up like a one man League Of Nations. He played mostly Europeans but would sometimes essay middle eastern toles. I’m not sure if he ever played far easterners but he probably played a South Asian a few times. In the films I remember seeing him in he was often cast in French or Cenral-Eastern European roles. Herbert Lom also holds another unique distinction: He was able to act, without any discernible accent(!), in three different languages: Czech (his native tongue), English (he moved to the UK when he was 22 year old) and German (he probably came from a family with Austrian roots). (It’s been almost two years since Herbert Lom was last mentioned in this thread, so I guess it was about time). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/104 "2016-01-18T14:41:21Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Herbert Lom also holds another unique distinction: He was able to act, without any discernible accent(!), in three different languages: Czech (his native tongue), English (he moved to the UK when he was 22 year old) and German (he probably came from a family with Austrian roots). Not French? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/105 "2016-01-18T14:46:52Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Not French? 😕 Yes, of course, but that was deliberately and part of his role as Chief Inspector Dreyfus. Edit: I don’t know whether Lom actually also spoke French (not just faking a French accent). ---
**Author:** ![botsgotme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/106 "2016-01-18T15:07:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Erwin Rommel in _ **The Desert Rats** _ and _ **The Desert Fox** _. Were there others? 😕 > > _“If I wanted to take Tobruch, I would crush it as if it were a fly!”_ > > He was also the perfect Humbert Humbert for Kubrick’s _ **Lolita** _. He played a German general in “The Blue Max”-got mad at George Peppard (who was banging his wife). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/107 "2016-01-18T15:24:50Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > And everybody jumped for joy. Took almost two years for that joke. Well spotted. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/108 "2016-01-18T16:19:30Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Yes, of course, but that was deliberately and part of his role as Chief Inspector Dreyfus. > > Edit: > > I don’t know whether Lom actually also spoke French (not just faking a French accent). Also memorable as Christopher Walken’s Polish physician in “The Dead Zone”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/109 "2016-01-18T16:45:02Z")
> [@botsgotme](#): > > He played a German general in “The Blue Max”-got mad at George Peppard (who was banging his wife). Ach, ja! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080/110 "2016-01-18T16:47:49Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Yes, of course, but that was deliberately and part of his role as Chief Inspector Dreyfus. _“Please? If anyone has been murdered … let it be Clouseau? Hm? Hm?”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-played-many-nationalities/680080.md?page=5)