Klaus Löwitsch

A German star of film and television, best known to homeland audiences for his role as the hard-boiled television detective Peter Strohm, Klaus Löwitsch became known to international audiences with a prominent role in legendary director Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron. Born in Berlin in 1936, Löwitsch began his career as a dancer in Vienna before launching a longtime collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder in 1972's Wildwechsel. With an eclectic career that spanned half a century and crossed numerous continents, Löwitsch became familiar to stateside audiences through such films as Firefox (1982), Gotcha! (1985), and Extreme Ops (2002). A rambunctious actor often cited in the tabloids for his drunken escapades and reckless abandon, Löwitsch would hit his stride in 1988, landing the role which is eponymous with the German detective Peter Strohm. Löwitsch's rich and varied career brought him acclaim both at home and abroad, taking home a top German film award for his role in Mädchen...nur mit Gewalt (1970) and an Adolph Grimme award for 1997's Das Urteil.

~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide