Klaus Kinski

Kinski is the kind of actor I find impossible to look away from, even when I want to. A German screen presence born in Sopot, he poured a near-feral intensity into more than 130 roles across four decades, and that volatility was clearly inseparable from his art. The off-screen reputation was famously toxic, which complicates any easy admiration, yet the Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres tells you the talent was undeniable. For me he represents the dangerous extreme of committed performance: thrilling, unsettling, and never neutral. You either flinch or you lean in, and I always lean in.

Name (English)

Klaus Kinski

Name (Japanese)

クラウス・キンスキー

Reading

くらうす・きんすきー

Born

October 18, 1926 – November 23, 1991

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Libra / Tiger

Origin

Sopot, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland

Occupation

screenwriter / film actor / stage actor / film director / actor

Awards & achievements

• 1986 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres‎

• Official sitehttps://www.kinski.de
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus%20Kinski
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AF%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A6%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9%E3%82%AD%E3%83%BC
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55419

Tags

• Pomeranian Voivodeship
• screenwriter
• film actor
• stage actor

Last updated

2026-06-11

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.