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Christiane Schmidtmer was born in Mannheim, Germany. She took acting lessons in Munich and worked in the stage in Germany from 1961-1963, then turned to photographic modeling for German nude magazines and later, Playboy. She also modeled for advertising companies, namely Max Factor cosmetics, before she started her movie career.

She was the beautiful mistress of José Ferrer in Ship of Fools (1965), but most people will remember her as the evil wardress in the exploitation women-in-prison film, The Big Doll House (1971), as well as one of the three airline stewardesses in Boeing, Boeing (1965).

George S. Patton III was a highly successful and highly controversial general who held Corps- and Army-level commands during World War II. Because of his great competence as a battlefield commander, Patton might have led the American troops during the invasion of Normandy; however, his impolitic ways and a degree of emotional instability (which manifested itself in the slapping of two soldiers suffering from shell-shock at an Army field hospital) put the kibosh on that. Patton was relieved of his command and put on ice for many months in order to recuperate. Instead, the command of the American forces on D-Day, went to his former deputy in North Africa, Omar N. Bradley.

Patton was known as "Blood & Guts" ("Our blood, his guts"), was a common gripe among his troops for his hard-driving discipline, which paid off in lower casualties and great success on the battlefield. With the exception of Douglas MacArthur, Patton ranks as the greatest general the United States put on the field during the Second World War. Patton achieved four-star rank for his battlefield exploits as one of the best commanders of mechanized forces on either side during the War. He succeeded Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Military Governor of the U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany, when Ike -- a five-star general -- was promoted to Army Chief of Staff.

On December 9, 1945, Patton became seriously injured after his automobile crashed with an American army truck at low speed. He began bleeding from a gash on his head, and complained that he was paralyzed and having trouble breathing. Taken to a hospital in Heidelberg, Patton was discovered to have a compression fracture and dislocation of the cervical third fourth vertebrae, resulting in a broken neck and cervical spinal cord injury that rendered him paralyzed from the neck down. He spent most of the next twelve days in spinal traction to decrease the pressure on his spine. He died at age 60 in his sleep of pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure.

On December 24, 1945, General George S. Patton was buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial alongside some wartime casualties of the Third Army, in accordance with his request to "be buried with his men". He was immortalized in the 1970 eponymous epic film, which won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (George C. Scott). This was President Richard Nixon's favorite film.

The blond, steely-eyed bad guy of European westerns and potboilers was born in Lübeck, Germany, the son of a porcelain painter. Horst Frank financed his acting studies by working part-time as a babysitter and night watchman. He actually failed his final exams at the Musikhochschule Hamburg, but nonetheless managed to secure an acting position in his home town. For some time after, his work was primarily confined to small parts on stage and in radio. His first screen role saw him as a cowardly pilot in Der Stern von Afrika (1957). Frank then won a critic's award for his next role as member of a U-Boat crew in the war drama Haie und kleine Fische (1957).

Of athletic, lithe build and owner of a somewhat cold, hypnotic gaze (with a voice to match), Frank soon found himself typecast to disturbingly good effect as psychotic murderers in German and international productions (The Black Panther of Ratana (1963), Das Mädchen vom Moorhof (1958), Der Greifer (1958)). Alternatively, he proved an ideal henchman for spaghetti westerns (Bullets Don't Argue (1964), Johnny Hamlet (1968) and Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968)). Frank didn't seem to mind turning out copies of the same negative in a seemingly endless gallery of ruthless killers and impassive assassins. He did so with relish well into the 1980's and 90's, enjoying guest spots on popular TV crime time shows like Tatort (1970) and Derrick (1974). If Horst Frank was in the cast, you knew pretty much from the start 'whodunnit'.

Behind the menacing heavy, there was a family man and author of poems and chansons. In addition to his screen acting, Frank lent his voice to dubbing work (for the likes of fellow tough guys Jack Palance, Ernest Borgnine and Chuck Connors); and to radio, where he voiced Captain Nemo in "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island".

Likely because of his lack of work in major American or British productions, Frank never quite achieved the international recognition he undoubtedly deserved. He died quite suddenly in May 1999 of a brain hemorrhage, just short of his 70th birthday.

Rowland S. Howard was born on 24 October 1959 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was an actor and writer, known for Head-On (2004), Wings of Desire (1987) and Queen of the Damned (2002). He died on 30 December 2009 in Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.

Gert Tellkampf was born on 6 August 1908 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor, known for Die Galerie der großen Detektive (1954), Unsere kleine Stadt (1954) and Recht oder Unrecht (1970). He died on 11 February 1986 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Karl Obermayr was born on 4 April 1931 in Freising, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor, known for Die letzten Jahre der Kindheit (1979), Monaco Franze - Der ewige Stenz (1983) and Lautlose Jagd (1965). He died on 3 June 1985 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany.

Sheryl Hackett was born on 4 May 1959 in Bridgetown, Barbados. She died on 29 January 2005 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Fritz Wunderlich was born on 26 September 1930 in Kusel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He was an actor, known for Marathon Man (1976), Der Barbier von Sevilla (1959) and Opernführer (1965). He was married to Eva Wunderlich. He died on 17 September 1966 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Raban von Canstein was born on 15 August 1906 in Naugard, West Pomerania, Germany. He was married to Ursula Brandies and Kitty von Blaese. He died on 31 December 2005 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Ormonde Douglas was born on 9 January 1912 in Caulfield, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was an actor, known for Homicide (1964), Paint Your Wagon (1954) and Division 4 (1969). He died on 21 July 2000 in Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Irene Haller was born on 10 March 1908 in Munich, Germany. She was an actress, known for Zitronen aus Sizilien (1963), Geheimbund Nächstenliebe (1964) and Das Fernsehgericht tagt (1961). She died on 22 July 1999 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Maria Koppenhöfer was born on 11 December 1901 in Stuttgart, Germany. She was an actress, known for The Heart of a Queen (1940), The Rape of the Sabines (1936) and The Living Dead (1932). She was married to Julius Halewicz. She died on 29 November 1948 in Heidelberg, Germany.

Hans-Georg Gadamer was born on 11 February 1900 in Marburg, Hesse, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Examined Life (1998), Human, All Too Human (1999) and Lieb ist mir Platon - aber noch lieber die Wahrheit: Der Philosoph Hans-Georg Gadamer (1988). He died on 13 March 2002 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Thomas Blamey was born in 1884 in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. He was married to Olga Ora Farnsworth and Minnie Caroline Millard. He died on 27 May 1951 in Heidelberg, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Klaus von Beyme was married to Maja von Oertzen. He died on 6 December 2021 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

After finishing school with a high school diploma in Vechta in 1955, he studied medicine at the universities of Bonn, Hamburg and Düsseldorf and received his doctorate in Düsseldorf in 1960. He then worked as a medical assistant for two years and then as a research assistant for three years at the Institute for Medical Microbiology at the University of Düsseldorf. This was followed by three and a half years at the Virus Laboratories at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Here he was also an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1969 he completed his habilitation at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, where he worked at the Institute for Virology.

From the 1970s onwards he focused on the human papillomavirus (HPV), known to cause skin warts. In 1972 he was appointed professor at the newly founded chair of clinical virology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Zur Hausen's interest now turned to the role of viruses in the development of tumors. In 1976 he published the hypothesis that human papilloma viruses (wart viruses) play a role in the development of cervical cancer. In 1977 he accepted an appointment to the chair of virology and hygiene at the University of Freiburg.

At the beginning of the 1980s, he and his working group were able to isolate the types HPV 16 and HPV 18 of the human papilloma virus from tissue affected by cervical cancer for the first time. The discovery of the trigger for the third most common cancer in women opened up completely new perspectives for prevention and treatment and ultimately led to the development of HPV vaccines. From 1983 to 2003 he was chairman and scientific member of the board of trustees of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg.

Under his leadership, the cancer research center, which does not have a clinical bed department, significantly expanded its collaboration with individual university hospitals. Zur Hausen, meanwhile, became Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Cancer. In addition to other scientific organizations, he became a member of the US Academy of Science and vice president of the Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina. In April 2004 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. In 2006 he received the Medal of Merit from the state of Baden-Württemberg.

On November 4, 2008, he was made an honorary citizen of the municipality of Wald-Michelbach. On December 10, 2008, Harald zur Hausen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine together with the Frenchman Luc Montagnier and the Frenchwoman Françoise Barré-Sinoussi.

In his private life, Harald zur Hausen is married to Professor Ethel-Michele de Villiers, who also works at the German Cancer Research Center. He is the father of three sons.

Wilhelm Hahn was born on 14 May 1909 in Yuryev, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire [now Tartu, Estonia]. He died on 9 December 1996 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg,.

Werner Franke was born on 31 January 1940 in Paderborn, Germany. He was married to Brigitte Franke-Berendonk. He died on 14 November 2022 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Konstantin Hierl was born on 24 February 1875 in Parsberg, Bavaria, Germany. He was married to Euphrosine Gloß and Vera Hartegg. He died on 23 September 1955 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Franz Schmelter was born in 1870 in Germany. He was a director and writer, known for Herr und Frau Schliephake (1916), Die Schlange der Kleopatra (1917) and Der Millionenschuster (1916). He died on 10 December 1924 in Heidelberg-Schlierbach, Germany.

Franz Nagler was an actor, known for Singles (1988), Stadtklinik (1993) and Hallo Freunde (1970). He died on 28 November 2021 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Manfred Cierpka was born on 13 April 1950 in Nürtingen, Württemberg-Baden [now Baden-Württemberg], Germany. He died on 14 December 2017 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Wolfgang Fortner was born on 12 October 1907 in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. He was a composer, known for Begegnung mit Werther (1949), Corinna (1961) and Bluthochzeit (1964). He died on 5 September 1987 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Marie Marcks was born on 25 August 1922 in Berlin, Germany. She died on 7 December 2014 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Erwin W. Palm was born on 27 August 1910 in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. He was married to Hilde Domin. He died on 7 July 1988 in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.