At 26 he made his debut performance at a theater in
Boleslawiec. John made his first film appearance in the 1932 thriller
The White Demon which also starred
Hans Albers in the lead role. Throughout the 1930s he played numerous roles at various theaters throughout
Nazi Germany. In 1938, John came to the prestigious
Deutsches Theater in Berlin. At the outbreak of
World War II John appeared in many German propaganda films made by the
Reichs Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda under the auspices of Reich Minister
Joseph Goebbels. He played soldiers and sailors, he also voiced information films on the role of
dive bombers,
tanks and
submarines. However, in 1943 he was sentenced to death by the
People's Court for espousing "defeatist views" after Goebbels became aware he had been making "jokes about
Hitler". His sentence was commuted to service in
Wehrmacht. After World War II, John played several roles in various anti-war German films. In 1947 he starred in
In Those Days and
Love 47, an adaption of
Wolfgang Borchert's play
The Man Outside. John also played a Gestapo agent in
Peter Lorre's only directorial outing, the German-language
Der Verlorene in 1951. Throughout the 1950s John often portrayed members of the
Wehrmacht such as in
Des Teufels General (1955),
Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben (1957) and '''' (1960). In 1962 John played a German general in
Darryl F. Zanuck's international 1962 war epic
The Longest Day. In the 1960s, he appeared in several stage productions based on adaptation of the works of British writer and journalist,
Edgar Wallace. In the 1970s John also made guest appearances on West German television crime shows including
Derrick,
Tatort, and
Der Kommissar. Throughout his career John continued to do voice over work. In 1959 he became the voice of
Paul Temple in an eight-part radio play based on the works of
Francis Durbridge. The series was directed by future
award winner Willy Purucker. ==Death==