Juan Carlos Mundin-Schaffter, known as Carlos Thompson, (7 June 1923 – 10 October 1990) was an Argentine actor.

Career

Of German and Swiss descent, he played leading roles on stage and in films in Argentina. He went to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

in the 1950s and was typically cast as a European womanizer. His Hollywood films include '' Flame and the Flesh'' (1954) with

Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...

and Pier Angeli, ''

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is an area in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Twentieth Dynasty, rock-cut tombs were excavated for pharaohs and power ...

'' (1954), with Robert Taylor and

Eleanor Parker Eleanor Jean Parker (June 26, 1922 – December 9, 2013) was an American actress. She was nominated for three Academy Awards for her roles in the films ''Caged (1950 film), Caged'' (1950), ''Detective Story (1951 film), Detective Story'' (1951 ...

, '' Magic Fire'' (1955) in which he played

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

, opposite

Yvonne De Carlo Margaret Yvonne Middleton (September 1, 1922January 8, 2007), known professionally as Yvonne De Carlo, was a Canadian-American actress, dancer and singer. She became a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film star and sex symbol in the 1940s a ...

Rita Gam Rita Gam (born Rita Eleanore MacKay, April 2, 1927 – March 22, 2016) was an American film and television actress and documentary filmmaker. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress. Background Gam was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the da ...

, and Valentina Cortese. He moved to Europe and appeared in a large number of German films. He was chiefly known to English speakers for his appearance as Carlos Varela in the 1963

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...

series '' The Sentimental Agent''. In the late 1960s, Thompson left acting to become a writer and TV producer. His first success on the European book market was ''The Assassination of Winston Churchill'' (1969), a refutation of allegations by

David Irving David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, especially Nazi Germany. He was found to be a Holocaust denier in a British court ...

(''Accident. The Death of General Sikorski'', 1967) and the German playwright Rolf Hochhuth (''Soldiers'', premiered in the UK in 1968,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) that war time premier

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

had a part in the death of Polish General

Władysław Sikorski Władysław Eugeniusz Sikorski (; 20 May 18814 July 1943) was a Polish military and political leader. Before World War I, Sikorski established and participated in several underground organizations that promoted the cause of Polish independenc ...

, who perished in an air plane crash at

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

on July 4, 1943, allegedly due to sabotage.

Personal life

Thompson married German-born actress Lilli Palmer shortly after her divorce from

Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French W ...

in 1957. They remained married until her death in 1986. Before his marriage to Palmer, Thompson had a relationship with Mexican actress

María Félix María de los Ángeles Félix Güereña (; 8 April 1914 – 8 April 2002) was a Mexican actress and singer. Along with Pedro Armendáriz and Dolores del Río, she was one of the most successful figures of Latin American cinema in the 1940s and ...

. They met in Argentina in 1952 during the filming of

Luis César Amadori Luis César Amadori (28 May 1902 – 5 June 1977) was an Italian-Argentine film director and screenwriter and one of the most influential directors in the cinema of Argentina of the classic era. He directed over 60 films between 1936 and 1967, wri ...

's '' La pasión desnuda''. The relationship was reportedly serious to the point that they became engaged to be married, and Félix even called for her son Enrique Álvarez Félix to meet his potential stepfather. However, during filming, Félix received a call from director

Emilio Fernández Emilio "El Indio" Fernández Romo (; 26 March 1904 – 6 August 1986) was a Mexican film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most prolific film directors of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. He is best know ...

to offer her the leading role in '' The Rapture'', which Félix accepted, telling Thompson that after filming of ''La pasión desnuda'' ended she would return to Mexico to promote the film and announce their future marriage. However, once in Mexico, Felix canceled the wedding days before it would take place, stating that she concluded that the only thing that united her to Thompson was a mere physical attraction and not true love, before marrying ''The Raptures leading man

Jorge Negrete Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno (; 30 November 1911 – 5 December 1953) was a Mexican singer and actor. He specialized in the musical genre of ranchera. His posthumous album "Fiesta Mexicana Volumen II" has been ranked by critics at No. 163 on t ...

Death

Four years after his wife's death, Thompson died by suicide in Buenos Aires by a gunshot to his head.

Partial filmography

* ''...Y mañana serán hombres'' (1939) * ''Fragata Sarmiento'' (1941) * ''Viaje sin regreso'' (1946) * ''Los verdes paraísos'' (1947) * ''Los pulpos'' (1948) * '' La trampa'' (1949) * ''El crimen de Oribe'' (1950) - Oribe * ''Abuso de confianza'' (1950) * '' Una viuda casi alegre'' (1950) * '' The Unwanted'' (1951) * ''Sala de guardia'' (1952) * '' La de los ojos color del tiempo'' (1952) * ''El túnel'' (1952) - Juan Pablo Castel * ''

The Lady of the Camellias ''The Lady of the Camellias'' (), sometimes called ''Camille'' in English, is a novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, Alexandre Dumas ''fils''. First published in 1848 and subsequently Theatrical adaptation, adapted by Dumas for the Drama, stage, the pl ...

'' (1953) - Armand Duval * '' La pasión desnuda'' (1953) - Pablo Valdes * '' Fort Algiers'' (1953) - Jeff * '' Flame and the Flesh'' (1954) - Nino * ''

'' (1954) - Philip Mercedes * '' Magic Fire'' (1956) - Franz Liszt * ''

Thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

'' (1956) - Diego Martinez * '' Between Time and Eternity'' (1956) - Manuel * '' Auf Wiedersehen, Franziska!'' (1957) - Stefan Roloff * '' Das Wirtshaus im Spessart'' (1958) - Räuberhauptmann * '' I Was All His'' (1958) - Nikolei Stein * '' El último rebelde'' (1958) - Joaquin Murrieta * '' Raw Wind in Eden'' (1958) - Wally Drucker * '' Stefanie'' (1958) - Architekt Pablo Guala * '' Die Halbzarte'' (1959) - Mr. Dott * ' (1959) - Pedro Bastiano, Hauptmann * '' Adorable Arabella'' (1959) - Robert Beaumaris * '' Mistress of the World'' (1960) - Peter Lundström * ''Der Held meiner Träume'' (1960) - Robert Moutier * '' Stefanie in Rio'' (1960) - Pablo Guala * ''Das große Wunschkonzert'' (1960) - René von Geldern * '' The Last of Mrs. Cheyney'' (1961) - Artur Dilling * ' (1962) - Christinow Tomkin * ' (1962) - Bernard Somerset * ''

The Gypsy Baron ''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jokai ...

'' (1962) - Sandor von Barinkay * ''Ferien wie noch nie'' (1963) * ''The Sentimental Agent (1963, TV Series UK.) - Carlos Varela * '' La Vie de château'' (1966) - Klopstock (final film role)

References

External links

*
Carlos Thompson
in Cine nacional {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Carlos Argentine male film actors Argentine people of Swiss-German descent Argentine people of Swiss descent Argentine people of German descent Suicides by firearm in Argentina Male actors from Buenos Aires 1923 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Argentine male actors Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery 1990 suicides