Georg Stefan Troller
Biography
Georg Stefan Troller (10 December 1921 – 27 September 2025) was an Austrian-born German-language journalist, writer, director and screenwriter, who became a US-Citizen in WWII and finally settled in Paris in 1949, where he lived until the end of his life. Troller was born on 10 December 1921 to a Jewish family. In 1938, he fled Austria from the Nazis, first to Czechoslovakia and from there on to France, where he was interned as an enemy alien. In 1941, he obtained a visa for the United States in Marseille. His parents were able to escape via Portugal. In the United States, he was drafted into military service in 1943 and participated in the liberation and documentation of the Dachau concentration camp on 29 April 1945, as well as the capture of Munich on 1 May. Serving as an interpreter, he interrogated German prisoners of war. He was present in Munich when Allied troops searched Hitler's private residence. He was stationed in Europe until 1946 and worked for the Rot-Weiß-Rot radio station operated by the U.S. forces. Back in the United States, Troller studied English at the University of California and theater at Columbia University. In 1949, a Fulbright scholarship for the Sorbonne brought Troller to Paris, where he became a correspondent for Berlin radio station RIAS. Troller rose to fame with his program Pariser Journal, which aired from 1962 to 1971 on ARD tv. In 1971, he launched his series of unconventional interviews Personenbeschreibung ("Description of a Person ") for ZDF tv. Among the major figures he interviewed were Marlon Brando, Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon, Woody Allen, Kirk Douglas and Romy Schneider. "A good interview is almost like a confession," he said. Upon his death, Die Welt noted that "Initially, producers frowned upon his subjective interviewing style, as it lacked the requisite neutrality. However, his sensitive and critical approach to interviewing people struck a chord, turning him into a role model amongst other journalists." His screenplays, directed by Axel Corti, have become cult films. Troller died in Paris, France on 27 September 2025, at the age of 103. Source: Article "Georg Stefan Troller" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Known For & Full Filmography15 Titles
Drama Series - 1979, 16 episodes • as Self
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Drama Series - 1948, 16 episodes • as Self
The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and other fields "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year", both domestic and foreign. First held in 1948, it is the oldest media award in Germany. The trophy is named after Felix Salten's book Bambi, A Life in the Woods and its statuettes are in the shape of the novel's titular fawn character. They were originally made of porcelain until 1958, when the organizers switched to using gold, with the casting done by the art casting workshop of Ernst Strassacker in Süßen.
Drama Series - 1965, 16 episodes • as Self - Host - Narrator
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Drama Series - 1980, 16 episodes • as Self
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Drama Series - 1979, 16 episodes • as Self
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Movie - 1987, 2h 15m • as Passenger on the ship (uncredited)
After arriving in 1940 New York, Freddy struggles to find work. His world of refugee acquaintances includes the depressed daughter of a poet/delicatessen owner, an aging surgeon who cannot find work, and a lovable charlatan photographer.
Movie - 2001, 2h 15m • as Self
Georg Stefan Troller, born in Vienna in 1921, crossed half of Europe as a refugee only to return with the US army in 1945 . As a filmmaker he became a chronicler of his time and with this film he engages in some bold and self-ironic navel gazing.
Movie - 1996, 2h 15m • as Self
Various Hollywood people talk about love.
Movie - 1971, 2h 15m • as Narrator
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Movie - 2017, 2h 15m • as Self
The US writer Henry Miller (1891-1980), scandalous and nonconformist creator, hated by the most recalcitrant puritans, was a vilified genius, considered a threat, accused of being a sexist, of consciously pursuing the destruction of every civic principle; but he was also someone venerated as a saint, as a sex guru; and today as one of the most important characters of the twentieth century.
Movie - 1972, 2h 15m • as Narrator (voice)
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.
Movie - 2021, 2h 15m • as Self
The film delves into the life and work of the filmmaker Georg Stefan Troller, linking clips from films with his astute self-analysis.
Movie - 1995, 2h 15m • as Narrator
Documentary filmmaker Troller criss-crosses post-reunified “Transgermania” for a year, probing German identity through festivals (Carnival, Oktoberfest), films, small towns and big cities. He attends a Black–Bavarian wedding at an “animal fair,” chats with chimney sweeps, students, artists and elites (from Grass to Müller), and asks uneasy questions about unity, memory and the future - all from his outsider’s lens.
Movie - 2004, 2h 15m • as Narrator (voice)
Reencounter with a myth. 40 years since Georg Stefan Troller reported from his adopted home in "Pariser Journal," he returns to his old haunts. A journey through time in a city of contradictions that is always reinventing itself.
Movie - 1998, 2h 15m • as Self
An outstanding performance featuring brilliant storytelling, high stakes drama, and unforgettable character arcs.