Eric Braeden

Eric Braeden
Eric Braeden
	Braeden in 2013
Born	Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941; Bredenbek, Free State of Prussia, Germany ; (present-day Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1960–present
Spouse(s)	Dale Russell (m. 1966)
Children	Christian Gudegast
Website	https://www.ericbraeden.com/

Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941)[1] is a German-born American film and television actor, known for his roles as Victor Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series The Rat Patrol, Dr. Charles Forbin in Colossus: The Forbin Project, and as John Jacob Astor IV in the 1997 film Titanic. He won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1998 for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the role of Victor Newman.[1][2]

Early life

Braeden was born Hans-Jörg Gudegast in Bredenbek, Germany (near Kiel),[1], a city in northern Germany where his father was once mayor. He emigrated to the United States in 1959, and attended the University of Montana, Missoula.

Career

Braeden accumulated many TV and film credits during his first two decades in America, and guest starred in 120 roles. His earliest credits were all under his birth name, Hans Gudegast.

During the 1960s he appeared in several episodes of TV's longest-running World War II drama (1962–1967) Combat!, always playing a German soldier. In 1965, he appeared in a film called Morituri starring Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner, and guest-starred in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. as T.H.R.U.S.H. agent Mr. Oakes in "The Discotheque Affair"; season two, episode five.

Braeden in The Rat Patrol

In 1966, he guest-starred as Luftwaffe Major Bentz in episode 28, "Day of Reckoning", of season two of the TV series Twelve O'Clock High (a series which was very loosely based on the classic 1949 war film with the same name) and also appeared in an episode of the 1966 espionage drama series Blue Light. His main character for the next two years was his regular starring role playing German Hauptmann (Captain) Hans Dietrich on the TV series The Rat Patrol (1966–1968),

He starred in the 1969 western 100 Rifles with Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds and Jim Brown (noted for the first big screen interracial love scene between Welch and Brown), once again playing a villainous German military officer opposite Fernando Lamas. This was his last credit under his birth name.

His starring role in the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), was when he first took the stage name of Eric Braeden. Lew Wasserman of Universal Pictures told him that no one would be allowed to star in an American film if they had a German name. After much thought he took the name Braeden from his hometown of Bredenbek.[3]

Other movie appearances in the 1970s included the role of Dr. Otto Hasslein in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), and that of the arrogant but formidable race car driver, Bruno von Stickle in Walt Disney's 1977 Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. Throughout the 1970s, he also guest-starred in a variety of television shows including The Six Million Dollar Man, Wonder Woman, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and also appeared in several episodes of the long-running CBS western series Gunsmoke.

In addition to many episodic roles, Braeden also appeared as Colonel John Jacob Astor IV in the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. Braeden told Cindy Elavsky that the scene in which his character drowned "was one of the scariest moments in this business for me".[4]

Victor Newman

In 1980, he was offered the role of self-made business magnate Victor Newman on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. Initially, the role was for a 26-week run. His character imprisoned his wife's lover, and became so popular the character became a love-to-hate villain, and his contract was extended.

Braeden won a Daytime Emmy for his work in 1998[5] and in February 2017 he celebrated his 37th anniversary with the show.[6] In 2020, the show marked Braeden's 40th anniversary as Victor onscreen. [7]

In October, 2009, Braeden and The Young and the Restless came to an impasse regarding contract negotiations, and press reports indicated he might leave the show. However, CBS later announced that Braeden had inked a new three-year deal and would remain with the soap, and agreed to take a pay cut, which was the original issue.[8]

Personal life

In 1958 Braeden, under his birth name Hans Gudegast, won the German National Team Championship in Track and Field (discus, shot-put and javelin with the Rendsburger TSV). Braeden later went on to win the 1973 National Challenge Cup as a fullback with the Jewish American soccer club Maccabi Los Angeles, scoring the winning goal in the semifinal and a penalty kick in the final against Cleveland Internationals.[9] In the 1970s/80s he could often be seen boxing at the Hoover Street and Broadway gyms in L.A. He is a fine Tennis player and participated in many celebrity events.[10] His son, Christian, is a director who created the film Den of Thieves, starring Gerard Butler.[10]

Eric Braeden's autobiography, titled I'll Be Damned, was published by Harper Collins in 2017.[11] This mentions how he was a survivor of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff sinking.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Operation Eichmann	Klaus
1962–1964	Combat!	Cpl. Hans Gruber / Sgt. Ecktmann	6 episodes
1965	Morituri	Radio Officer	Uncredited
	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Mr. Oakes	Episode: "The Discotheque Affair"
	12 O'Clock High	Maj. Gerhard Bentz / Captain Zoller	2 episodes
1966–1967	Mission: Impossible	Andrei Fetyakov / Marcus von Frank	2 episodes
1966–1968	The Rat Patrol	Hauptmann (Captain) Hans Dietrich	58 episodes
1966	The Virginian	Augustin	Episodes: "No Drums, No Trumpets"
1968	Dayton's Devils	Max Eikhart
1969	100 Rifles	Lt. Franz Von Klemme
1969–1973	Hawaii Five-O	Djebara / Klaus Marburg / Dr. Paul Farrar	3 episodes
1970	The Mask of Sheba	Dr. Morgan	TV movie
	Colossus: The Forbin Project	Dr. Charles A. Forbin
	The Young Rebels	Major Zanker	Episode: "The Hostages"
1971	Escape from the Planet of the Apes	Dr. Otto Hasslein
	Mannix	Viktor Gruniev	Episode: “Woman in the Shadows”
	Bearcats!	Colonel Reinert	Episode: "Dos Gringos"
1971–1974	Gunsmoke	Jack Sinclair / Talley / Carl Jaekel	5 episode
1972	The Judge and Jake Wyler	Anton Granicek	TV movie
1973	McCloud	Ravik	Episode: "The Million Dollar Round Up"
	Lady Ice	Peter Brinker
	The Six Million Dollar Man	Findletter	TV movie
	Death Race	Stoeffer	TV movie
	The Adulteress	Hank Baron
1973-1975	Barnaby Jones	'Hans' / Jennings / Raven / Steven Kingston	2 episodes
1974	Banacek	Paul Bolitho	Episode: "The Vanishing Chalice"
	The Ultimate Thrill	Roland Parlay
	Kolchak: The Night Stalker	Bernhardt Stieglitz	Episode: "The Werewolf"
1975	Death Scream	Kosinsky	TV movie
1975–1978	Wonder Woman	Donalsen / Captain Drangel	2 episodes
1977	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	Karl Heller	Episode: "The Critic"
	Kojak	Kenneth Krug	Episode: "When You Hear the Beep, Drop Dead"
	Code Name: Diamond Head	Ernest Graeber	TV movie
	Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo	Bruno von Stickle
1978	The Eddie Capra Mysteries	Leo	Episode: "Murder! Murder!"
1978	Piranha	Dr. Robert Hoak (swimming double)	Uncredited
1979	CHiPs	Senator Bob Larwin	Episode: "MAIT Team"
1980	The Aliens Are Coming	Leonard Nero	TV movie
1980–present	The Young and the Restless	Victor Newman
1981	Charlie's Angels	John Reardon	Episode: "Attack Angels"
1986	Airwolf	Nick Kincaid	Episode: "Birds of Paradise"
1986	Murder, She Wrote	Col. Gerhardt Brunner	Episode: "One White Rose for Death"
1990	The Ambulance	The Doctor
1990	Lucky Chances	Dimitri Stanislopolous	3 episodes
1993	Perry Mason: Wicked Wives	David
1994	The Nanny	Frank Bradley, Sr.	Episode: "Sunday in the Park with Fran"
1995	Diagnosis: Murder	Himself	Episode: "Death in the Daytime"
1997	Titanic	John Jacob Astor IV
1998	Meet the Deedles	Elton Deedle
1999	The Bold and the Beautiful	Victor Newman	4 episodes
2008	The Man Who Came Back	Reese Paxton
2008	How I Met Your Mother	Robin Scherbatsky, Sr.	Episode: "Happily Ever After"
2018	Den of Thieves	Ziggy Zerhusen

Awards and honors

1990: Distinguished German-American of the Year
2007: Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (July 20)
2007: Received the Gilmore Award from the Pacific Pioneers, a radio and television industry group[10]
2009: Received the Friend of German Award from the American Association of Teachers of German

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
1987	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Young and the Restless	Nominated
1990	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Young and the Restless	Nominated
1992	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Male Performer In A Daytime Serial	The Young and the Restless	Won
1996	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Young and the Restless	Nominated
1997	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Young and the Restless	Nominated
1998	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series[2]	The Young and the Restless	Won
1999	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Young and the Restless	Nominated
2000	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Young and the Restless	Nominated
2004	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Young and the Restless	Nominated

References

"Soap Star Stats: Eric Braeden (Victor, Y&R)". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
"Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 1998". SoapOperaDigest.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
Weaver, Tom. "Eric Braeden Interview". In I Talked with a Zombie: Interviews with 23 veterans of Horror and Sci-fi Films and Television, McFarland, 2009, pp. 11–12
Elavsky, Cindy (2012-03-16). "Celebrity Extra". Downriver Sunday Times. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
"Eric Braeden". IMDb.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2016-11-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
https://variety.com/2020/biz/news/eric-braeden-young-the-restless-40th-anniversary-1203504100/
Kate Stanhope. "Eric Braeden Returning to Young and the Restless". TVGuide.com.
Zeller, Johnathan (June 29, 2015). "Los Angeles' Forgotten Jewish Soccer Dynasty". VICE Sports. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
"Victor, Victorious". Soap Opera Weekly. 2007-02-13. p. 32.
Braeden, Eric (2017-02-07). I'll Be Damned: How My Young and Restless Life Led Me to America's #1 Daytime Drama. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062476111.

External links

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[SOD_stats-1] "Soap Star Stats: Eric Braeden (Victor, Y&R)". SoapOperaDigest.com. Retrieved January 13, 2009.

[Emmy_1998-2] "Daytime Emmy Winners & Nominees: 1998". SoapOperaDigest.com. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.

[3] Weaver, Tom. "Eric Braeden Interview". In I Talked with a Zombie: Interviews with 23 veterans of Horror and Sci-fi Films and Television, McFarland, 2009, pp. 11–12

[4] Elavsky, Cindy (2012-03-16). "Celebrity Extra". Downriver Sunday Times. Retrieved 2012-03-23.

[5] "Eric Braeden". IMDb.

[6] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-11-08. Retrieved 2016-11-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[7] ttps://variety.com/2020/biz/news/eric-braeden-young-the-restless-40th-anniversary-1203504100/

[8] Kate Stanhope. "Eric Braeden Returning to Young and the Restless". TVGuide.com.

[9] Zeller, Johnathan (June 29, 2015). "Los Angeles' Forgotten Jewish Soccer Dynasty". VICE Sports. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2015.

[2007sow-10] "Victor, Victorious". Soap Opera Weekly. 2007-02-13. p. 32.

[11] Braeden, Eric (2017-02-07). I'll Be Damned: How My Young and Restless Life Led Me to America's #1 Daytime Drama. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062476111.