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Wilhelm von Homburg
Wilhelm von Homburg
	Wilhelm von Homburg as Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
Born	Norbert Grupe; 25 August 1940; Berlin, Germany
Died	10 March 2004 (aged 63); Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Occupation(s)	Boxer, actor, professional wrestler
Years active	1960−2000
	Boxing career
	Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight; Light heavyweight
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
	Boxing record
Total fights	47
Wins	30
Wins by KO	24
Losses	11
Draws	6

Norbert Grupe (August 25, 1940 – March 10, 2004), better known outside Germany by his stage name Wilhelm von Homburg, was a German boxer, actor, and professional wrestler known for his villainous supporting roles in various high-profile films of the 1980s and 1990s, including Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II (1989), the henchman James in Die Hard (1988), and Souteneur in Werner Herzog's Stroszek (1977).^[2]

Early life

Norbert Grupe was born in Berlin on August 25, 1940. He was the son of Richard Grupe (1915 – August 5, 1988), who worked as a baker in Nazi Germany, and later become both a championship-winning boxer and a local policeman who worked at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Richard would later say of this period, "I was never a Nazi. I never joined the party. I was not in the Hitler Youth...I was a pastryman...I have not much luck with the Jewish people. But I never hated them. Never hated them. I'm very sorry for what Hitler did to the Jewish people." After the war, Richard boxed professionally from 1946 to 1952, earning a record of 26 wins (20 by knockout), 8 losses, and 6 draws. He then toured Europe as a wrestler. Norbert was born to a girlfriend of Richard's, while Richard's first wife gave birth to Grupe's brother Winfried. Richard's second wife Ursula, much younger and closer in age to Norbert Grupe himself, gave birth to Grupe's sister, Rona. Ursula left the family five years later. According to Rona, Grupe exhibited a bitter jealousy toward Winfried, because Winfried's mother was a daily presence for him, whereas Grupe's absent mother would not even speak to him.^[3] Years later, when Rona was in her mid-teens, Richard informed her that at some point in 1959, the year prior to Rona's birth, Richard was away from home, most likely on a wrestling trip, and Ursula was home alone. Grupe climbed the fire escape into the house and raped her. Richard said it was possible that Grupe was Rona's biological father. Decades later, however, when Richard was in a coma near his death, Rona had a blood test, which proved that Richard was her father.^[3]

Career

Early work and professional wrestling

In his youth, Grupe worked as a meatpacker, butcher, longshoreman, and a waiter. By the time he finished school, Grupe, who had begun training in boxing at age 10, had won several amateur boxing matches. Around 1960, Richard emigrated to the United States to further his wrestling career, and Grupe, who stood at 6'3" and 227 pounds by this time, would soon follow, spending time at California's notable Venice weight pen, where he became acquainted with future film star Arnold Schwarzenegger. The father and son duo would don Viking costumes, with which they were billed as the tag-team by the name of The Vikings, wrestling at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Madison Square Garden. They subsequently changed their name to the Von Homburg Brothers, under which they performed as heels for less than a hundred dollars a night in total. Grupe thought his last name sounded too much like the word groupie, and changed it to Prince Wilhelm von Homburg. He sometimes wore a monocle and German eagle. He would later regret using it in Hollywood, saying, "In an industry that was ruled by the Jews, it was really dumb to call myself 'von Homburg.' Who do they think that is? A Nazi nobleman." After their wrestling partnership ended, the father and son grew estranged.^[3]^[4]

Boxing career and early acting roles

Von Homburg switched careers to boxing in 1962, employing the showmanship and the boastful, cocky persona he had developed as a wrestler. He won 16 of 21 professional fights in the U.S., fighting throughout California as a light heavyweight before traveling across the U.S. and then his native Germany where he wore fur coats, smoked cigars, and taunted referees and crowds in a way that stunned the normally sedate German boxing world. One reporter for Der Spiegel ranked Von Homburg as seventh in the world. He grew his blonde hair over his ears, for which he was nicknamed the "Beatle Boxer."^[3]

Von Homburg got his first championship match in 1966 against Piero del Papa for the EBU Regional Light Heavyweight title in Berlin. Homburg was disqualified in the eleventh round, after having knocked out Del Papa, because the referee declared a subtle head movement by Von Homburg to have been an illegal headbutt. The match would haunt Von Homburg for the rest of his life, and he would blame it on bias on the part of the referee, saying, "I was the best thing German boxing had back then, and then I had a 70-year-old Frenchman as the referee. We all know what the Germans did to his parents and his sister."^[3]

Throughout his boxing career, von Homburg appeared in bit roles in various films and television shows, usually billed as Wilhelm von Homburg. In "The Promoter", the April 25, 1964, episode of Gunsmoke for example, he played a boxer named Otto who is offered a large bribe to throw a fight.^[3]

After losing his next three fights, von Homburg retired from boxing in 1970 at age 30, and went to live in St. Pauli Kiez, a red-light district of Hamburg, developing a reputation in that area's underground, where he associated with pimps and Hells Angels, and engaged in a number of affairs with both men and women. He also used drugs and alcohol to excess.^[3]

Acting

After spending some years in prison, von Homburg attempted to pursue an acting career in earnest. German director Werner Herzog, who had seen him box in his youth, cast him as a bullying pimp in his 1977 film Stroszek. Herzog commented, "The Prince was so clear and intelligent and radiated, at the same time, a feeling of danger that absolutely terrified me. He was almost like a German Mike Tyson." A decade later, Von Homburg was cast as James, one of Hans Gruber's henchmen in the 1988 action thriller Die Hard, who dies after Bruce Willis' character detonates plastic explosives down an elevator shaft. Von Homburg's biggest role came at age 50, when he was cast as the primary villain in the 1989 comedy sequel Ghostbusters II, playing Vigo the Carpathian, a 16th/17th century tyrant and sorcerer whose soul is released from an old painting. The character's full name was Vigo Von Homburg Deutschendorf, which paid homage to the name he had chosen as a performer. The film was released less than a year after Von Homburg's father Richard died, though he had not reconciled with his father or sister. His last major role was as Charles Macum Diggs, a vegetative ex-boxer in Diggstown, which was a commercial flop.^[3]

Later life and death

Von Homburg spent the last years of his life effectively homeless, alternating between sleeping at a YMCA, in the homes of friends, or in his van. He developed prostate cancer, and following its metastasis to his pelvis, spine, and brain, he went to the home of his friend Walter Staudinger, where he spent his final days.^[3]

Professional boxing record

30 Wins (24 knockouts, 6 decisions), 11 Losses (2 knockouts, 8 decisions, 1 DQ), 6 Draws^[1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	30–11–6	Rüdiger Schmidtke	PTS	10	December 11, 1970	Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Loss	30–10–6	Jürgen Blin	PTS	10	December 12, 1969	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Loss	30–9–6	Rüdiger Schmidtke	PTS	10	November 14, 1969	Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Loss	30–8–6	Oscar Bonavena	TKO	3	June 20, 1969	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, West Berlin
Win	30–7–6	Giulio Rinaldi	TKO	7	April 2, 1969	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, West Berlin
Loss	29–7–6	Giulio Rinaldi	PTS	10	February 14, 1969	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	29–6–6	Giulio Rinaldi	TKO	5	January 3, 1969	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, West Berlin
Win	28–6–6	Gerhard Zech	PTS	10	November 8, 1968	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg	Germany BDB Heavyweight Title Eliminator.
Win	27–6–6	Franklin Arrindel	KO	3	September 18, 1968	Hohe Warte Stadium, Vienna
Win	26–6–6	Rudolf Nehring	TKO	8	August 30, 1968	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, West Berlin
Loss	25–6–6	David E. Bailey	PTS	10	April 11, 1968	Sportpalast, Schoeneberg, West Berlin
Win	25–5–6	Paul Roux	KO	5	December 15, 1967	Circus Krone Building, Munich, Bavaria
Draw	24–5–6	Ray Patterson	PTS	10	May 3, 1967	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	24–5–5	Archie McBride	KO	9	December 9, 1966	Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Hesse
Loss	23–5–5	Piero Del Papa	DQ	11	November 19, 1966	Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, West Berlin	EBU Light Heavyweight Title.
Draw	23–4–5	Erich Schöppner	PTS	10	May 14, 1966	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Draw	23–4–4	Archie McBride	PTS	10	May 28, 1965	Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, West Berlin
Win	23–4–3	Bas van Duivenbode	KO	4	April 29, 1965	Neue Sporthalle, Hannover, Lower Saxony
Win	22–4–3	Jose Angel Manzur	TKO	8	April 2, 1965	Stadthalle, Vienna
Win	21–4–3	Ulli Ritter	TKO	6	February 20, 1965	Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Loss	20–4–3	Piero Tomasoni	PTS	10	January 16, 1965	Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	20–3–3	Joseph Syoz	TKO	10	December 5, 1964	Sporthalle, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
Win	19–3–3	Paul Kraus	KO	3	November 27, 1964	Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
Win	18–3–3	Lars Olaf Norling	TKO	9	November 6, 1964	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	17–3–3	Jean Huiban	KO	6	May 29, 1964	Weser-Ems Halle, Oldenburg, Lower Saxony
Draw	16–3–3	Ulli Ritter	PTS	10	May 8, 1964	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	16–3–2	Roy Crear	KO	5	April 7, 1964	Stockyards Coliseum, Oklahoma City
Win	15–3–2	Bob McKinney	TKO	9	January 6, 1964	New York Coliseum, Bronx, New York
Win	14–3–2	Monroe Ratliff	SD	10	November 18, 1963	Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California	7–3, 8–1, 3–6.
Loss	13–3–2	Billy Stephan	PTS	10	September 19, 1963	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	4–7.
Loss	13–2–2	Chuck Leslie	PTS	10	July 23, 1963	San Diego Coliseum, San Diego, California
Win	13–1–2	Bobby Sand	TKO	9	June 24, 1963	Moulin Rouge, Hollywood, California	Referee stopped the bout at 1:09 of the ninth round.
Draw	12–1–2	Tommy Merrill	PTS	6	June 1, 1963	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	12–1–1	Bobby Sand	TKO	9	May 20, 1963	Moulin Rouge, Hollywood, California	Referee stopped the bout at 2:29 of the ninth round.
Win	11–1–1	Pete Gonzales	KO	3	March 25, 1963	Moulin Rouge, Hollywood, California
Win	10–1–1	Gus Calf Robe	KO	6	February 25, 1963	Moulin Rouge, Hollywood, California
Win	9–1–1	Clifford Gray	TKO	1	February 19, 1963	San Diego Coliseum, San Diego, California	Referee stopped the bout at 2:35 of the first round.
Win	8–1–1	Bob Mumford	KO	6	February 15, 1963	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	7–1–1	Yancy D Smith	UD	8	January 22, 1963	San Diego Coliseum, San Diego, California	5–2, 5–2, 6–2.
Win	6–1–1	Yancy D Smith	PTS	8	January 15, 1963	San Diego Coliseum, San Diego, California	6–3.
Win	5–1–1	Clifford Gray	PTS	6	December 18, 1962	San Diego Coliseum, San Diego, California
Win	4–1–1	John L Davey	PTS	6	December 14, 1962	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Loss	3–1–1	Freeman Hardin	KO	3	October 25, 1962	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	3–0–1	Al Cummings	KO	3	September 21, 1962	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	2–0–1	Tony Fern	KO	3	August 24, 1962	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	1–0–1	Bob Brown	KO	2	August 16, 1962	San Diego Coliseum, San Diego, California
Draw	0–0–1	Sam Wyatt	PTS	4	July 20, 1962	Los Angeles Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Morituri	Crew Member	Uncredited
1966	The Last of the Secret Agents?	GGI Agent
1966	Torn Curtain	Blonde Twin in Bus	Uncredited
1967	Hotel Clausewitz	The American
1968	The Devil's Brigade	Fritz
	The Hell with Heroes	Hans
	The Wrecking Crew	Gregor
1970	Gentlemen in White Vests	Max Graf
1976	The Swiss Conspiracy	Hitman in Santa Claus Costume	Uncredited
1977	Stroszek	Souteneur
1988	Die Hard	James
1989	The Package	Lt. Koch
1989	Ghostbusters II	Vigo the Carpathian
1990	Midnight Cabaret	Juan Carlos
1991	Night of the Warrior	Bike
1991	Eye of the Storm	The Killer
1992	Diggstown	Charles Macum Diggs
1994	The Silence of the Hams	Maitre D'
1994	In the Mouth of Madness	Simon
2002	Der Boxprinz	Himself	documentary film final on-screen appearance

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Gunsmoke	Otto	Episode: "The Promoter"
1966	T.H.E. Cat	Tony	Episode: "To Kill a Priest"
1966	Jericho	German Sergeant	Episode: "Panic in the Piazza"
1967	The Invaders	Injured Alien	Episode: "Labyrinth"
1967-1968	The Wild Wild West	Herr Hess / Abel Garrison S3 E14/ Gunther Pearse	Episodes: "The Night of the Tottering Tontine", "The Night of the Iron Fist" & "The Night of the Big Blackmail"
2000	Rosa Roth	Schorsch	Episode: "Tod eines Bullen"