Trivia

Joined the Nazi Party in 1933. Was convicted as a 'fellow traveller' to a six-months prison term in 1945. Attempted with little success to resurrect his film career in the early 1950's.

Served for fourteen years on a sailing school ship. Worked as a painter, and, for a while, joined a circus. Started acting in Paris from 1912, soon writing his own screenplays and directing from 1923. From 1929, released through his own company, Ariel Film. Specialised in popular outdoor and adventure films, invariably doing his own stunts, and often partnered by his wife Dary Holm.

In 1962, in a Berlin newspaper, he was looking for "a life-mate middle-aged, respectable and well off" and found it in Lilli Stromereder, who was his last companion.

In 1927 he cast himself in a double role with Marlene Dietrich together in the film His Greatest Bluff.

In Paris he met the director Léonce Perret, who arranged a meeting with Gaumont. There he wrote his first script and the thought to place his future occupation at the new medium film took shape.

Harry Piel was struck by the political confusions. His production company "Harry Piel Film Co." - founded in 1921 - was liquidated through the nationalization and after the war he was sentenced to prison for six months by the English court and they also imposed a working prohibition on him till 1949. His delict: hanger-on of the NSDAP where he was a member since 1933.

Piel managed the transition to the sound film easily. He directed successful movies until 1939.

With his appearances in front of the camera was also born the sensation-actor Piel who liked to give to understand, that he carried out all his stunts himself. The fact is that the most dangerous stunts were carried out by Hermann Stetza between 1919 and 1924.

Harry Piel's life started almost adventurous. After school he committed to serve as a cadet on the sailing ship "Grossherzogin Elisabeth" for seven months, at the age of 19 he went to Paris in order to become a stunt flyer.

In 1915, Piel became too bored with just standing behind the camera and he started to act. The first film with him as a leading actor, The Large Bet (Die Grosse Wette), was a Science Fiction adventure, where he had to deal with robots. Into Under Hot Zone (Unter heißer Zone, 1916) included for the first time scenes with wild animals, which were used by him afterwards in other films, and partly trained by him.

Harry Piel succeeded in 1950 once more to found a production company, but he couldn't achieve the same success. Early in 1960 he gave up his company and retired from the movie business.

Beside his condemnation at the end of World War II, the fact that 72 negatives of his movies, among them nearly all his silent movies, had been destroyed during an air raid gave him no end of trouble.

In 1933 Harry Piel became a patron member of the SS and also joined the NSDAP. Then however difficulties began with the Nazis, and his film "Panic" (1940-43) was banned for showing too-realistic air attacks. Censors did not want the German people to believe that Germany was in danger from aerial bombardments.

Piel had the nickname "Dynamite director" because of all the exploding bridges and houses in his movies. These explosions were very often real because he knew a bomb craftsman who constantly informed him about forthcoming blowing ups. Harry Piel caught the explosions on film and used them in his next movies.

Already in 1912 Harry Piel founded the "Kunst-Film-Verlags-Gesellschaft" and he realised his first movie as a director with "Schwarzes Blut". Even though the movie was successful, his company went bankrupt a little bit later.

After WWII Piel was in prison for half a year and he was not allowed to work until 1949. He hardly got any movie parts afterwards.

Harry Piel had several jobs before he joined the movies in Paris in 1911. He soon worked in front of as well as behind the camera.

He was buried beside his second wife Dary Holm at the Waldfriedhof in Munich. Lilli Stromereder-Piel, his new partner after the death of Dary Holm was buried in the same grave in 1984.

Shortly before his death he had been interviewed on German television.

In 1935 he had already made 100 movies, but most of his silent movies were lost during the war.

In 1963 he died embittered in a clinic in Munich.

In 1911 he had married Johanna Präder in Düsseldorf, but after he met the actress Dary Holm he divorced Johanna and married Dary in 1927. After Dary Holm died in 1960 he moved to South America for a while.

In 2004 Gerald Koll made a short movie with the title "Harry Piel - Der Entfesselte".

German actor Ralph Morgenstern (born in 1956) is related to him, Harry Piel was his great-uncle.