Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, among them the 1979 Oscar-winning film The Tin Drum. He is also the author of several successful mostly autobiographical books. Biography Adorf was born in Zürich, Switzerland, the illegitimate child of Matteo Menniti, an Italian surgeon and Alice Adorf, a German medical assistant. He grew up in his maternal grandfather's hometown, Mayen, where he was raised by his unmarried mother. He rose to fame in Europe, and particularly Germany, and also made appearances in international films, including Ten Little Indians and Smilla's Sense of Snow. He also played a small role in the BBC adaptation of John le Carré's Smiley's People as a German club owner. In Italy he also played in a number of movies. In the 1960s, he married Lis Verhoeven. The couple had a child, Stella, prior to their divorce. He starred with Barbara Bouchet in Milano Calibro 9 in 1972. In 1985, he married Monique Faye. Adorf has expressed regret that he declined roles in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972) and Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (1961). He also turned down the role of General Mapache in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969), because he felt the character was too violent. In 1996, he provided the German dubbing voice for the character Draco in Dragonheart, a role performed by Sean Connery. Awards Among many others: 2000 Bavarian Film Awards Honorary Award 2011 Best Human Brand Award Selected filmography 08/15 (1954), as Wagner (1955), as Unteroffizier Stamm Fruit in the Neighbour's Garden (1956), as Landstreicher The Girl and the Legend (1957), as Bertie Sand, Love and Salt (1957, directed by František Čáp), as Coco (1957) The Devil Strikes at Night (1957, directed by Robert Siodmak), as Bruno Luedke The Doctor of Stalingrad (1958, directed by Géza von Radványi), as Pelz, Sanitäter Rosemary (1958, directed by Rolf Thiele), as Horst The Death Ship (1959, directed by Georg Tressler), as Lawski, Polnischer Kohlenschlepper The Day the Rains Came (1959, directed by Gerd Oswald), as Werner Maurer (Bumerang) (1960, directed by Alfred Weidenmann), as Georg Kugler My Schoolfriend (1960), as Niedermoser Brainwashed (1960, directed by Gerd Oswald), as Mirko Centowic Who Are You, Mr. Sorge? (1961), as Max