 He achieved critical international acclaim for his role as Colonel Muller in the Roberto Rossellini production of "General della Rovere" (1959), with the film winning the Golden Lion at Venice that year.Messemer is probably best known for his role as Oberst von Luger, the Kommandant in "The Great Escape" (1963).The film had a star-studded cast, but it was Messemer, relatively unknown outside Europe, who uttered the film's most famous line (to Steve McQueen/Capt.