William Vaughn (actor)
| Wilhelm von Brincken | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 27, 1881 Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany |
| Died | January 18, 1946 (aged 64) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Other names | William Vaughn, William Vaughan, William von Brinken |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1914–1944 |
| Spouse(s) | Alice L. Roedel Milo Abercrombie |
Wilhelm von Brincken (May 27, 1881 – January 18, 1946), also known as Wilhelm L. von Brincken, William Vaughn, William von Brinken and William Vaughan, was a German spy during World War I, who would go on to become an American character actor of the silent and sound film eras.
Von Brincken was born in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein on May 27, 1881. He was a reservist in the German Army, and he came to the United States as a military attaché to their embassy in Washington D.C., sometime around 1910. Once here he met his first wife, Alice M Roedel; they married and would have two children: Carl von Brincken (1911–1911) and Philip Morgan Roedel (christened Philip Roedel von Brincken) (1913–1985). Carl died several hours after his birth.
Wilhelm Von Brinken made his debut acting in American films in The Redemption of David Corson (1914).
In 1915, he was transferred to the west coast, and assigned to the consulate in San Francisco. While working at the San Francisco consulate, he was arrested at the beginning of World War I on espionage charges, due to his alleged involvement in a bomb-plot with his co-conspirators, C.C. Crowley, who worked at the German Consulate, and an agent of a German shipping line, Robert Capelle. In February 1916, he was indicted, along with dozens of others, including the German Consul General and his vice-Consul, Franz Bopp and Baron E.H. von Schack, respectively. He was convicted and sentenced to prison, spending his time in Alcatraz Prison and McNeil Island Penitentiary.
After his release from prison in 1920, von Brincken became an American citizen in 1921. A fellow German ex-patriot, Erich Von Stroheim, included him in a group of former German military men who he invited to Hollywood to work on films. Due to his military background, he would be called upon as military expert as a technical advisor on films, including the Academy Award winning All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).
Von Brincken returned to acting in Von Stroheim's 1928 film, Queen Kelly, starring Gloria Swanson. Over the course of his career, he would appear under several different variants of his name, such as von Brinken, as well as going under Anglicized versions of his name, such as William Vaughn and Vaughan, when it was politically correct to do so. In 1929 and 1930 he had small roles in several films before receiving featured roles such as in the Eddie Foy and Irene Dunne film, Leathernecking, and playing the German ace, Baron von Richtofen in Howard Hughes' 1930 classic, Hells Angels. Most of the rest of the 1930s would see him appear in numerous films, in both minor and featured roles.
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