Frederick Stafford

Frederick Stafford (born Friedrich Strobel von Stein; 11 March 1928 – 28 July 1979) was a Slovak-Australian While there he changed his name to "Frederick Stafford". "I always liked the name," he later said. He qualified as a doctor of chemistry after university in Sydney and Perth.

By 1962 he was a regional manager for Bristol Meyers headquartered in Hong Kong. He travelled for them in the Middle East and Far East. Two years later in Bangkok he met a German actress Marianne Hold and married her seven days later.

"Getting into a different industry didn't have a big effect on me," said Stafford later. "I don't think it made a difference because I didn't get into business at an early age when a man is still being formed... I don't know if there is such a thing as luck... Maybe in a lottery but you have to get out and buy the ticket first." Universal signed him to a non exclusive contract for seven years. In the role of the secret agent, he led an ensemble of first-rate European actors who were his film partners in a very complex role: Dany Robin was his wife, Claude Jade played his daughter, Michel Subor as his son-in-law, Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret were the spies he had to expose and Karin Dor played the role of the Cuban mistress. His contractor was played by the American John Forsythe.

The film was not a success. The casting of Stafford, whose performance was found lacking by critics, was largely blamed for its failure. Channel4 claimed, "Heading the international cast is a very wooden Stafford, who is no Cary Grant."

He made Eagles Over London (1969) with Van Johnson.

In March 1970 Stafford claimed that Harry Saltzman wanted him to play James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service but he was unable to accept due to his commitment to make Topaz. He said "although at first I thought no one could take over from Sean. But after seeing the latest Bond film... I know I can." He added "I certainly didn't realise this film business would keep my interest like it has. It is a real change from chemistry, and at present I can't see myself going back to that."

Later career

He made a comeback in 1972 as Commissario Luca Micelli in the Italian giallo Shadows Unseen.

Five years after Topaz, he starred with French actress Claude Jade (who had played his daughter in Topaz) in the Italian thriller Special Killers (1973). In that movie, Stafford's character has a brief platonic romance with Jade's character despite a 20-year age difference.

His last successes were the Italian movies Metti che ti rompo il muso (1975), White Horses of Summer (1975, starring Jean Seberg, his co-star from 1966's Estouffade à la Caraïbe), Werewolf Woman (1976) and the Spanish-Italian-French coproduction Hold-Up (1977). He also made La trastienda and Sfida sul fondo.

In 1977, Stafford returned to Australia after 15 years. He announced he intended to make four films in Australia including one about the pyjama girl murder; Our Man in Sydney, a detective thriller, and Andamooka, about life on the Australian opal fields.

Personal life He married German actress Marianne Hold whom he met while they were in Bangkok. His son is the singer Roderick Stafford, who was born in 1964.

Death Stafford died in 1979 in a collision of two aircraft above Lake Sarnen, Switzerland. A Morane-Saulnier Rallye piloted by Czech-born Pavel Krahulec, in which Stafford was a passenger, collided with a Piper aircraft piloted by businessman Alois Fischer of Thoune, Switzerland.

Films