We here at Queerty love paying homage to our queer Hollywood legends of yore, so with this week marking what would have been noted bisexual Horst Werner Buchholz’s 90th birthday, it was the perfect time to show our appreciate for this underrated actor.
Often referred to as the “German James Dean” (for reasons these swoon-worthy photos make perfectly clear), Buchholz was born in Berlin in 1938, fleeing at a young age to the former Czechoslovakia during World War II.
After the war, he returned to Berlin and is said to have “barely finished” school so that he could pursue his passion for acting, appearing in theatrical productions, then eventually nabbing a few supporting roles in German films and voice dubbing for foreign-language films like animated classic Pinocchio and the queer Western Johnny Guitar.
With his movie-star looks, Buchholz quickly became a name in German cinema, especially thanks to his zeitgeist-y rebel youth drama Teenage Wolfpack in 1956, which is when he began earning those James Dean comparisons.
Before long, he crossed over with international success, too, making his English film debut in the 1959 crime drama Tiger Bay opposite teen star Hayley Mills and her father John. The next year, he appeared in the iconic, star-studded Western The Magnificent Seven alongside marquee names like Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen.
Buchholz’s career continued for decades, spanned genres and mediums, and continued to ping-pong between German and English projects, also including roles in the Billy Wilder comedy One, Two, Three, the sweeping romance Fanny, and, later, a supporting turn in Roberto Benigni’s Oscar-winning Life Is Beautiful. His TV credits include classics like Fantasy Island and Charlie’s Angels.
In 1958, he married French actress Myriam Bru, and though they remained together for the rest of his life, Buchholz eventually revealed that he was bisexual. Speaking with German magazine Bunte in 2000, the actor shared, “Yes, I also love men. Ultimately, I’m bisexual…. I have always lived my life the way I wanted.”
He added that his relationship with Bru remained “stable and enduring” over the decades, and though they mostly lived in separate cities, the couple had two children together. Their son, Christopher Buchholz followed the family footsteps as an actor, and eventually directed the documentary Horst Buchholz… Mein Papa about his father, acknowledging his bisexuality and even referencing an affair with a male secretary.
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Though he died in 2003 at 69 due to health complications after a hip surgery, Buchholz’s legacy looms large in international cinema, especially as a leading man who—along with contemporaries like Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson—helped re-contextualize the Hollywood ideals of masculinity when he came out later in life.
Many of Buchholz greatest performances are currently available to stream today. And, in celebration of what would be his 90th birthday, Queerty looks back through archival photos that show why he earned that nickname—and why he deserves to be remembered as another of our great, gay Hollywood legends.
A young Horst Buchholz, looking very dapper
Image Credit: John Springer Collection / CORBIS / Corbis via Getty Images
Lounging by the pool as Freddy in Teenage Wolfpack
Image Credit: ‘Teenage Wolfpack,’ Alpha Video Distributors
Showing off his sporty side in the late ’50s
Image Credit: ullstein bild / ullstein bild via Getty Images
Baring it all in 1957 drama Confessions Of Felix Krull
Image Credit: ‘The Confessions Of Felix Krull,’ Distributors Corporation Of America
Getting into some “fowl play’ on the set of Monpti
Image Credit: ullstein bild / ullstein bild via Getty Images
Throwing back beers in the high-seas adventure Das Totenschiff
Image Credit: ullstein bild / ullstein bild via Getty Images
Looking magnificent as Chico in The Magnificent Seven
Image Credit: ullstein bild / ullstein bild via Getty Images
A smokin’ new headshot for his “global star” era, circa 1960
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