Hans Meyer
Played Tyroll in Crossbow
72 episodes, 1987-1989, In the last adventure 1967
Hans Meyer as Tyrroll, Horst's predecessor. Gessler's first Captain of the Guard and Horst's superior is a no nonsense soldier. Unlike Horst or Gessler he does have some pangs of conscience,
slight though they may be.
Inspite of his disgust with Gessler's over zealous pursuit of Tell, Tyrroll obeys his orders to the letter. Burning and pillaging the province into bankruptcy on his masters orders.
Only leaving the occasional upstart alive, much to Gessler's disgust, he performs his duties well. He has however one fatal flaw for a man who works for gessler. He is a man of honour and keeps
his word regardless of orders a flaw that will ultimately leave his post open for the ever ready Horst. Hans Meyer's multilingual career includes the films Barry Lyndon, Inside the Third Reich,
Red Sonja, The French Revolution, Double Team and K.
The Third Reich."
Hans Meyer was born into a German farming family on 21 July 1925 in Paulpietersburg, South Africa, and spent his childhood in Natal/Zululand Province. Upon completing schooling he became a farmer,
but after a few years he decided to leave that life and travel to England.
While in England, Hans inspired Sydney Jordan, creator of the acclaimed Daily Express newspaper science fiction comic strip "Jeff Hawke" to model his comic's hero on Hans! This is regarded as one
of the most important science fiction comics ever created, and was published between 1955 - 1974.
Hans also modeled for "photo novels" (a popular form of romance novels) in Europe, and became a well known advertising model for several products including Terry Cognac in Spain, where he is
still known as "Senor Cognac". A friend in Germany who was working in an advertising agency saw potential in his handsome friend and arranged for Hans to have his first acting job, in a
television advertising campaign for Pushkin Vodka. His acting debut was such a success that this vodka quickly became the best sellling vodka in Germany and Hans became one of the best known faces in Germany!
Hans Meyer was born into a German farming family on 21 July 1925 in Paulpietersburg, South Africa, and spent his childhood in Natal/Zululand Province. Upon completing schooling he became
a farmer, but after a few years he decided to leave that life and travel to England.
While in England, Hans inspired Sydney Jordan, creator of the acclaimed Daily Express newspaper science fiction comic strip "Jeff Hawke" to model his comic's hero on Hans! This is regarded as one
of the most important science fiction comics ever created, and was published between 1955 - 1974.
Hans also modeled for "photo novels" (a popular form of romance novels) in Europe, and became a well known advertising model for several products including Terry Cognac in Spain, where he is still known
as "Senor Cognac". A friend in Germany who was working in an advertising agency saw potential in his handsome friend and arranged for Hans to have his first acting job, in a television advertising
campaign for Pushkin Vodka. His acting debut was such a success that this vodka quickly became the best sellling vodka in Germany and Hans became one of the best known faces in Germany!
Because of this success with his first appearance before a camera, Hans was offered the leading role in a Spanish film, "Culpable Para un Delito". This new career as an actor appealed to Hans, but he realized
he needed to study acting to develop his talents if he was to achieve further success. He decided to study with the great French film director, Claude Chabrol, in Paris. Within a few years Hans was part
of the popular "Nouvelle Vague - New Wave" film genre developed in France between 1958 - 1973, appearing in a succession of films directed by some of the greatest directors of that era, and
acting alongside most of the popular actors of the day: Godard/Belmondo & Karina (1965), Oury & Korber/ de Funes (1966 & 1971), Enrico/Delon (1967), deBroca/Belmondo (1973).
When BBC Television was searching for European actors for the German roles in its groundbreaking television series "Colditz" in 1972, Hans joined the cast of this series and became one
of its most popular cast members. In 1973 Hans starred in a BBC television series production of "Heidi", as "Grandfather".
Although young at 48 for the part, his creative talent brought
the role to life and this version of the classic children's story remains the most charming of the many created over the years.
In 1978 Martin Chomsky directed the renowned television series "Holocaust" and cast Hans in the role of Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Hans impressed Chomsky with his portrayal of Kaltenbrunner,
and Chomsky again cast Hans as Kaltenbrunner in his 1982 "Inside
In 1960 Hans connected with the gifted young director Leos Carax, for his short film "Strangulation Blues". This led to two further associations with Carax, "Boy Meets Girl" (1984)
and "Mauvais Sang" (1986).
In 1987 Hans co-starred in the popular television series "Crossbow", based on the Swiss tales of William Tell. Hans portrayed "Tyroll" with a touching combination of menace and pathos.
In 1989 Hans began what would become an ongoing collaboration with talented, young, upcoming directors in the field of Short Films, starring in "Celeri Remoulade". He went on to star in a
long list of films in this genre that continues to this day, including "John" (1992), "un Cuilleree pour Papa" (1992), "Entre les Vagues" (1997), "Morteterre" (2002), "Baptiste" (2003),
"Sentence Finale" (2006), "Piscine du Maman" (2007), and "Fin du Bal" (2007).
Hans admits his very first love of acting focused on the theatre, and while his life's work took another direction he has "tread the boards" in several theatre productions including "Juin '40"
(19??), Theatre le Lucernaire, Paris...."Fragments Nocturnes, Tapages Faciles" (1999), Theatre Essaion, Paris.....and "Phedre et Hippolyte" (2001), National Festival at Bellac, France.
(NOTE: this career synopsis covers only a small portion of Hans' long list of film, television, and theatre credits! Please refer to the IMDB for complete list)
Take a look on the
fansite made by
Jeen Ruette.
Terry Cognac 1960s Magazine/Newspaper advertising, Spain Coplan Sauve sa Peau 1968 Director, Yves Boisset, Hans: Hugo Cannon for Cordoba 1970 Director, Paul Wendkos, Hans: Svedborg
Modelling Director, Eric Cherriere, Hans: Le Libraire
Until jan. 2019 he lived in Paris.
2020 Unfortunately Hans passed away on April, 3th. 2020, Paris.
We're having Permission (photo rights) to place this photos of Hans. ( from Jeen Ruette) Hans as captain of the guard 'Tyroll' in Crossbow 1986-1989
Hans Meyer (born 21 July 1925, Paulpietersburg KwaZulu) is a South African actor born to German parents. In Britain, he is probably best known for his portrayal of Hauptmann Franz Ulmann
in the television series Colditz (1972–74).
His family were German farmers in Natal and Zululand. Originally a farmer, Meyer decided to move to Europe in the early 1960s. He worked initially as a model where he posed for book covers
until a friend in Germany working for an advertising agency lined up his first work as an actor, a television advert for Puschkin Vodka. The brand became Germany's best selling vodka and
Meyer became known as "Frank S. Thorn" The Puschkin Man and a familiar face. His acting career took off and he appeared in many television series and movies including Stanley Kubrick's
Barry Lyndon (1975).
Since then, he has appeared in Steven Spielberg and George Lucas's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles as well as the French cult movie Brotherhood of the Wolf. For Wikipedia click here
Hans Meyer's film, television, and theatre credits span over sixty years! The most complete and accurate listing of all Hans' career data is on the InternetMovieDataBase.
On the fansite of Jeen Ruette you can watch all kind of Youtube video's so you can watch Hans in different roles!
Shots of Crossbow
