Villain of the Month: William Vaughn
It is amazing what you can learn about a person when you start researching them. Take German born character actor William Vaughn. Before his acting career even started it was almost over. Vaughn was arrested in 1915 for violating American neutrality. He was later released in 1920 with the ruling that moral turpitude hadn’t been a part of his crime (my, how times have changed).
It was then that he went into acting, appearing in A Woman of Paris (1923) and The Merry Widow (1925). With the coming of sound Vaughn’s continental accent and bearing was perfect to garner him steady work, such as playing Von Richter in Hell’s Angels (1930). Other films included Shanghai Madness (1933), Dracula’s Daughter (1936) and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937).
Of course as hostilities grew in Europe, Vaughn became a popular actor to portray Nazis. His films during this time included Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), Atlantic Convoy (1942), Tarzan Triumphs (1943) and The Hitler Gang (1944) which was his final film.
Serials also used his talents in two highly regarded entries from Republic. His first serial was King of the Mounties (1942) playing one of three Azis representatives overseeing sabotage along the Canadian borders. Next he had a smaller role in Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943), playing a German office who slaps the heroine around in an effort to get information from her (he displays a pretty nasty back hand in the scene).
Sadly he died before the end of the war and never saw the Allied victory.
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