Character actor Heinz Drache was sort of a German Peter Cushing or Michael Gough, lending erudition and dignity to the most skin-crawling of horror and mystery films. In movies as early as the '50s, Drache was seen in such florid productions as The Rest is Silence (1960), an odd Teutonic modernization of Hamlet, and the British-filmed Brides of Fu Manchu (1965). He was best known for his many appearances in a series of German thrillers based on the works of prolific British author Edgar Wallace. Under the less-than-sedate directorial guidance of Alfred Vohrer, Heinz Drache played leads in Wallace adaptations like The Avenger (1960) (as Michael Brixan), Door with the Seven Locks (1962), The Black Panther of Ratana (1963), The Indian Scarf (1964), and The Mysterious Magician (1965).