Alexander Engel was born in Berlin on 4-6-1902. He studied drama at the Reicherschen Hochschule für dramatische Kunst. He debuted at the theater in Allenstein in 1923 and was later hired in Königsberg, in Rostock and, from 1931, in Berlin. One year later he started a film career that would occupy him until his death in Saarbrücken on 25-7-1968, successfully specializing in threatening and eerie characters.