Born into poverty, Kinski grew up in Berlin and was drafted into the German army in 1942. He spent much of World War II as a British POW and some time in sanitariums before he began acting on the Berlin stage, where he quickly gained some reputation for his talent and his ferocious temper. Soon afterwards he began acting in films and stared in numerous movies, including several worthless genre flicks. When he first met director Werner Herzog, a similarly driven and obsessive character, a wild but memorable working realationship started that lasted for 15 years, until they finally split up after irreconcilable differences when filming "Cobra Verde" (1988). He helmed one movie as a director, "Paganini", with himself in the title-role. His autobiography (Ich Brauche Liebe) was published in America in 1989, but was soon withdrawn for legal reasons. With his death in 1991 he left three children, his two daugters Pola (* 23 March 1952) and Nastassja (* 24 January 1959) followed in his footsteps as actresses.