Alberty was born as Karl-Otto Poensgen in Berlin on 13 November 1933. He started out as an amateur boxer before discovering a talent for acting, making his début at the City Theatre in Konstanz in 1959. He then began to take supporting roles in films. He made his first appearance in English language films as an SD officer (who captures Richard Attenborough) in The Great Escape (1963). With his broad face, broken nose and distinctive white-blond hair, he would go on to play variations of the role of German officers in a series of films, notably Battle of the Bulge (1965), Andrew V. McLaglen's The Devil's Brigade (1968), Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969), and as a Waffen-SS tank commander of a Tiger I tank from the 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH in Kelly's Heroes (1970). He played a Luftwaffe general in Battle of Britain (1969). He also continued to work in both Germany and Italy in a wide variety of films from dramas and comedies to spaghetti westerns. He also made regular appearances on German television. His last appearance was in the TV series War and Remembrance (1988). He was variously credited as Charles Albert, Charles Alberty and Carlo Alberti.

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