13 Facts About Andrew Thorndike

Andrew Thorndike was a German documentary film director.

Andrew Thorndike was a member of the jury at the 5th Moscow International Film Festival.

Andrew Thorndike grew up in a wealthy family on an estate in Senzig, outside of Berlin, the son of an advertising executive.

Andrew Thorndike received commercial training before becoming an employee of Ufa in 1931.

Andrew Thorndike quickly became head of the firm's advertising film division.

Andrew Thorndike began working for the Supreme Command of the German Army and Navy beginning in 1941, where his job was to produce military training films.

Andrew Thorndike directed a documentary for Ufa, Die Herrin des Hofes, in 1942.

Andrew Thorndike was forced into the German army and sent to the Eastern Front, where he was captured and taken to Russia as a prisoner of war in 1945.

Also in 1950, Andrew Thorndike met Annelie Kungik, a former schoolteacher, through their mutual work in films.

Andrew Thorndike began collaborating with her and the two were married in 1953.

Andrew Thorndike's arrest created tensions between East and West Germany before he was released by the West German government.

East German master spy Markus Wolf claims that until the time of his arrest in Berlin, Andrew Thorndike was an operative for the East German Foreign Intelligence Service and that the agency was trying to create inroads in Hamburg's economic and political spheres through him.

Andrew Thorndike had his own production unit at DEFA, which was consolidated with DEFA-Gruppe 67 in 1968, with Andrew Thorndike as the head of this project.