He is best known for starring in five films directed by Werner Herzog from 1972 to 1987 (Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Nosferatu the Vampyre; Woyzeck; Fitzcarraldo; and Cobra Verde), who would later chronicle their tumultuous relationship in the documentary My Best Fiend.

His infamy was elevated by a number of eccentric creative endeavors, including a one-man show based on the life of Jesus Christ,[9] a biopic of violinist Niccolò Paganini directed by and starring himself, and over twenty spoken word albums.

[10] Kinski was prone to emotional and often violent outbursts aimed at his directors and fellow cast members, issues complicated by a history of mental illness.

[18] Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski was born on 18 October 1926 in Zoppot, Free City of Danzig (now Sopot, Poland), to Polish-German parents.

His father, Bruno Nakszynski, worked as an opera singer before becoming a pharmacist, while his mother, Susanne Lutze, was a nurse and the daughter of a local pastor.

[21][23] In his 1988 autobiography, he claimed that he had decided to desert from the Wehrmacht and had been recaptured by German forces and sentenced to death in a court-martial before escaping and hiding in the woods, subsequently encountering a British patrol which shot him in the arm and captured him.

[21] After being treated for his wounds and interrogated, he was transferred to a prisoner-of-war camp in Colchester, Essex; the ship transporting him to Britain was torpedoed by a German U-boat but arrived safely.

[25] While interned at Berechurch Hall in Colchester, Kinski played his first roles on stage, taking part in variety shows intended to maintain morale among the prisoners.

Although respected by his colleagues, among them Judith Holzmeister, and cheered by the audience, Kinski did not gain a permanent contract after the Burgtheater's management became aware of his earlier difficulties in Germany.

[10] He presented the prose and verse of François Villon, William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, amongst others, and toured Austria, Germany, and Switzerland with his shows.

In Alfred Vohrer's Die toten Augen von London (1961), his character refused any personal guilt for his evil deeds and claimed to have only followed the orders given to him.

He relocated to Italy during the late 1960s, and found roles in numerous Spaghetti Westerns, including For a Few Dollars More (1965), A Bullet for the General (1966), The Great Silence (1968), Twice A Judas (1969), and A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe (1975).

[33] In 1980, Kinski refused the lead villain role of Major Arnold Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark, telling director Steven Spielberg that the script was "a yawn-making, boring pile of shit"[32] and "moronically shitty".

[38] Medical records from the period listed a preliminary diagnosis of schizophrenia, but the doctors' ultimate conclusion was psychopathy (antisocial personality disorder).

[8][13] In an interview published by the German tabloid Bild on 14 January 2013, Kinski's younger daughter and Pola's half-sister, Nastassja, said their father would embrace her in a sexual manner when she was 4–5 years old but never had sex with her.

[45] In 2006, Christian David published the first comprehensive biography of Kinski, based on newly discovered archived material, personal letters and interviews with the actor's friends and colleagues.