Thiele started his show career as a stage actor.
Thiele, who was of Jewish descent,[2] left Germany during the Nazi Era.
He mostly made B-Pictures, but is credited with giving actress Dorothy Lamour her big start in movies with The Jungle Princess (1936).
His last two films, The Last Pedestrian and Sabine und die hundert Männer, were both made in Germany and released in 1960.
His younger brother was the director Eugen Thiele.