Norbert Grupe (August 25, 1940 – March 10, 2004), better known outside Germany by his stage name Wilhelm von Homburg, was a German boxer, actor, and professional wrestler known for his villainous supporting roles in various high-profile films of the 1980s and 1990s, including Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II (1989), the henchman James in Die Hard (1988), and Souteneur in Werner Herzog's Stroszek (1977).

They subsequently changed their name to the Von Homburg Brothers, under which they performed as heels for less than a hundred dollars a night in total.

Grupe thought his last name sounded too much like the word groupie, and changed it to Prince Wilhelm von Homburg.

[3][4] Von Homburg switched careers to boxing in 1962, employing the showmanship and the boastful, cocky persona he had developed as a wrestler.

"[3] Von Homburg got his first championship match in 1966 against Piero del Papa for the EBU Regional Light Heavyweight title in Berlin.

In "The Promoter", the April 25, 1964, episode of Gunsmoke for example, he played a boxer named Otto who is offered a large bribe to throw a fight.

[3] After losing his next three fights, von Homburg retired from boxing in 1970 at age 30, and went to live in St. Pauli Kiez, a red-light district of Hamburg, developing a reputation in that area's underground, where he associated with pimps and Hells Angels, and engaged in a number of affairs with both men and women.

Von Homburg's biggest role came at age 50, when he was cast as the primary villain in the 1989 comedy sequel Ghostbusters II, playing Vigo the Carpathian, a 16th/17th century tyrant and sorcerer whose soul is released from an old painting.

[3] Von Homburg spent the last years of his life effectively homeless, alternating between sleeping at a YMCA, in the homes of friends, or in his van.

He developed prostate cancer, and following its metastasis to his pelvis, spine, and brain, he went to the home of his friend Walter Staudinger, where he spent his final days.