In real life, he pierced his left ear in 1972 at age 60 at the urging of his girlfriend (later wife). For the rest of his career, he often enjoyed incorporating an earring into a role, even if it was anachronistic in certain productions. Among the roles in which he wears jewelry in his pierced ear: Paco (1975); Abenteuer in Atlantis (1978); Fedora (1978); Das Geheimnis der eisernen Maske (1979); Die unglaublichen Geschichten von Roald Dahl: The Man from the South (1979); Die grosse Keilerei (1980); Evita Peron (1981); and Dune: Der Wüstenplanet (1984). In Fedora (1978), a joke about it is even included in the dialog: "Don't let this earring fool you".
