Kurt Dussander is the main antagonist in the Stephen King novel Apt Pupil as well as the 1998 film adaptation of the same name.
He is portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen, who also portrays Magneto as well as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings .
Biography
Dussander is a former Nazi who lives under the name of Arthur Denker, leading a very private life so as not to bring attention to his true identity. However, Dussander's 16 year old neighbour Todd Bowden, who is fascinated by Nazism, gathers clues about him and discovers who he really is. He blackmails Dussander into telling him gruesome stories about his work at the extermination camps by threatening to otherwise turn him in to the police, and Bowden later acquires an SS uniform from a costume shop which he forces Dussander to wear. Bowden visits Dussander more and more often but at the same time, he begins to do badly at school and his social life begins to wither. When Dussander realises that Bowden's grades are rapidly dropping, he poses as his grandfather to attend a meeting at Bowden's school, arranging for Bowden to constantly study in his presence in order to restore his grades. Knowing Dussander would tell his parents about his recent delving into Nazism, Bowden is forced to comply.
Dussander later gets drunk and attempts to kill a cat by throwing it into his gas oven, but it attacks him and manages to escape. He is then spotted by a homeless man whilst wearing the SS uniform and eventually tries to kill him by stabbing him in the back before locking him in his cellar. During the act, Dussander suffers a heart attack and immediately phones Bowden, telling him to come to his house and call for an ambulance. When Bowden arrives, Dussander locks him in the cellar with the homeless man, who wakes up in a startled manner but is quickly killed by Bowden with a shovel. An ambulance then arrives and carries Dussander to the hospital, where he shares a room with another man who happen to be a death camp survivor. The man recognises Dussander as the Nazi responsible for the death of his family and, after initially breaking down, has Dussander arrested. Bowden is interrogated by the police about his relationship with Dussander, with Bowden successfully convincing them that he was completely oblivious to Dussander's criminal past. Meanwhile, Dussander, realising that his true identity has been exposed and that he will soon be extradited to Israel, commits suicide by giving himself an air embolism (pumping air into his heart). The doctors and nurses desperately attempt to revive him, to no avail.
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