Gotell was born in Bonn; his family emigrated to Britain after the arrival of Nazism in Germany. A fluent English speaker, he started in films as early as 1943, usually playing German villain officer, such as in "We Dive at Dawn" (1943). He began to have more established roles by the early 1950s, starring in "The African Queen" (1951), "The Red Beret" (1953) for Albert R. Broccoli, "Ice Cold in Alex" (1958), "The Guns of Navarone" (1961), "The Road to Hong Kong" (1962), "Lord Jim" (1965), "Black Sunday" (1977), "The Boys from Brazil" (1978) and "Cuba" (1979).