Erich Pollak was born on 18 July 1913 in Vienna, Austria
In 1939, he followed his fiancée and later wife, actress Lieselotte Goettinger into exile in London. Until mid-1941, both were kept in an internment camp. After their release, Eric took part in propaganda broadcasts against the Nazis on the BBC World Service. In order to earn a living, the Pohlmanns temporarily took positions in the household of the Duke of Bedford, Lieselotte as a cook and Eric, as he was now known, as butler.
Eric died on 25 July 1979 in Bad Reichenhall, Upper Bavaria, Germany, he was 66.