Rudolf Zehetgruber, born September 16, 1926, in Vienna, Austria, started his career in the film business in 1953 as the assistant director for Arthur Maria Rabenalt’s musical "Der Vogelhändler" ("The Bird Seller"). Until the late 1950s, Zehetgruber was involved as assistant director in eleven productions for the movie screen, including the "Sissi" films and the Konsalik adaptation "Der Arzt von Stalingrad" ("The Doctor of Stalingrad", 1958).

In 1960, he made his debut as a screenplay writer and director with the romantic rural comedy "Das Dorf ohne Moral". During the following years, Zehetgruber wrote and directed a series of crime and thriller films, mainly European co-productions like the Durbridge adaptation "Piccadilly null Uhr zwölf" ("Piccadilly Zero hour 12", 1963) or "Kommissar X – Drei grüne Hunde" ("Death Trip", 1967).

During the 1970s, Rudolf Zehetgruber reached the peak of his successful career with the so-called "Käfer" ("Superbug") films about the crazy experiences of adventurer "Jimmy Bondi" (played by Zehetgruber himself) and his talking desert Beetle "Dudu". Between 1971 and 1975, Zehetgruber finished four "Dudu" films that all became box office hits and garnered a cult following over the years.

But his attempt to tie in with the success of the "Dudu" film series in 1978 with "Superbaby – Der Kleine mit der großen Klappe" ("The Return of Superbug"), also known as "Zwei tolle Käfer räumen auf" failed to live up to its expectations at the box office.

In 1985, Rudolf Zehetgruber finished his last film, the adventure comedy "Nessie – das verrückteste Monster der Welt", again based on his own screenplay.

Rudolf Zehetgruber died July 2, 2023 age 96.