Fritz Kortner

Fritz Kortner

1892-05-12 – 1970-07-22 (age 78) Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Fritz Kortner (12 May 1892 – 22 July 1970) was an Austrian-born stage and film actor and theatre director.

Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After graduating, he joined Max Reinhardt in Berlin in 1911 and then Leopold Jessner in 1916. Also in that year he made his first appearance in a silent film. He became one of Germany's best known character actors. His speciality was playing sinister and threatening roles, though he also appeared in the title role of 1930's Dreyfus.

With the coming to power of the Nazis, Kortner, being Jewish, chose to flee Germany in 1933. He emigrated to the United States, where he found work as a character actor and theatre director for a time before returning to Germany in 1949. Upon his return, he became noted for his innovative staging and direction, particularly of classics such as his Richard III (1964) in which the king crawls over piles of corpses at the end.

Kortner died in Munich.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Fritz Kortner, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Known For

The Eternal Jew
The Eternal Jew

1940

as Dimitri Karamasoff (archive footage)

Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box

1929

as Dr. Ludwig Schön

The Razor's Edge
The Razor's Edge

1946

as Kosti

Hitler: A Career
Hitler: A Career

1977

as Self (archive footage)

Somewhere in the Night
Somewhere in the Night

1946

as Anzelmo aka Dr. Oracle

Berlin Express
Berlin Express

1948

as Otto Franzen

The Hands of Orlac
Danton
Danton

1921

as Minor Role (rumored)

Bluebeard
Bluebeard

1951

as Haushofsmeister

The Ship of Lost Men
The Ship of Lost Men

1929

as Capt. Fernando Vela

The Brasher Doubloon
The Brasher Doubloon

1947

as Vannier

🎦
Die Verschwörung zu Genua

1921

as Gianettino

The Hitler Gang
The Hitler Gang

1944

as Gregor Strasser

Peter the Great
Peter the Great

1922

as Patriarch Adrian

Little Friend
Little Friend

1934

as Giant

Abdul the Damned
Abdul the Damned

1935

as The Sultan, Abdul Hamid II & Kislar

Warning Shadows
Warning Shadows

1923

as The Count

Midnight Menace
Midnight Menace

1937

as Minister Peters of Grovnia

The Other
The Other

1930

as Staatsanwalt Hallers