Albert Bassermann
Albert Bassermann | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 15 March 1952 en route to Zürich, Switzerland | (aged 84)
Occupation(s) | Screen, stage actor |
Years active | 1887–1948 |
Spouse |
Albert Bassermann (7 September 1867 – 15 May 1952) was a German stage and screen actor. He was considered to be one of the greatest German-speaking actors of his generation and received the famous
Life and career
Bassermann began his acting career in 1887 in
Bassermann was among the first German theatre actors who worked in film. In 1913, he played the main role of the lawyer in Max Mack's Der Andere (The Other), after the play by Paul Lindau. In 1915, he appeared in Egmont (play) with de:Victor Barnowsky at the de:Deutsches Künstlertheater. He also worked with German silent film directors Richard Oswald, Ernst Lubitsch, Leopold Jessner and Lupu Pick. In 1928 he appeared in the first staging of Carl Zuckmayer's Katharina Knie, and in November that year in Herr Lambertier by Verneuil[4] In 1933, Bassermann left Germany and lived in Switzerland,[5] then moved to the United States in 1938.
Annija Simsone, who played opposite Bassermann in the Neue Wiener Buehne Theater in the 1920s, wrote the following in her autobiography: "During the Hitler era, Bassermann did not perform in Germany, though Adolf Hitler personally held him in high regard; Elsa was Jewish. Bassermann was told that if he wanted to continue to perform in Germany, he would have to get divorced. He did not get divorced, but Elsa and he went to Switzerland instead."[5]
Although his ability to speak English was very limited, he learned lines phonetically with assistance from his wife and found work as a character actor. For his performance as the Dutch statesman Van Meer in
In her acting textbook Respect for Acting, actress Uta Hagen said:
"One of the finest lessons I ever learned was from the great German actor Albert Basserman. I worked with him as Hilde in
Death
Bassermann died on 16 May 1952, at or near the Zurich Airport, soon after his flight from the United States had arrived.[6] He is buried in Mannheim.[7]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1913 | Der Andere | Dr. Hallers | The Other |
Der König | Provinzschauspieler | ||
Der letzte Tag | Professor Osterode | ||
1914 | Urteil des Arztes | Dr. Erwin Hofmüller | |
1917 | Du sollst keine anderen Götter haben | ||
Der eiserne Wille | Hausierer David | ||
Herr und Diener | |||
1918 | Father and Son | ||
The Zaarden Brothers | |||
Doctor Schotte | |||
Lorenzo Burghardt | |||
1919 | Eine schwache Stunde | ||
Das Werk seines Lebens | Peter | ||
1920 | Die Duplizität der Ereignisse | ||
The Voice | |||
The Sons of Count Dossy | The Count/The Thief's Son | ||
Masks | |||
Dolls of Death | |||
1921 | Der Frauenarzt | Dr. Wolfgang Holländer | |
The Nights of Cornelis Brouwer | Cornelis Brouwer | ||
Burning Country | |||
The Last Witness | Olaf Baggerson | ||
Die kleine Dagmar | |||
1922 | Frauenopfer |
Graf | Women's Sacrifice |
The Loves of Pharaoh | Sothis | ||
Lucrezia Borgia | Pope Alexander VI | ||
1923 | The Man in the Iron Mask | Cardinal Mazarin | The Man with the Iron Mask |
Earth Spirit | Dr. Schoen | ||
Christopher Columbus | Columbus | ||
Old Heidelberg | The Student Prince | ||
Abenteuer einer Nacht | |||
1924 | Helena | Aisakos | Helen of Troy |
1925 | Letters Which Never Reached Him | Konsul Werner Gerling | |
The Director General | Generaldirektor Herbert Heidenberg | ||
1926 | Professor Imhof | ||
1929 | Fräulein Else | Dr. Alfred Thalhof | |
Napoleon at Saint Helena | Governor Hudson Lowe | ||
1930 | Alraune | Privy Councillor ten Brinken | Daughter of Evil |
Dreyfus | Col. Picquart | The Dreyfus Case | |
1931 | 1914 | Count Bethmann Hollweg | |
A Woman Branded | Dr. Ringius | ||
Inquest | Dr. Konrad Bienert | ||
Kadetten | General von Seddin | Cadets | |
1932 | The Golden Anchor | Piquoiseau | |
1933 | Ein gewisser Herr Gran | Tschernikoff, Kunsthändler | |
1935 | Last Love | Thomas Bruck | |
1938 | Heroes of the Marne | Col. von Gelow | |
1940 | Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet | Dr. Robert Koch | |
Foreign Correspondent | Van Meer | Nominated: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor | |
Knute Rockne, All American | Father Julius Nieuwland | ||
A Dispatch from Reuters | Franz Geller | ||
Escape | Dr. Arthur Henning | ||
Moon Over Burma | Basil Renner | ||
1941 | A Woman's Face | Consul Magnus Barring | |
The Great Awakening | Ludwig van Beethoven | ||
The Shanghai Gesture | Van Elst, The Commissioner | ||
1942 | Fly-by-Night | Dr. Storm | |
Invisible Agent | Arnold Schmidt | ||
Desperate Journey | Dr. Ludwig Mather | ||
The Moon and Sixpence |
Dr. Coutras | ||
Once Upon a Honeymoon | Gen. Borelski | ||
Reunion in France | General Hugo Schroeder | ||
1943 | Good Luck, Mr. Yates | Dr. Carl Hesser | |
Madame Curie | Prof. Jean Perot | ||
1944 | Since You Went Away | Dr. Sigmund Gottlieb Golden | |
1945 | The Captain from Köpenick | Wilhelm Voigt, a shoemaker | I Was a Criminal |
Strange Holiday |
School Principal | The Day After Tomorrow; uncredited | |
Rhapsody in Blue | Prof. Franck | ||
1946 | The Searching Wind | Count von Stammer | |
1947 | The Private Affairs of Bel Ami | Jacques Rival | |
Escape Me Never | Prof. Heinrich | ||
1948 | The Red Shoes | Sergei Ratov | Final film role |
See also
- List of German-speaking Academy Award winners and nominees
References
- ^ Styan 1982, p. 54.
- ^ "Faust". Global Performing Arts Database. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ Styan 1982, pp. 38, 61.
- ^ Dilettante (1929). "Letters from Abroad – Berlin" (PDF). The Bermondsey Book, Dec. Jan. Feb. 1928-9. VI (I): 109. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ a b Annija Simsone, Atminas, Atminas, Gramatu Draugs, copyright 1961, page 109. Note: The book is in Latvian; an English translation exists but has not been published.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Historische Grabstätten der Friedhöfe Mannheim". Friedhöfe Mannheim (in German). 22 May 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
Sources
- Styan, J. L. (1982). Max Reinhardt. Cambridge: CUP Archive. ISBN 9780521295048.