Conrad Veidt
Biography
Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as Different from the Others (1919), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Man Who Laughs (1928). After a successful career in German silent film, where he was one of the best-paid stars of Ufa, he was forced to leave Germany in 1933 with his new Jewish wife after the Nazis came to power. They settled in Britain, where he participated in a number of films, including The Thief of Bagdad (1940), before emigrating to the United States around 1941, which lead to him having a supporting role in Casablanca (1942). From 1916 until his death, Veidt appeared in more than 100 films. One of his earliest performances was as the murderous somnambulist Cesare in director Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a classic of German Expressionist cinema, with Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. His starring role in The Man Who Laughs (1928), as a disfigured circus performer whose face is cut into a permanent grin, provided the (visual) inspiration for the Batman villain the Joker, created in 1940 by Bill Finger. Veidt also starred in other silent horror films such as The Hands of Orlac (1924), another film directed by Robert Wiene, The Student of Prague (1926) and Waxworks (1924) where he played Ivan the Terrible. Veidt also appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's film Anders als die Andern (Different from the Others, 1919), one of the first films to sympathetically portray homosexuality, although the characters in it do not end up happily. He had a leading role in Germany's first talking picture, Das Land ohne Frauen (Land Without Women, 1929). He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s and made a few films, but the advent of talking pictures and his difficulty with speaking English led him to return to Germany. During this period he lent his expertise to tutoring aspiring performers, one of whom was the later American character actress Lisa Golm.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (50)
Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad
as Jaffar (archival footage)
2008
The Many Faces of Dracula
as Self (archive footage)
2000
Universal Horror
as (archive footage)
1998
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
as Self (archive footage)
1974
Above Suspicion
as Hassert Seidel
1943
Casablanca
as Major Heinrich Strasser
1943
Nazi Agent
as Otto Becker / Baron Hugo von Detner
1942
All Through the Night
as Franz Ebbing
1942
The Men in Her Life
as Stanislas Rosing
1941
Whistling in the Dark
as Joseph Jones
1941
A Woman's Face
as Torsten Barring
1941
Escape
as General Kurt von Kolb
1940
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
as Self
1940
Contraband
as Capt. Andersen
1940
The Thief of Bagdad
as Jaffar
1940
The Spy in Black
as Captain Ernst Hardt
1939
The Chess Player
as Le baron de Kempelen
1938
Tempête sur l'Asie
as Erich Keith
1938
Dark Journey
as Baron Karl Von Marwitz
1937
Under the Red Robe
as Gil de Berault
1937
King of the Damned
as Convict 83
1935
The Passing of the Third Floor Back
as The Stranger
1935
Bella Donna
as Mahmoud Baroudi
1934
Jew Süss
as Josef 'Jew Süss' Oppenheimer
1934
Wilhelm Tell
as Gessler
1934
The Wandering Jew
as Matathias / The Unknown Knight / Dr Matteos Battadios
1933
I Was a Spy
as Commandant Oberaertz
1933
F.P.1
as Maj. Ellissen
1933
The Only Girl
as Marquis de Pontignac
1933
Rome Express
as Zurta
1932
The Black Hussar
as Captain Hansgeorg von Hochberg
1932
Rasputin, Demon of the Women
as Grigori Rasputin
1932
Congress Dances
as Prince Metternich
1931
The Other Side
as Hauptmann Stanhope
1931
The Congress Dances
as Fürst Metternich
1931
The Night of the Decision
as General Gregori Platoff
1931
The Man Who Committed the Murder
as Oberst Marquis de Sévigné
1931
The Love Storm
as Kingsley
1930
The Great Passion
as Himself
1930
The Last Company
as Hauptmann Burk
1930
The Last Performance
as Erik the Great
1929
Das Land ohne Frauen
as Dick Ashton
1929
The Movie City of Hollywood
as Self
1928
The Man Who Laughs
as Gwynplaine / Lord Clancharlie
1928
Laws of Love: Innocently Outlawed!
1927
A Man's Past
as Paul La Roche
1927
The Beloved Rogue
as King Louis XI
1927
Napoleon
as Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade
1927
The Flight in the Night
as Count di Nolli, Heinrich IV
1926
The Student of Prague
as Balduin, Student
1926