Conrad Veidt
Acting
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.
Media of
Conrad Veidt
Photos (21)
Filmography of
Conrad Veidt
Jaffar (archival footage)
... 2008
Self (archive footage)
... 2000
(archive footage)
... 1998
Self (archive footage)
... 1974
Hassert Seidel
... 1943
Major Heinrich Strasser
... 1943
Otto Becker / Baron Hugo von Detner
... 1942
Franz Ebbing
... 1942
Stanislas Rosing
... 1941
Joseph Jones
... 1941
Torsten Barring
... 1941
General Kurt von Kolb
... 1940
... 1940
Capt. Andersen
... 1940
Jaffar
... 1940
Captain Ernst Hardt
... 1939
Le baron de Kempelen
... 1938
Erich Keith
... 1938
Baron Karl Von Marwitz
... 1937
Gil de Berault
... 1937
Convict 83
... 1935
The Stranger
... 1935
Mahmoud Baroudi
... 1934
Josef 'Jew Süss' Oppenheimer
... 1934
Gessler
... 1934
Matathias / The Unknown Knight / Dr Matteos Battadios
... 1933
Commandant Oberaertz
... 1933
Maj. Ellissen
... 1933
Marquis de Pontignac
... 1933
Zurta
... 1932
Captain Hansgeorg von Hochberg
... 1932
Grigori Rasputin
... 1932
Prince Metternich
... 1931
Hauptmann Stanhope
... 1931
Fürst Metternich
... 1931
... 1931
Oberst Marquis de Sévigné
... 1931
Kingsley
... 1930
Himself
... 1930
Hauptmann Burk
... 1930
Erik the Great
... 1929
Dick Ashton
... 1929
... 1928
Gwynplaine / Lord Clancharlie
... 1928
... 1927
Paul La Roche
... 1927
King Louis XI
... 1927
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade
... 1927
Count di Nolli, Heinrich IV
... 1926
Balduin, Student
... 1926
... 1926
Paul Hartwig, Maler
... 1926
Wenzel Schellenberg / Michael Schellenberg
... 1926
Renées Vater
... 1926
Der Staatsanwalt
... 1926
Hellgum
... 1925
Comte Kostia
... 1925
... 1925
Der Liebhaber, ein Dichter
... 1924
Ivan the Terrible
... 1924
Paul Orlac
... 1924
Self
... 1924
Don Carlos
... 1924
Hermann Gessler
... 1923
Niccolo Paganini
... 1923
... 1923
Cesare Borgia
... 1922
Ayan, Majarajah of Eschnapur
... 1921
Ayan, Majarajah of Eschnapur
... 1921
Lord Nelson
... 1921
Raphael, der Geiger
... 1921
Christian Wahnschaffe
... 1921
... 1921
Hektor Dalmore
... 1921
Jalenko
... 1921
Der Maler
... 1921
Professor Munk
... 1921
Tossi
... 1921
... 1921
Minister
... 1920
Christian Wahnschaffe
... 1920
Manolescu
... 1920
Brilburn - Maud's brother
... 1920
Wilmos, sanatorium director
... 1920
Dr. Warren
... 1920
... 1920
The devil
... 1920
Johannes Kay
... 1920
Sir Percy Parker
... 1920
... 1920
Cesare
... 1920
Petre Karvan
... 1920
The clown
... 1920
Der Tod / Various Other Roles
... 1919
Bankier Lorenzen
... 1919
Carl Kraker
... 1919
Alfred Werner
... 1919
... 1919
Paul Körner
... 1919
Phineas Fogg
... 1919
Alfred Werner
... 1919
... 1919
Dr. Richard Armstrong Jr.
... 1919
Dr. von Dossen
... 1919
Frederic Chopin
... 1919
... 1919
Doktor Köstling
... 1918
Erik Norrensen
... 1918
... 1918
Henryk von Rhyn
... 1918
Doktor Köstling
... 1918
Dr. Julius
... 1918
Satan
... 1918
Schober
... 1918
Dinja
... 1918
Indian Priest
... 1917
Steinau
... 1917
Richard von Worth
... 1917
... 1917