Joseph Schildkraut(1896-1964)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
An imposing Austrian import-turned-matinée idol on the silent screen,
Hollywood actor Joseph Schildkraut went on to conquer talking films as
well -- with Oscar-winning results. Inclined towards smooth, cunning
villainy, his Oscar came instead for his sympathetic portrayal of
Captain Alfred Dreyfus in
The Life of Emile Zola (1937).
His most touching role on both stage and screen would come as the
Jewish father-in-hiding, Otto Frank, in
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).
Born on March 22, 1895, in Vienna, Austria, Joseph was the son of famed
European/Yiddish stage actor
Rudolph Schildkraut and his wife,
the former Erna Weinstein. Nicknamed "Pepi" as a boy, the affectionate
tag remained with him throughout his life. The family moved to Hamburg,
Germany, when Joseph was 4. Joseph studied the piano and violin and
grew inspired with his father's profession. On stage (with his father)
from age 6, the family again relocated to Berlin where his father built
a strong association with famed theatrical director
Max Reinhardt.
Following Joseph's graduation from Berlin's Royal Academy of Music in
1911, the family migrated to America and settled in New York in 1912.
His father continued making his mark in America's Yiddish theater while
Joseph was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Offered
lucrative theatre work back in Germany, Rudolf and family returned to
Europe where Joseph began to grow in stature on the stage with the help
of mentor Albert Bassermann. Joseph,
like his father, would become well known not only for his prodigious
talents on stage, but his marriage-threatening, Lothario-like behavior
off-stage.
World War I and a call to the Austrian Army could have interrupted his
career but his theatrical connections helped exempt him from duty. A
thriving member of the Deutsches Volkstheatre (1913-1920), work became
difficult to find in the post-war years so once again the family
returned to America in 1920. Now an established stage player, Joseph
was handed the title role in the Guild Theatre production (and American
premiere) of "Liliom" opposite his leading lady of choice
Eva Le Gallienne. It made stars out of
both actors and both revisited their parts together on stage many years
later in 1932.
Having appeared in a few silent pictures in Germany and Austria, Joseph
was handed a prime role in the silent screen classic
Orphans of the Storm (1921)
starring the Gish sisters. This alone established him as an exotic
matinée figure along the lines of a Valentino and Navarro. Preferring
the stage, he nevertheless continued making films while conquering (on
screen) Hollywood's loveliest of actresses, including
Norma Talmadge in
The Song of Love (1923),
Seena Owen in
Shipwrecked (1926),
Marguerite De La Motte in
Meet the Prince (1926),
Bessie Love in
Young April (1926) (which also
co-starred father Rudolf), Lya De Putti in
The Heart Thief (1927), and
Jetta Goudal in
The Forbidden Woman (1927).
Most notable was his participation in the
Cecil B. DeMille epics
The Road to Yesterday (1925)
and The King of Kings (1927),
the latter co-starring as Judas Iscariot, with father Rudolf playing
the high priest Caiaphas.
Joseph met his first wife, aspiring actress
Elise Bartlett, during a herald run as
"Peer Gynt" (1923) on Broadway. The impulsive romantic swept her off
her feet, proposed to her on the day he met her, and married her the
following week. The couple separated a few years later and his first
wife fell to drink, dying at a fairly young age of an alcohol-related
illness. His second marriage to Marie McKay was much happier and lasted
almost three decades.
The actor's sturdy voice and strong command of the stage led to an easy
transition into talking films. Among others, Joseph won the role of
Gaylord Ravenal in the Kern and Hammerstein musical
Show Boat (1929) opposite
Laura La Plante as Magnolia. Despite his
preference for the theater, Depression-era finances forced him to
relocate to Los Angeles for more job security. Throughout the 1930s and
1940s, Joseph evolved into one of Hollywood's most distinctive
character actors.
He played Wallace Beery's nemesis, General
Pascal in MGM's Viva Villa! (1934),
King Herod opposite Claudette Colbert
in DeMille's Cleopatra (1934), and
stole scenes as the cunning and underhanded Conrad, Marquis of
Montferratin, in DeMille's
The Crusades (1935). Joseph received
his Oscar for his portrayal of Captain Dreyfus, a proud and robust
French Jew wrongly convicted of treason and subsequently exiled to
Devil's Island, in the biopic
The Life of Emile Zola (1937).
He soon became a Hollywood fixture appearing in everything from
sumptuous costumers
(Marie Antoinette (1938),
The Three Musketeers (1939),
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939),
Monsieur Beaucaire (1946)), to
action adventure (Lancer Spy (1937),
Suez (1938)) to potent drama
(The Rains Came (1939),
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)).
His film output slowed down considerably at the outbreak of WWII in
1941, however; nevertheless he continued to show vitality on the stage
with notable successes in "Clash by Night" (1941) with
Tallulah Bankhead, "Uncle Harry"
(1942) and "The Cherry Orchard" (1944) (again with
Eva Le Gallienne).
His Hollywood downfall happened when he signed his career away to the
low budget Republic Pictures studio...for financial reasons. The films
were unworthy of his participation and his roles secondary in nature to
the storyline. His final Broadway appearance and greatest stage triumph
would occur in 1955 as Otto Frank and he repeated his role on film but
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).
In one of Hollywood's bigger missteps, he was not even nominated for an
Academy Award. Sporadic appearances followed on stage and film -- his
last movie role wasted on the trivial role of Nicodemus in the epic
failure
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
The film was released posthumously. On TV, however, he played Claudius
to Maurice Evans' Hamlet in 1953
and filmed a memorable "Twilight Zone" episode in 1961.
Following his beloved second wife's death in 1961, he married one more
time, in 1963, to a much younger woman named Leonora Rogers. Joseph
died of a heart attack only months later at his New York City home on
January 21, 1964, He was 68, almost the exact same age his father
Rudolf was when he too suffered a fatal heart attack. Joseph was
interred in the Beth Olam Mausoleum of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
in Los Angeles.
Hollywood actor Joseph Schildkraut went on to conquer talking films as
well -- with Oscar-winning results. Inclined towards smooth, cunning
villainy, his Oscar came instead for his sympathetic portrayal of
Captain Alfred Dreyfus in
The Life of Emile Zola (1937).
His most touching role on both stage and screen would come as the
Jewish father-in-hiding, Otto Frank, in
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).
Born on March 22, 1895, in Vienna, Austria, Joseph was the son of famed
European/Yiddish stage actor
Rudolph Schildkraut and his wife,
the former Erna Weinstein. Nicknamed "Pepi" as a boy, the affectionate
tag remained with him throughout his life. The family moved to Hamburg,
Germany, when Joseph was 4. Joseph studied the piano and violin and
grew inspired with his father's profession. On stage (with his father)
from age 6, the family again relocated to Berlin where his father built
a strong association with famed theatrical director
Max Reinhardt.
Following Joseph's graduation from Berlin's Royal Academy of Music in
1911, the family migrated to America and settled in New York in 1912.
His father continued making his mark in America's Yiddish theater while
Joseph was accepted into the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Offered
lucrative theatre work back in Germany, Rudolf and family returned to
Europe where Joseph began to grow in stature on the stage with the help
of mentor Albert Bassermann. Joseph,
like his father, would become well known not only for his prodigious
talents on stage, but his marriage-threatening, Lothario-like behavior
off-stage.
World War I and a call to the Austrian Army could have interrupted his
career but his theatrical connections helped exempt him from duty. A
thriving member of the Deutsches Volkstheatre (1913-1920), work became
difficult to find in the post-war years so once again the family
returned to America in 1920. Now an established stage player, Joseph
was handed the title role in the Guild Theatre production (and American
premiere) of "Liliom" opposite his leading lady of choice
Eva Le Gallienne. It made stars out of
both actors and both revisited their parts together on stage many years
later in 1932.
Having appeared in a few silent pictures in Germany and Austria, Joseph
was handed a prime role in the silent screen classic
Orphans of the Storm (1921)
starring the Gish sisters. This alone established him as an exotic
matinée figure along the lines of a Valentino and Navarro. Preferring
the stage, he nevertheless continued making films while conquering (on
screen) Hollywood's loveliest of actresses, including
Norma Talmadge in
The Song of Love (1923),
Seena Owen in
Shipwrecked (1926),
Marguerite De La Motte in
Meet the Prince (1926),
Bessie Love in
Young April (1926) (which also
co-starred father Rudolf), Lya De Putti in
The Heart Thief (1927), and
Jetta Goudal in
The Forbidden Woman (1927).
Most notable was his participation in the
Cecil B. DeMille epics
The Road to Yesterday (1925)
and The King of Kings (1927),
the latter co-starring as Judas Iscariot, with father Rudolf playing
the high priest Caiaphas.
Joseph met his first wife, aspiring actress
Elise Bartlett, during a herald run as
"Peer Gynt" (1923) on Broadway. The impulsive romantic swept her off
her feet, proposed to her on the day he met her, and married her the
following week. The couple separated a few years later and his first
wife fell to drink, dying at a fairly young age of an alcohol-related
illness. His second marriage to Marie McKay was much happier and lasted
almost three decades.
The actor's sturdy voice and strong command of the stage led to an easy
transition into talking films. Among others, Joseph won the role of
Gaylord Ravenal in the Kern and Hammerstein musical
Show Boat (1929) opposite
Laura La Plante as Magnolia. Despite his
preference for the theater, Depression-era finances forced him to
relocate to Los Angeles for more job security. Throughout the 1930s and
1940s, Joseph evolved into one of Hollywood's most distinctive
character actors.
He played Wallace Beery's nemesis, General
Pascal in MGM's Viva Villa! (1934),
King Herod opposite Claudette Colbert
in DeMille's Cleopatra (1934), and
stole scenes as the cunning and underhanded Conrad, Marquis of
Montferratin, in DeMille's
The Crusades (1935). Joseph received
his Oscar for his portrayal of Captain Dreyfus, a proud and robust
French Jew wrongly convicted of treason and subsequently exiled to
Devil's Island, in the biopic
The Life of Emile Zola (1937).
He soon became a Hollywood fixture appearing in everything from
sumptuous costumers
(Marie Antoinette (1938),
The Three Musketeers (1939),
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939),
Monsieur Beaucaire (1946)), to
action adventure (Lancer Spy (1937),
Suez (1938)) to potent drama
(The Rains Came (1939),
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)).
His film output slowed down considerably at the outbreak of WWII in
1941, however; nevertheless he continued to show vitality on the stage
with notable successes in "Clash by Night" (1941) with
Tallulah Bankhead, "Uncle Harry"
(1942) and "The Cherry Orchard" (1944) (again with
Eva Le Gallienne).
His Hollywood downfall happened when he signed his career away to the
low budget Republic Pictures studio...for financial reasons. The films
were unworthy of his participation and his roles secondary in nature to
the storyline. His final Broadway appearance and greatest stage triumph
would occur in 1955 as Otto Frank and he repeated his role on film but
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).
In one of Hollywood's bigger missteps, he was not even nominated for an
Academy Award. Sporadic appearances followed on stage and film -- his
last movie role wasted on the trivial role of Nicodemus in the epic
failure
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).
The film was released posthumously. On TV, however, he played Claudius
to Maurice Evans' Hamlet in 1953
and filmed a memorable "Twilight Zone" episode in 1961.
Following his beloved second wife's death in 1961, he married one more
time, in 1963, to a much younger woman named Leonora Rogers. Joseph
died of a heart attack only months later at his New York City home on
January 21, 1964, He was 68, almost the exact same age his father
Rudolf was when he too suffered a fatal heart attack. Joseph was
interred in the Beth Olam Mausoleum of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery
in Los Angeles.