Paul Henreid | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Paul Henreid, 1940 | |
| Born | Paul Georg Julius Hernreid (1908-01-10)January 10, 1908 |
| Died | March 29, 1992(1992-03-29) (aged 84) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Citizenship | America andBritain |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1933–1977 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Paul Henreid (January 10, 1908 – March 29, 1992)[1] was an Austrian-American actor, director, producer, and writer. He is best remembered for several film roles during theSecond World War, including Capt. Karl Marsen inNight Train to Munich (1940), Victor Laszlo inCasablanca (1942) and Jerry Durrance inNow, Voyager (1942).
Paul Henreid was born on January 10, 1908, asPaul Georg Julius von Hernreid inTrieste, then part of theAustro-Hungarian Empire. He was the son of Maria-Luise (Lendecke) and Karl Alphons Hernreid, a financial adviser to EmperorFranz Joseph I. Born as Carl Hirsch, Karl von Hernreid converted from Judaism to Catholicism in 1904[citation needed] due to anti-semitism in Austria-Hungary.
Paul von Henreid trained for the theatre inVienna, over his family's objections, attending theTheresianische Akademie. During this time, he worked at a publishing house while attending school. Karl died in 1916.[2] The family fortune had dwindled by the time his son graduated from the Akademie.[3][4]
While performing in a play at the Akademie, von Henreid was discovered byOtto Preminger, then working for the directorMax Reinhardt. Von Henreid then joined Reinhardt's theater company.[3] In 1933, he played a minor role in a stage production ofFaust.[1] He had starring roles in the Vienna staging of the 1934 playMen in White and the playMizzi.[1]
With the onset of theNational Socialist regime in Germany in 1933, the NS-Reichsfilmkammer (National Sozialistic Reich Film Chamber) controlled the making of German films. He applied for membership, but was rejected because his father had been born a Jew.[5] In 1935, von Henreid was cast in the Austrian filmJersey Lilly. Von Henreid went to London in 1937 to portrayPrince Albert in the first British stage production ofVictoria Regina.[3] That same year, he applied again for a membership by a special permit with the NS-Reichsfilmkammer. This request was personally rejected by Nazi Propaganda MinisterJoseph Goebbels.[5]
By the time Germany took over Austria in 1938, von Henreid had become fervently anti-Nazi. During this period, he helped a Jewish comedian flee Germany. As a result of this and other actions, the German Government designated him an "official enemy of theThird Reich" and confiscated all his assets in Germany.[4] Von Henreid soon moved permanently to the United Kingdom.
With the outbreak of theSecond World War in 1939, von Henreid risked deportation from the United Kingdom or internment as anenemy alien. However, the German actorConrad Veidt vouched for him, and the British Government allowed him to stay and work. Veidt later appeared alongside Henreid as Major Heinrich Strasser in the filmCasablanca.[6]
In 1939, von Henreid had a major supporting role as German teacher Max Staefel inGoodbye, Mr. Chips. The following year, he received third billing as a GermanGestapo agent in the thrillerNight Train to Munich. In 1940, Von Henreid also performed in a minor role in the British musical comedyUnder Your Hat. That same year, he portrayed a German army officer in the filmMadman of Europe.[3]
In 1940, von Henreid relocated to New York City. He played a doctor in the 1941Broadway play,Flight to the West.[7] That same year, he signed a contract with theRKO Pictures in Hollywood.[8] RKO dropped the "von" from his name to make it sound less Germanic. He also became a citizen of the United States.[3] Henreid's first film for RKO wasJoan of Paris, a 1942 war drama in which he played aRoyal Air Force pilot trying to escapeOccupied France. The film was a big hit.[9]
Moving toWarner Brothers in 1942, the studio cast Henreid as Jeremiah Durrance in the romanceNow, Voyager, playing oppositeBette Davis. His role was that of a married man who meets the "spinster" Davis on an ocean voyage. His next role was asVictor Laszlo, an anti-Nazi resistance leader in the 1942 romantic dramaCasablanca. The cast includedClaude Rains,Humphrey Bogart, andIngrid Bergman, who plays Laszlo's wife.[1][3] The film was a critical success and is considered today one of the best American films in history.
AfterCasablanca, Henreid turned down the male lead alongside Davis in the 1943 dramatic film,Watch on the Rhine.[10] Warner Brothers then paired Henreid withIda Lupino in the 1944 romantic drama,In Our Time. That same year, the studio cast him as a romantic lead withEleanor Parker inBetween Two Worlds. Also in 1944, Henreid played a lead role inThe Conspirators, about a Dutch resistance leader trying to escape Nazi agents in Lisbon. The film's supporting cast includedSydney Greenstreet andPeter Lorre. Henreid rejected another romantic lead with Davis in the 1944 filmMr Skeffington.[10]
Henreid briefly rejoined RKO to play a pirate withMaureen O'Hara in the studio's 1945 release,The Spanish Main. Returning to Warner Bros., he was cast in 1946 inDevotion, abiopic of theBrontë family in which Henreid portrays Charlotte Bronte's husband,Arthur Bell Nicholls. He was cast again with Parker in the 1946 adaptation of theSomerset Maugham novel,Of Human Bondage. He played Philip Carey, a medical student with aclubfoot.[11]
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) then borrowed Henreid from Warners to play the composerRobert Schumann in the 1957 filmSong of Love, oppositeKatharine Hepburn. In his 1984 autobiographyLadies Man, Henreid stated that he then bought out his Warner Brothers contract for $75,000. MGM offered him a long-term contract for $150,000 a year, but he turned it down.[11]
Henreid recounted that in the late 1940s, he participated in a protest by some Hollywood actors in Washington, D.C. against the anti-Communist excesses of theHouse Committee on Un-American Activities.[3] As a result, he said the major studios in Hollywood blacklisted him from any roles. He produced the film noirHollow Triumph in 1948.[12]
For the next several years, Henreid was only able to gain roles in independent films with lower budgets. He appeared in the 1949 adventure filmRope of Sand, playing a villain oppositeBurt Lancaster. In 1950, Henreid made a low-budget film for Edward and Harry Danziger,So Young, So Bad, as a school psychiatrist. This film was followed by an offer from producerSam Katzman to play the pirateJean Lafitte inLast of the Buccaneers (1950).[13] Henreid then went to France for the 1951 romance filmPardon My French. He then returned to Katzman for the 1952 filmThief of Damascus. He directed and played the lead role inFor Men Only (1952), a college drama abouthazing. Later, in the United Kingdom, he made the filmsStolen Face (1952) andMantrap (1953). He then went back to Katzman for the 1953 fantasy adventureSiren of Bagdad, playing a magician.[14]
In 1954, Henreid returned to MGM for his first film for a major studio since being blacklisted. He played a minor role inDeep in My Heart, a biopic about the composerSigmund Romberg. He next moved toColumbia Pictures, where he appeared as a pirate captain in the 1955 filmPirates of Tripoli . He made a cameo appearance in the 1956 comedyMeet Me in Las Vegas. He also appeared at this time on Broadway in the playFestival.[14]
In the early 1950s, Henreid began directing both films and television shows. His directorial credits include American television episodes of:
Henreid also directed the 1956 filmA Woman's Devotion, in which he played a supporting role,Girls on the Loose (1958), andLive Fast, Die Young (1958). In 1964, he directedDead Ringer, which stars Bette Davis and features Henreid's daughter, Monika Henreid, in a minor role. While working as a director, Henreid continued to accept some small acting parts:
In 1973, Henreid returned toBroadway to perform in a revival of the George Bernard Shaw drama,Don Juan in Hell. Henreid's final film role was in the 1977 horror filmExorcist II: The Heretic, where he played acardinal.
Henreid married Elizabeth Camilla Julia "Lisl" Glück (1908–1993) in 1936; the couple adopted two daughters. In 1992, at age 84, Henreid died ofpneumonia inSanta Monica, California after suffering a stroke.[3] He was buried inWoodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica.
TheHollywood Chamber of Commerce in 1960 honored Henreid with two stars on theHollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. The first, recognizing his film career, is located at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard. The second, for his work in television, is located at 1720 Vine Street.[1][6]
(TV Series 1965–1968)
| Year | Program | Episode/source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5/10/43 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Now, Voyager" | w/ Ida Lupino |
| 9/10/45 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Experiment Perilous" | w/ Virginia Bruce |
| 10/1/45 | Lux Radio Theatre | "Mr. Skeffington" | w/ Bette Davis |
| 1/3/46 | Suspense | "Angel of Death"[15] | |
| 3/14/46 | Suspense | "No More Alice"[16] |
Marie Henreid born Lendecke as wife, Paul Henreid, Robert Henreid as children...
