Paul Muni | |
|---|---|
 Muni in 1936 | |
| Born | Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund (1895-09-22)September 22, 1895 |
| Died | August 25, 1967(1967-08-25) (aged 71) Montecito, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
| Other names | Muni Weisenfreund |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1908–1962 |
| Spouse | |
Paul Muni (bornFrederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund; September 22, 1895[1] – August 25, 1967) was an American stage and film actor fromChicago. He started his acting career in theYiddish theater and during the 1930s, he was considered one of the most prestigious actors at theWarner Bros. studio and was given the rare privilege of choosing his own parts.
Muni often played powerful characters, such as the lead role inScarface (1932), and was known for his intense preparation for his parts, often immersing himself in the study of the real characters' traits and mannerisms. He was also highly skilled in makeup techniques, a talent that he had learned from his parents, who were also actors, and from his early years on stage with the Yiddish theater in Chicago. At the age of 12, he played the stage role of an 80-year-old man, and in the filmSeven Faces, he played seven characters.
Muni appeared in 22 films and was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actor five times, winning the award for his role in the 1936 filmThe Story of Louis Pasteur. He also won theVolpi Cup for Best Actor for the same film. He also starred in numerousBroadway plays and won theTony Award forBest Actor in a Play for his role in the 1955 production ofInherit the Wind.
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Paul Muni" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Muni was born in 1895 as Frederich Meier Weisenfreund to aJewish family inLemberg,Galicia, thenAustro-Hungarian Empire (nowLviv,Ukraine). His Hebrew name was Meshilem. His parents were Salli (born Khaya Tsilke Fishler) and Phillip Weisenfreund.[2] He learnedYiddish as his first language. When he was seven, he emigrated with his family to the United States in 1902; they settled inChicago.
As a boy, he was known as "Moony".[3] He started his acting career in the Yiddish theatre in Chicago with his parents, who were both actors. As a teenager, he developed skill in creating makeup, which enabled him to play much older characters.[4] Film historianRobert Osborne notes that Muni's makeup skills were so creative that for most of his roles, "he transformed his appearance so completely, he was dubbed 'the newLon Chaney.'" In his first stage role at the age of 12, Muni played the role of an 80-year-old man.[5] He was quickly recognized byMaurice Schwartz, who signed him to perform in hisYiddish Art Theater.[6]
A 1925New York Times article mentionedSam Kasten's and Muni's performances at the People's Theater among the highlights of the year's Yiddish theater season, describing them as second only toLudwig Satz.
Muni began acting onBroadway in 1926. His first role was that of an elderly Jewish man in the playWe Americans, written by playwrights Max Siegel and Milton Herbert Gropper. It was the first time that he had acted in English.
In 1921, he married Bella Finkel (February 8, 1898 – October 1, 1971), an actress in the Yiddish theatre and daughter ofMoishe Finkel. They remained married until Muni's death in 1967.
In 1929, Muni was signed byFox. His name was simplified and anglicized to Paul Muni (derived from his nickname of youth "Moony"). His acting talents were quickly recognized, and he received anOscar nomination for his first film,The Valiant (1929), although the film fared poorly at the box office.[4] His second film,Seven Faces (also 1929), was also a financial failure. Unhappy with the roles offered to him, he returned to Broadway, where he starred in a major hit play,Counsellor at Law.[5]
Muni soon returned to Hollywood to star in provocativepre-Code films such asScarface andI Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (both 1932). For his role inI Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Muni was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. His acclaim as a result of his performance impressed Warner Bros., which signed him to a long-term contract, publicizing him as "the screen's greatest actor."[5]
I had been wanting to seeScarface since 1974 ... The film just stopped me in my tracks. All I wanted to do was imitate Paul Muni. His acting went beyond the boundaries of naturalism into another kind of expression. It was almost abstract what he did. It was almost uplifting.
Scarface, part of a cycle ofgangster films at the time,[8] was written byBen Hecht[9]: 6 and directed byHoward Hawks. CriticRichard Corliss noted in 1974 that while it was a serious gangster film, it also "manages both to congratulate journalism for its importance and to chastise it for its chicanery, by underlining the newspapers' complicity in promoting the underworld image."[9]: 10
In 1935, Muni starred inBlack Fury. At the 8th Academy Awards, Muni was not officially nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, but he came in second on the basis of write-in votes, which were allowed that year.
Muni persuaded Warner Bros. to take a financial risk by producing the successful historical biographyThe Story of Louis Pasteur, which was released in 1936. This became Muni's first of many biographical roles. Until that film, most Warner Bros. stories had originated from current events and major news stories, with the notable exceptions ofGeorge Arliss's earlier biographical filmsDisraeli,Alexander Hamilton andVoltaire.[5] Muni won an Oscar for his performance.
Muni played other historical figures, includingÉmile Zola inThe Life of Emile Zola (1937), for which he was again nominated for an Oscar.[10] The film won Best Picture and was interpreted as indirectly attacking the repression ofNazi Germany.[10] He also played the lead role inJuarez (1939).
In 1937, Muni played a Chinese peasant with a new bride in a film adaptation ofPearl Buck's novelThe Good Earth. The film was a re-creation of a revolutionary period in China and included special effects for a locust attack and the overthrow of the government. Because Muni was not of Asian descent, when producerIrving Thalberg offered him the role, he said, "I'm about as Chinese as [President]Herbert Hoover."[5]
Dissatisfied with life in Hollywood, Muni chose not to renew his contract. He returned to the screen only occasionally in later years for such roles asFrédéric Chopin's teacher inA Song to Remember (1945). In 1946, he played a rare comic role inAngel on My Shoulder.
Muni then focused most of his energies on stage work, and occasionally on television roles. In 1946, he appeared on Broadway inA Flag is Born, written by Ben Hecht, to help promote the creation of aJewish state inIsrael.[11] This play was directed byLuther Adler and co-starredMarlon Brando. Years later, in response to a question put to him byAlan King, Brando stated that Muni was the greatest actor he ever saw. At London'sPhoenix Theatre on July 28, 1949, Muni began a run asWilly Loman in the first British production ofDeath of a Salesman byArthur Miller. He took over fromLee J. Cobb, who had played the principal role in the original Broadway production. Both productions were directed byElia Kazan.
In 1952, Muni traveled to Italy to star inStranger on the Prowl, directed byJoseph Losey, partly as an act of solidarity and support for blacklisted friends living abroad in exile.
A few years later, during 1955 and 1956, Muni had his biggest stage success in the United States as the crusading lawyer, Henry Drummond (based onClarence Darrow), inInherit the Wind, winning aTony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. In late August 1955, Muni was forced to withdraw from the play due to a serious eye ailment causing deterioration in his eyesight. He was later replaced by actorMelvyn Douglas.[12]
In early September 1955, Muni, then 59 years old, was diagnosed with a tumor of the left eye. The eye was removed in an operation at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. His right eye was reported to be normal.[13] In early December 1955, Muni returned to his starring role as Henry Drummond inInherit the Wind.[14]
His last movie role was as an aging doctor inThe Last Angry Man (1959), and he was again nominated for an Oscar. After that, Muni mostly retired from acting to deal with failing eyesight and other health problems.[5] He made his final screen appearance on television, in a guest role on the dramatic seriesSaints and Sinners in 1962.
Muni was noted for his intense preparation for his roles, especially the biographies. While preparing forThe Story of Louis Pasteur, Muni said, "I read most everything that was in the library, and everything I could lay my hands on that had to do with Pasteur, withLister, or with his contemporaries."[15] He did the same in preparing for his role as Henry Drummond, based on Clarence Darrow, in the playInherit the Wind. He read what he could find, talked to people who knew Darrow personally, and studied physical mannerisms from photographs of him. "To Paul Muni, acting was not just a career, but an obsession", writesThe New York Times. They note that despite his enormous success both on Broadway and in films, "he threw himself into each role with a sense of dedication." PlaywrightArthur Miller commented that Muni "was pursued by a fear of failure."[15]
As Muni was born into an acting family, with both of his parents professional actors, "he learned his craft carefully and thoroughly." On stage, "a Muni whisper could reach the last balcony of any theater", writes theTimes. It wrote that his style "had drawn into it the warmth of the Yiddish stage", in which he made his debut at the age of 12. In addition, his technique in using makeup "was a work of art." Combined with acting which followed no "method", he perfected his control of voice and gestures into an acting style that was "unique."[15]
Film historianDavid Shipman described Muni as "an actor of great integrity",[16] noting he meticulously prepared for his roles. Muni was widely recognized as eccentric if talented: he objected to anyone wearing red in his presence, and he could often be found between sessions playing hisviolin. Over the years, he became increasingly dependent on his wife, Bella, a dependence which increased as his failing eyesight turned to blindness in his final years.[16] Muni was "inflexible on matters of taste and principle", once turning down an $800,000 movie contract because he was not happy with the studio's choice of film roles.[15]
Although Muni was considered one of the best film actors of the 1930s, some film critics, such asDavid Thomson[17] andAndrew Sarris,[18] accuse him of overacting. Thomson described Muni as "a crucial negative illustration in any argument as to what constitutes screen acting."[17]
German directorWilliam Dieterle, who directed him in his three biopics, also frequently accused him of overacting, despite his respect for the actor.[19]
In his private life, Muni was considered to be very shy and was uncomfortable with being recognized in public. He enjoyed reading and taking walks with his wife in secluded sections ofCentral Park.
Muni campaigned for the re-election of PresidentHerbert Hoover in 1932.[20]
After retiring from acting, he lived in California. In his den, which he called his "Shangri-La", he spent time reading books and listening to the radio.[15]
Muni died of a heart disorder inMontecito, California in 1967 at the age of 71. He is interred at theHollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood.[21]
Muni had four officialAcademy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning forThe Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) and receiving official nominations forI Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932),The Life of Emile Zola (1937) andThe Last Angry Man (1959). His nomination for the filmThe Valiant (1929) is unofficial because at the2nd Academy Awards, acting nominees were not announced, only the winners' names.[22] Muni's performance inBlack Fury was not nominated for an Oscar. (Note that the Academy's website includes both "The Valiant" and "Black Fury" among Muni's nominated performances.)
Referring to his childhood during the Great Depression,Hawkeye Pierce in the "Hawkeye" episode of the television seriesM*A*S*H* says: "You knew where you stood in those days.Franklin Roosevelt was always president,Joe Louis was always the champ, and Paul Muni played everybody."[24]
Muni andGeorge Raft appeared as characters in the fifth season ofBoardwalk Empire, meeting withAl Capone to discuss the filmScarface.[25]
Comedian and actorPaul Mooney took his stage name, which was also his childhood nickname, from Muni.[26]
| Program | Episode | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| Lux Radio Theatre | The Story of Louis Pasteur[28] | 1936 |
| Lux Radio Theater | "The Life of Emile Zola" | May 8, 1939 |
| Cavalcade of America | "Edwin Booth" | March 31, 1941 |
| The Free Company | "The Miracle Of The Danube" | April 27, 1941 |
| Cavalcade of America | "Bolivar, The Liberator" | October 6, 1941 |
| Cavalcade of America | "Eagle's Nest" | December 28, 1942 |
| Radio Hall of Fame | "No Uncommon Clay" | April 30, 1944 |
| Suspense Theater | "The Search For Henri Leferve" | July 6, 1944 |
| Arch Oboler's Plays | "This Living Book" | October 11, 1945 |
| Academy Award Theater | April 13, 1946 | |
| Eternal Light | "And It Came To Pass" | December 7, 1947 |
| Studio One | "Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse" | January 20, 1948 |
| Cavalcade of America | "Alerting of Dr. Pomerantz" | February 16, 1948 |
| Cavalcade of America | "Garden Key" | November 8, 1948 |
| Biography in Sound | "Clarence Darrow" | September 13, 1956 |
Entry Number 1258 – Born: September 14, 1895; Naming or Circumcision Date: September 22, 1895;
... Muni Weisenfreund, now Paul Muni
