Paul Rudolf Parsifal "Percy"Adlon (German:[ˈpɛɐ̯siˈaːdlɔn]; 1 June 1935 – 10 March 2024) was a German director, screenwriter, and producer. He is associated with theNew German Cinema movement (ca. 1965–1985), and is known for his strong female characters and positive portrayals oflesbian relationships.^[2][3] He is best known for his 1987 filmBagdad Cafe, starringMarianne Sägebrecht,CCH Pounder andJack Palance and subsequent films such asRosalie Goes Shopping (1989),Salmonberries (1991) andYounger and Younger (1993). Adlon's films were shown in competition regularly at international film festivals, such as theCannes Film Festival, theBerlin International Film Festival, and others.

Adlon was born on June 1, 1935 inMunich, Germany.^[4] He grew up in Ammerland,Starnberger See. He studied art, theater history, andGerman literature at Munich'sLudwig-Maximilian University; took acting and singing classes; and was a member of a student theater group.^[5]

Adlon started his professional career as an actor, became interested in radio work, was a narrator and editor of literature series and a presenter and voice-over actor in television for 10 years. In 1970, Adlon made his firstshort film for Bavarian television, followed by more than 150documentary films about art and the human condition.^[6] His first was a one-hour portrait of French artist and writerTomi Ungerer, entitledTomi Ungerer's Landleben. Adlon became fascinated by Ungerer after meeting at an exhibition in Munich and spending time at his home inNova Scotia, so decided to make him the subject of his first film.^[7]

Adlon's firstfeature filmCéleste (1980) was about the relationship between the French writerMarcel Proust and his cookCéleste Albaret during the last years of Proust's life.^[8]

In 1987 he directedBagdad Cafe, starringMarianne Sägebrecht as a German tourist,CCH Pounder as a motel and truck stop cafe owner in theMojave Desert, andJack Palance. Critically acclaimed,^{[9][10][11][12]}Roger Ebert awarded the film 3½ out of 4 stars in his review, stating that "[Percy Adlon] is saying something in this movie about Europe and America, about the old and the new, about the edge of the desert as the edge of the American Dream" and that the charm ofBagdad Cafe is that "every character and every moment is unanticipated, obscurely motivated, of uncertain meaning and vibrating with life".^[11] The Japanese filmmakerAkira Kurosawa citedBagdad Cafe as one of his 100 favorite films.^[13]

In 1989, Adlon directedRosalie Goes Shopping, starring Sägebrecht,Brad Davis, andJudge Reinhold, which was screened at the1989 Cannes Film Festival.^[14] The film met mixed critical reviews, withDeseret News describing it as "dark satire masquerading as bright comedy" and a comment on Americanconsumerism,^[15] whileRita Kempley ofThe Washington Post considered it to be "deficit of dramatic tension" and thought that Adlon's message was "scatterbrained".^[16]

In 1991, Adlon directedSalmonberries, a picture starringk.d. lang as Kotzebue, an orphaned Eskimo and young woman of androgynous appearance who has a lesbian relationship with an East German widowed librarian. The film was generally well-received,^[17] with Kevin Thomas of theL.A. Times describing it as "endearing, remarkably assured and stunning-looking" and noted that Adlon with sensitivity "raises crucial questions of cultural and sexual identity",^[18] thoughJanet Maslin ofThe New York Times called it a "halting, awkward effort" with "stilted direction" and "sharp camera angles, arty editing".^[19]

In 1993, Adlon directed the filmYounger and Younger, starringDonald Sutherland,Brendan Fraser andLolita Davidovich. The film won Adlon the Silver Raven Award at theBrussels International Fantastic Film Festival.^[20] Leonard Klady ofVariety considered it to be an "unusual human comedy", a family yarn which "spins out from its simple premise into fantasy, music, black comedy and innumerable offbeat digressions." Klady further noted that the film illustrated "Adlon's unique method of tackling everyday life", which has "ironically been the greatest strength and most problematic aspect to his commercial appeal".^[21]

In 1997, Adlon co-producedEat Your Heart Out, a romantic comedy film filmed inVenice Beach, California, which was directed by his son,Felix Adlon [de].^[22]

Adlon co-directed his final picture,Mahler on the Couch (2010) with his son Felix, a period film about an affair betweenAlma Mahler andWalter Gropius, and the subsequent psychoanalysis of Mahler's husbandGustav Mahler bySigmund Freud. In a review forThe Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt wrote that the film "manages to pose a serious, intimate study in obsessive jealousy while, like a gaga celebrity hunter, bumping into just about everybody who's anybody in Viennese society circa 1910... The film's great gift, though, is Romaner... She fully inhabits the role of this complex personality whose passion for love and art collides with her role of wife and mother."^[23]

Percy Adlon was the great-grandson ofLorenz Adlon, the founder of theHotel Adlon. He was the grandson of Louis Adlon Sr.,^[24] and the son of opera tenorRudolf Laubenthal [de].^[25] His son, Felix, also a film director, is the former husband of American actressPamela Adlon and the father of her three daughters, including actressesOdessa andGideon Adlon.^[26]

Percy and Eleonore Adlon lived inPacific Palisades,California.^[1] Percy Adlon died there on 10 March 2024, at the age of 88.^[6][27]

Thomas Meyerhöfer [de] is a half-brother of Percy, 15 years younger and son of Emil Meyerhöfer.^{[28][29][30][31]}

• Von Nimbus der Ferne [de] (The Aura in the Distance) (1974, documentary) director, writer
• Der Vormund und sein Dichter (The Guardian and the Poet) (1978, TV film) director,^[20] writer, producer (Adolf Grimme Award in Gold)^[32]
• Herr Kischott (1980, TV film) director^[20]
• Céleste (1980) director, writer^[20] (Special Jury Award IFF Chicago)^[37]
• Fünf letzte Tage (Five Last Days) (1982) director^[20] (German Federal Film Award,^[41] Bavarian Film Award,^[20] OCIC-Prize, IFF Venice, 1982^[41])
• The Swing (1983) director, writer^[20]
• Sugarbaby a.k.a.Zuckerbaby (1985) director, writer^[20] (Ernst-Lubitsch-Award for Marianne Sägebrecht)
• Herschel und die Musik der Sterne (1986, TV film) director, writer^[20]
• Out of Rosenheim a.k.a.Bagdad Cafe (US) (1987) director, writer, producer^[20] (Grand Prix IFF Rio de Janeiro, César, Best Foreign Film (French Film Award),^[33] Ernst Lubitsch Award (director),^[33] Swedish^[42] and Danish Film Academies, Bavarian Film Award (original screenplay),^[33] Prix Humanum, Belgium.)
• Babycakes (1989, TV film), American remake ofZuckerbaby akaSugarbaby, co-writer
• Rosalie Goes Shopping (1989) director, writer, producer^[20] (official German Entry,1989 Cannes Film Festival. Best Film - Section "Cinema & Denaro", IFF EuropaCinema & TV, Viareggio.)
• Red Hot + Blue: A Tribute to Cole Porter (1990, TV film) director
• Salmonberries (1991) director, writer^[17] a.k.a.Percy Adlon's Salmonberries (Germany: poster title)^[34] (Grand Prix des Ameriques, Montreal. Bavarian Film Awards for director P.A. and for Rosel Zech, Best Actress.)
• Younger and Younger (1993) director, writer, producer^[21][34] (Silver Raven, Brussels.^[20] Best Actress IFF Tokyo Lolita Davidovich)
• In der glanzvollen Welt des Hotel Adlon (1996, TV film) director, a.k.a.The Glamorous World of the Adlon Hotel (Bavarian Television Award)^[34]
• Eat Your Heart Out (1997) producer^[20]
• Die Straußkiste (1999) director, writer,cinematographer,^[34] a.k.a.Forever Flirt^[20] (International: English title)
• Hawaiian Gardens (2001) director, writer^[43]
• Koenig's Sphere: The German Sculptor Fritz Koenig at Ground Zero (2001) director,^[44] a.k.a.Koenigs Kugel (German title)
• Bagdad Cafe - The Musical (2003–2006) director
• Orbela's People (2007)^[45]
• Mahler auf der Couch (2010)^[23][34]

• L'elisir d'amore (2003) opera byGaetano Donizetti, directed by Adlon for theBerlin State Opera.^[34]
• Wolkenstein (2004) A new opera byWilfried Hiller and Felix Mitterer, directed by Adlon. Premiere at theStaatsoper Nürnberg.^[34]

• Bock, Hans-Michael; Bergfelder, Tim, eds. (2009).The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. New York: Berghahn Books. pp. 3–4.ISBN 978-1-57181-655-9.
• Haase, Christine (2007). "4: Crossing Boundaries, Connecting People: The German-American Films of Percy Adlon".When Heimat Meets Hollywood Book: German Filmmakers and America, 1985-2005. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 134–161.JSTOR 10.7722/j.ctt16314n0.
• Milicia, Joseph (2000). "Percy Adlon". In Pendergast, Tom; Pendergast, Sara (eds.).International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers. Vol. 2 (4 ed.). St. James Press.ISBN 978-1-55862-449-8.OCLC 611728059. Retrieved21 July 2022.he has still achieved a handful of works which remain important and distinctive, particularly for their mixture of cool detachment and genuine compassion for lonely eccentrics.
• Lühr, Tanja (23 September 2020)."Percy Adlon, ein vielseitiger Regisseur" [Percy Adlon, a more versatile director].Münchner Merkur (in German).

• Percy Adlon atIMDb
• Percy Adlon discography atDiscogs

• 1935 births
• 2024 deaths
• Adlon family
• Film directors from Munich
• Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• People from Starnberg (district)
• Television people from Munich

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