Cast

Conrad Veidt

Acting

Cast

Conrad Veidt

Known for

Acting

Born

1893-01-22

From

Berlin, Germany

Died

1943-04-03

Also known as Hans Walter Conrad Veidt

Biography

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.

Conrad Veidt

Conrad Veidt

Biography

Casablanca

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Lady Hamilton

The Thief of Bagdad

Opium

Künstlerlaunen

Manolescu's Memoirs

People in Ecstasy

Der Spion

Das Geheimnis von Bombay

Schicksal

Danton

All Through the Night

Wahnsinn

The Hands of Orlac

Fear

A Woman's Face

Figures of the Night

Napoleon

The Man Who Laughs

Paganini

Eerie Tales

The Chess Player

Bella Donna

Wenn Tote sprechen

Tempête sur l'Asie

The Spy in Black

I Was a Spy

Der Leidensweg der Inge Krafft

Husbands or Lovers

The Mystery of Bangalore

The Merry-Go-Round

Whistling in the Dark

Glanz gegen Glück

The Count of Cagliostro

Vito

Der Weg des Todes

Das Dreimäderlhaus

Liebestaumel

Colomba

Peer Gynt - 2. Teil: Peer Gynts Wanderjahre und Tod

Christian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand

The Other Side

Above Suspicion

Wilhelm Tell

The Indian Tomb, Part I: The Mission of the Yoghi

The Last Performance

Contraband

The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute

Escape

The Story of Dida Ibsen

The Movie City of Hollywood

Universal Horror

The Only Girl

Landstraße und Großstadt

The Men in Her Life

The Black Hussar

Laws of Love: Innocently Outlawed!

Dark Journey

The Many Faces of Dracula

Waxworks

Nocturno der Liebe

Jew Süss

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

The Wandering Jew

Nazi Agent

Prinz Kuckuck

Moriturus

Congress Dances

Evening – Night – Morning

The Wife's Crusade

Le Comte Kostia

The Passing of the Third Floor Back

Wilhelm Tell

Rome Express

The Indian Tomb, Part II: The Tiger of Eschnapur

The Last Company