Joseph Schildkraut

Schildkraut, Joseph (1896–1964), actor. The swarthy, dashingly handsome son of the famous German and Yiddish actor Rudolf Schildkraut, he was born in Vienna and studied for the stage both in Germany and at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. His first American appearances were under his father's aegis in German‐language performances at the Irving Place Theatre in 1910. After acting for Max Reinhardt and other famous producers in Europe, Schildkraut had his first American success as the feckless carnival barker Liliom (1921), followed by his lauded performance as the roguish artist‐lover Benvenuto Cellini in The Firebrand (1924). In the 1930s he was an important member of Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre and appeared in films before returning to Broadway as the mild‐mannered murderer Uncle Harry (1942). Schildkraut's last major role was as Mr. Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank (1955). Autobiography: My Father and I, 1959.

• Born: Mar 22, 1896 in Vienna, Austria
• Died: Jan 21, 1964 in New York, New York
• Occupation: Actor
• Active: '20s-'40s
• Major Genres: Drama, Action
• Career Highlights: Cleopatra, The Shop Around the Corner, The Life of Emile Zola
• First Major Screen Credit: Wandering Jew (1920)

Biography

The son of esteemed actor Rudolph Schildkraut, he trained for the stage under Albert Basserman -- his father's rival. Accompanying his father on tour, he went to the U.S. in 1910 and remained till 1913; there he enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Back in Germany, Schildkraut joined his father in the Berlin stage company of Max Reinhardt and quickly rose to stardom. He moved to the U.S. in 1920; within a year he was a major matinee idol on Broadway. Meanwhile, having appeared in a small number of German films, he began playing suave leading men in American silents; by the mid 1930s he had moved into character roles, often villainous. He remained a busy screen actor (between stage roles) until 1948, when he took a decade off from movies; he returned to the screen to reprise his stage role in the film version of The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), following which he appeared in only two more movies. For his portrayal of Captain Dreyfus in The Life of Emile Zola (1937), he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He authored an autobiography, My Father and I (1959). ~ All Movie Guide

The Greatest Story Ever Told Buy this Movie	King of the Roaring '20s: The Story of Arnold Rothstein Buy this Movie	The Diary of Anne Frank Buy this Movie	Northwest Outpost Buy this Movie
Monsieur Beaucaire Buy this Movie	Flame of the Barbary Coast Buy this Movie	Flame of Barbary Coast Buy this Movie	The Shop Around the Corner Buy this Movie

Show More Movies Show Fewer Movies