Kurt Kasznar

Kurt Kasznar
from the trailer for the film Lili (1953)
Born	August 12, 1913(1913-08-12) Vienna, Austria
Died	August 6, 1979 (aged 65) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1924-1978
Spouse(s)	Leora Dana (1950-1958) Cornelia Whooley (1938-1948) (her death) 1 child

Kurt Kasznar (August 12, 1913 – August 6, 1979) was a stage, film, and television actor.

Early life

Kasznar was born in Vienna, Austria as Kurt Servischer. His father left when Kurt was very young, his mother married a Hungarian restaurateur named Ferdinand Kasznar, and Kurt assumed his surname. He emigrated to the United States in the mid-1930s for The Eternal Road in which he played 12 roles. In 1941, he was drafted into the United States Army. He was trained as a cinematographer and later served in the Pacific. He was assigned to an army photographic unit and was part of the team that filmed the signing of the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri.

Career

Kasznar's first major Broadway appearance was in The Happy Time. (He recreated his role for the film version and earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.) He also appeared on Broadway in Barefoot in the Park, Waiting for Godot, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and The Sound of Music, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.

Kasznar appeared in more than 80 films and television shows, and had a regular role in the television series Land of the Giants as "Alexander Fitzhugh". His feature films included Lili, Kiss Me, Kate, The Last Time I Saw Paris, My Sister Eileen, A Farewell to Arms and 55 Days at Peking.

Private life

Kasznar married American heiress Cornelia Whooley, in 1938; she died in 1948. They had one daughter, journalist Susan Lee Kasznar.

In 1950, while working on Broadway, he met his second wife, actress Leora Dana. They were married from 1950 to 1958.

Kasznar died of cancer in Santa Monica, California.

Partial filmography

• Talk About a Stranger (1952)
• The Happy Time (1952)
• Lili (1953)
• Ride, Vaquero! (1953)
• Kiss Me Kate (1953)
• All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953)
• Give a Girl a Break (1953)
• Valley of the Kings (1954)
• The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)
• My Sister Eileen (1955)
• Anything Goes (1956 film) (1956)
• A Farewell to Arms (1957)
• Legend of the Lost (1957)
• Arms and the Man (1958)
• The Journey (1959)
• For the First Time (1959)
• 55 Days at Peking (1963)
• Casino Royale (1967)
• The Perils of Pauline (1967)
• The Ambushers (1967)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kurt Kasznar

• Kurt Kasznar at the Internet Movie Database
• Kurt Kasznar biography