Occupation Actor Name Erich Ponto | Years active 1908–1957 Role Film actor | |
Full Name Erich Johannes Bruno Ponto Children Eva Doering (born 1918), Klaus Ponto (born 1927), Manoel Ponto (born 1950) Spouse Tony Kresse (m. 1916–1957) Movies The Third Man, Die Feuerzangenbowle, Sky Without Stars, The Rothschilds, The Four Companions | ||
Erich Johannes Bruno Ponto (14 December 1884 – 14 February 1957) was a German film and stage actor.
Contents
Life
Erich Ponto was born in Lubeck as the son of a merchant. After his family had moved to Hamburg-Eimsbuttel, he attended the gymnasium secondary school in Altona and upon his Abitur exam began a study of pharmacy at the University of Munich, where he went to lectures delivered by Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen. Passionate about acting already during his studying, he took drama lessons from 1906.
Ponto gave his debut on stage at the Stadttheater Passau in 1908, followed by engagements in Nordhausen, Reichenberg (Liberec), and Dusseldorf. From 1914 to 1947 he was a member of the Hoftheater Dresden ensemble (Staatstheater Dresden from 1918), in the season 1946/47 also as intendant. On stage his best known role was that of J.J. Peachum in the original production of The Threepenny Opera in 1928. He won the title of a Staatsschauspieler in 1938, the highest title that could be awarded to a stage actor in Nazi-Germany.
Ponto's film career only took off when he was already over 50 years old, but he became a well-known character actor in German cinema of the 1930s and 1940s, often in eccentric or villanous roles. He played Mayer Amschel Rothschild in the anti-semitic Nazi film The Rothschilds (1940) and portrayed a curious school teacher in Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944) with Heinz Ruhmann, widely regarded as a great film classic in Germany. After World War II he appeared in Carol Reeds British thriller The Third Man (1949), where he played the doctor of Orson Welles in a supporting role. In 1955 Ponto won a "Film Award in Silver" as the best male actor in a supporting role for Himmel ohne Sterne (1955). He worked until his death.
In 1916 he married Tony Kresse, they had two children. Ponto was the acting coach of Gert Frobe of Goldfinger fame. His final film was Der Stern von Afrika, released in the year of his death. He died at the age of 72 after a long cancer illness. Erich Ponto was the uncle of Dresdner Bank general director Jurgen Ponto, who was murdered in 1977.
Erich Ponto in the Web
Erich Ponto at the Internet Movie Database
Songs
Die 3 Groschenoper: Finale
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: IX Ballade Vom Angenehmen Leben
Leiben Von Der Uzulanglichkeit: III Wie Man Sie Bettet
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: II Die Moritat Von Mackie Masser
Leiben Von Der Uzulanglichkeit: V Das Nachtgespenst
Die Dreigroschenoper: Liebeslied
Leiben Von Der Uzulanglichkeit: VI Peter
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: X Eifersuchts Duet
Lied von der Unzulanglichkeit menschlichen Strebens - aus der 'Dreigroschenoper'
Die 3 Groschenoper: Liebeslied
Leiben Von Der Uzulanglichkeit: IV Alabama Song
Die 3 Groschenoper: Lied von der Unzulaenglichkeit Menschlichen Sterbens
Die Dreigroschenoper: Lied von der Unzulanglichkeit des menschlichen Strebens
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: VI Erstes Dre
Leiben Von Der Uzulanglichkeit: I Ds Menschlichen Strebe
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: VIII Zuhalter Ballade
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: I Messer
Die Dreigroschenoper: Erstes Dreigroschen - Finale
Lied Des Gauklers
Finale/1st Finale
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: VII Abscheid
Lied von der Unzulanglichkeit menschlichen Strebens
Gluck Doch Nicht Immer Dem: I Tangogeiger Hin
Liebeslied/Love Song
Gluck Doch Nicht Immer Dem: III Vom Seeman Kuttel Daddeldu
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: III Kanonen Song
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: V Liebeslied
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: IV Liebeslied
Lied von der Unzulanglichkeit des menschlichen Strebens: Die Dreigroschenoper
Gluck Doch Nicht Immer Dem: II Jonny
Overture Und Moritat Von Mackie: XI Zweites Dreigroschen - Finale
Leiben Von Der Uzulanglichkeit: II Moritat Und Schlusschoral