Initially a stage actor, he was described by film academic Ginette Vincendeau as "a corpulent man with a resonant voice, his stagey performance style ranged from the hammy ... to the soberly moving". Baur appeared in about 80 films between 1909 and 1942. He gave an acclaimed performance as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the biopic Beethoven's Great Love (Un grand amour de Beethoven, 1936), directed by Abel Gance, and as Jean Valjean in Raymond Bernard's version of Les Misérables (1934). He also acted in Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset's silent film, Beethoven (1909), and in La voyante (1923), Sarah Bernhardt's last film.
In 1942, while in Berlin to star in his last film "Symphone eines Lebens", Baur's Jewish wife was arrested by the Gestapo and charged with espionage. His effort to secure her release led to his own arrest and torture, being falsely labelled as a Jew but confirmed freemason. He was released in April 1943, but died in Paris shortly after in mysterious circumstances.
Academy Award-winning American actor Rod Steiger cited Baur as one of his favorite actors who had exerted a major influence on his craft and career.
Filmography
Actor
1943
Symphonie eines Lebens as
Stephan Melchior
1941
Sins of Youth as
Monsieur Lacalade
1941
Who Killed Santa Claus? as
Gaspard Cornusse
1941
Volpone as
Volpone
1940
Le président Haudecoeur as
Le président Haudecoeur
1940
Forbidden Love as
Le docteur Bourdet
1938
The Rebel's Son as
Taras Bulba
1938
Le patriote as
Le tsar Paul 1er
1938
Nostalgie as
Virine, le maitre de poste
1938
Rasputin as
Le moine Grigpri Ifimovitch Novy dit Raspoutine
1938
Hatred as
Captain Mollenard
1937
Un carnet de bal as
Alain Regnault
1937
Les secrets de la Mer Rouge as
Saïd Ali
1937
Sarati, le terrible as
César Sarati
1937
Paris as
Alexandre Lafortune
1936
Les hommes nouveaux as
Bourron
1936
Nitchevo as
Le commandant Robert Cartier
1936
The Life and Loves of Beethoven as
Ludwig van Beethoven
1936
Tarass Boulba as
Tarass Boulba
1936
Samson as
Jacques Brachart
1936
The Man of Stone as
L'empereur Rodolphe II - roi de Bohème
1935
I Stand Condemned as
Peter Brioukow
1935
Les yeux noirs as
Ivan Ivanovitch Petroff
1935
Crime and Punishment as
Le juge Porphyre
1935
Behold the Man as
Hérode
1934
Moscow Nights as
Piotr Brioukow
1934
A Man and His Woman as
Papon
1934
Le greluchon délicat as
Michel
1934
Les Misérables as
Jean Valjean / Champmathieu
1933
Rothchild as
Rothchild (as Harry-Baur)
1933
Cette vieille canaille as
Guillaume Vautier / Professor Vautier
1933
A Man's Head as
Commissaire Maigret (as Harry-Baur)
1933
Criminel as
Warden Brady
1932
Three Musketeers as
Tréville (as Harry Bauer)
1932
Poil de carotte as
Monsieur Lepic
1931
Polish Jew as
Mathias
1931
Moon Over Morocco as
M. de Marouvelle (as Harry-Baur)
1931
Le cap perdu as
Le Capitaine Kell
1931
David Golder as
David Golder
1924
La voyante as
Monsieur Detaille
1918
Angoisse dans la nuit (Short)
1918
L'âme du bronze
1917
Sous la griffe
1917
48, avenue de l'Opéra as
Tom Baxler
1916
Quand l'amour meurt (Short)
1916
Fleur de Paris (Short) as
Harry Podge
1916
Chignon d'or as
Comte Hector de Nages, aka Bébert
1915
Strass et Compagnie
1914
Monsieur Lecoq (Short)
1914
Le roman de Carpentier (Short)
1913
Shylock (Short) as
Shylock
1912
Le secret du lac (Short)
1912
Les cheveux d'or (Short)
1912
Les amis de la mort (Short)
1912
The Adopted Child (Short)(unconfirmed)
1911
La note de la blanchisseuse (Short)
1911
Vidocq (Short) as
Vidocq
1910
L'évasion de Vidocq (Short) as
Vidocq
1910
La haine (Short)
1910
La noce à Canuche (Short)
1910
Le four à chaux (Short)
1910
Le messager de Notre-Dame (Short)
1910
Les aventuriers du Val d'Or (Short)
1910
Les suicides du louf (Short)
1910
The Castaway's Return (Short)
1910
L'évasion d'un truand (Short) as
Rob Rokers
1909
Arsène Lupin (Short)
1909
Don César de Bazan (Short) as
César de Bazan
1909
Beethoven (Short) as
Beethoven
1909
The Legend of the Good Knight (Short)
1909
Octave (Short)
1909
The Miniature (Short)
1909
L'enlèvement de Mademoiselle Biffin (Short)
1909
Hector, the Angel Child (Short)
1909
Les petits iront à la mer (Short)
1909
La jeunesse de Vidocq ou Comment on devient policier (Short) as
Vidocq
1908
Le bon cambrioleur (Short)
1908
Drink (Short)
Archive Footage
-
Maurice Tourneur, tisseur de rêve (Documentary) (post-production)
2018
Compression (TV Series documentary)
- Compression David Golder de Julien Duvivier (2018)
2017
La Continental: Le mystère Greven (TV Movie documentary) as
Monsieur Lacalade
2001
Shylock (Documentary) as
Shylock
1979
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma (TV Series documentary) as
Self
- Abel Gance, le romantique des années 30 (1979) - Self
