Occupation Film actor Name Otto Gebuhr Children Michael Gebuhr | Years active 1917–1954 Role Theatre actor | |
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Born 29 May 1877 ( 1877-05-29 ) Kettwig, German Empire Died March 14, 1954, Wiesbaden, Germany Spouse Doris Kruger (m. 1942–1950) Movies The Golem: How He Came int, The Great King, Der Choral von Leuthen, The Flute Concert of Sans‑Souci, Bismarck Similar People Paul Wegener, Carl Boese, Henrik Galeen, Veit Harlan, Carl Froelich | ||
Der Alte Fritz besucht seine Untertanen
Otto Gebuhr (29 May 1877 – 14 March 1954) was a German theatre and film actor, who appeared in 102 films released between 1917 and 1954. He is noted for his performance as the Prussian king Frederick the Great in numerous films.
Contents
- Der Alte Fritz besucht seine Untertanen
- Life
- Selected filmography
- Films with Otto Gebuhr as Frederick the Great
- References
Life
Born in Kettwig (today part of Essen) in the Rhine Province the son of a merchant, Gebuhr attended the gymnasium secondary school in Cologne and completed a commercial training. Alongside he took drama lessons and began his acting career at the Gorlitz city theatre. In 1898 he joined the ensemble of the Konigliches Hoftheater Dresden and from 1908 performed at the Lessing Theater in Berlin. As a World War I volunteer he achieved the rank of a Lieutenant in the German Army.
After the war he worked with director Max Reinhardt at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. At the same time he obtained his first film performances with the help of his colleague Paul Wegener. He found the role of his lifetime in 1919, acting as King Frederick II in the historical drama Die Tanzerin Barberina directed by Carl Boese, modeled on the life of ballerina Barbara Campanini (1721–1799). The first part of the UFA Fridericus Rex tetralogy starring Otto Gebuhr playing the title role was released in 1922, followed by several further so-called "Fridericus-Rex-movies". The series was heavily criticized by contemporaries for supporting a widespread negative stance towards the Weimar Republic democracy and the yearning for a leader in waiting. Gebuhr continued his performances in the Nazi period from 1933 onwards, last performing in The Great King (German: Der Grose Konig), a 1942 German wartime propaganda film directed by Veit Harlan referring to the historic Miracle of the House of Brandenburg, which received the rare "Film of the Nation" distinction.
Gebuhr died at Wiesbaden in 1954. His final film, Die Blonde Frau des Maharadscha, was released eight years after his death.
Selected filmography
Films with Otto Gebuhr as Frederick the Great
