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Wolfgang Zilzer
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Role
Film actor
Name
Wolfgang Zilzer
Years active
1915–1986
Occupation
Actor
Parents
Max Zilzer
Born
January 20, 1901 (
1901-01-20
)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died
June 26, 1991, Berlin, Germany
Spouse
Lotte Palfi Andor (m. 1943–1991)
Movies
Enemy of Women, Union City, Mata Hari, Singing in the Dark, Appointment in Berlin
Similar People
Lotte Palfi Andor, Alfred Zeisler, Michael Curtiz, Friedrich Feher, Joseph M Newman
Other names
Paul AndorJohn Voight
Wolfgang Zilzer (January 20, 1901 – June 26, 1991) was a German-American stage and film actor, often under the stage name Paul Andor.
Zilzer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German-Jewish emigrant Max Zilzer, who was engaged at the local theater. Zilzer's mother died soon after his birth, and his father returned to Germany in 1905.
Zilzer appeared on stage in child roles and made his first movie appearance in the age of 14. Around 1930, he moved back to the United States, but had only small success as an actor. He returned to Germany. According to a 1943 Jewish Telegraphic Agency newspaper article, he "was a featured player of UFA in the palmy days before the Furore [Hitler]", but after Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Zilzer fled to France, where he worked dubbing voices in several French versions of Hollywood productions. In 1935, Zilzer returned to Germany again, finally emigrating to the USA in 1937. Applying for a visa at the U.S. embassy, he first realized he already had US citizenship. After his emigration, he started to work with Ernst Lubitsch in several anti-Nazi movies, using pseudonyms to protect his father, who was still living in Berlin. With appearances in films from 1915 to 1986, Zilzer had one of the longest careers in cinema history. The Internet Broadway Database lists a single credit for a Wolfgang Zilzer, in the 1943 play The Barber Had Two Sons.
Zilzer married the German-Jewish actress Lotte Palfi; both appeared in the 1942 movie Casablanca. Zilzer played the man without a passport who is shot by French policemen at the beginning of the film. After World War II, Zilzer performed on stage in the United States and in Germany.
At the end of the 1980s Zilzer contracted Parkinson's disease and decided to return to Germany. His wife refused to do so, and their marriage ended in divorce after almost 50 years, close to both their deaths.
Wofgang Zilzer died in Berlin and is buried at the Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf.
Filmography
Actor
1987
Hals über Kopf (TV Series) as
Hubert Hund sr.
- Pilotfilm: Hals über Kopf (1987) - Hubert Hund sr.
1983
Late Night with David Letterman (TV Series) as
Henry / The Weatherman
- Episode dated 27 February 1985 (1985) - The Weatherman
- Episode #4.3 (1985) - Henry
- Episode dated 13 October 1983 (1983) - Henry (uncredited)
1983
Lovesick as
Analyst (as Paul Andor)
1980
Union City as
Ludendorff (as Paul Andor)
1967
The Diary of Anne Frank (TV Movie) as
Kraler
1966
Hawk (TV Series) as
Superintendent
- Game with a Dead End (1966) - Superintendent (as Paul Andor)
1966
Mister Buddwing as
Man on the Street (uncredited)
1964
No Survivors, Please (uncredited)
1963
Glück zu kleinen Preisen (TV Movie) as
Nachtwächter (as Wolfgang Zilser)
1963
Achzig im Schatten (TV Movie) as
Mr. Toms
1963
Der grüne Kakadu (TV Movie) as
Grasset
1962
Terror After Midnight as
Vater Reynolds
1957
The United States Steel Hour (TV Series) as
Uncle
- The Bottle Imp (1957) - Uncle (as Paul Andor)
1956
Appointment with Adventure (TV Series) as
Mr. Froelich
- Career (1956) - Mr. Froelich (as Paul Andor)
1956
Singing in the Dark as
Refugee (as Paul Andor)
1953
Robert Montgomery Presents (TV Series)
- A Criminal Assignment (1953) - (as Paul Andor)
1951
Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) as
First Bookkeeper / Head Waiter / Padre
- Something to Celebrate (1952) - First Bookkeeper (as Paul Andor)
- A Family Affair (1951) - Head Waiter (as Paul Andor)
- The Sire de Maletroit's Door (1951) - Padre (as Paul Andor)
1951
Studio One (TV Series) as
Lucas
- Stan, the Killer (1952) - Lucas (as Paul Andor)
- Wintertime (1951) - (as Paul Andor)
1952
Walk East on Beacon! as
August Helmuth (as Paul Andor)
1952
Shadow of the Cloak (TV Series) as
Father
- The Last Performance (1952) - Father
1952
Claudia: The Story of a Marriage (TV Series) as
Fritz
1950
Lights Out (TV Series) as
Birdlip
- Beware This Woman (1950) - Birdlip (as Paul Andor)
1948
Women in the Night as
German Doctor (as Paul Ander)
1947
Carnegie Hall as
Waiter (uncredited)
1945
Stairway to Light (Short) as
Dr. Philippe Pinel (uncredited)
1945
Week-End at the Waldorf as
Waiter (uncredited)
1945
Counter-Attack as
Krafft (as Paul Andor)
1945
Hotel Berlin as
Walter Baumler (uncredited)
1944
Enemy of Women as
Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (as Paul Andor)
1944
They Live in Fear as
Old Man (uncredited)
1944
In Our Time as
Father Józef (uncredited)
1943
Sucker Bait (Documentary short) as
Fritz - Henchman
1943
Paris After Dark as
German Announcer (uncredited)
1943
The Strange Death of Adolf Hitler as
Attorney
1943
Behind the Rising Sun as
Max (uncredited)
1943
Bomber's Moon as
Nazi Doctor Treating Jeff
1943
Appointment in Berlin as
Cripple (uncredited)
1943
Hitler's Madman as
SS Colonel (uncredited)
1943
They Came to Blow Up America as
Schlegel
1943
Assignment in Brittany as
Capt. Deichgraber's Aide (uncredited)
1943
They Got Me Covered as
Cross (uncredited)
1943
Margin for Error as
Bit Part (uncredited)
1942
Casablanca as
Man with Expired Papers (uncredited)
1942
The Devil with Hitler (Short) as
Otto Schultz (uncredited)
1942
Berlin Correspondent as
Patient (uncredited)
1942
Invisible Agent as
Von Porten (uncredited)
1942
Joan of Ozark as
Kurt (as Wolfgang Zilser)
1942
To Be or Not to Be as
Man in Bookstore (uncredited)
1942
The Lady Has Plans as
German Clerk - Baron's Office (uncredited)
1942
All Through the Night as
Frascher (uncredited)
1941
World Premiere as
Bushmaster's Aide (uncredited)
1941
Underground as
Hoffman
1941
Shining Victory as
Subordinate (uncredited)
1941
Out of Darkness (Short) as
Leon Rochelle - Twenty-Second Editor of La Libre Belgique (uncredited)
1941
Forbidden Passage (Short) as
Otto Kestler
1941
So Ends Our Night as
Vogt (uncredited)
1940
Escape as
Pavillion Counter Clerk (uncredited)
1940
A Dispatch from Reuters as
Post Office Clerk (uncredited)
1940
Three Faces West as
Dr. Rudolf Preussner (uncredited)
1940
Four Sons as
Peasant (uncredited)
1940
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet as
Kellner (uncredited)
1939
Everything Happens at Night as
Thief at Dock (uncredited)
1939
Ninotchka as
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
1939
Television Spy as
Frome
1939
Hitler: Beast of Berlin as
Kleswing (as John Voight)
1939
Espionage Agent as
Heinrich (uncredited)
1939
The Story That Couldn't Be Printed (Short) as
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
1939
Confessions of a Nazi Spy as
Johann Westphal (as John Voigt)
1939
Hotel Imperial as
Limping Tenor (uncredited)
1938
I'll Give a Million as
Citizen (uncredited)
1938
Crime Ring as
Hans - the Forger (uncredited)
1938
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife as
Book Salesman (uncredited)
1933
Eine wie du (Short)
1933
Was gibt's Neues heut? (Short)
1933
Ever in My Heart as
Voice of Hugo Wilbrandt (French Version) (uncredited)