Conrad Veidt
Born
January 22, 1893
Died
April 3, 1943 (50 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Berlin, Germany
Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German actor best remembered for his roles in films such as Different from the Others (1919), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and The Man Who Laughs (1928). After a successful career in German silent film, where he was one of the best-paid stars of Ufa, he was forced to leave Germany in 1933 with his new Jewish wife after the Nazis came to power. They settled in Britain, where he participated in a number of films, including The Thief of Bagdad (1940), before emigrating to the United States around 1941, which lead to him having a supporting role in Casablanca (1942).
From 1916 until his death, Veidt appeared in more than 100 films. One of his earliest performances was as the murderous somnambulist Cesare in director Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), a classic of German Expressionist cinema, with Werner Krauss and Lil Dagover. His starring role in The Man Who Laughs (1928), as a disfigured circus performer whose face is cut into a permanent grin, provided the (visual) inspiration for the Batman villain the Joker, created in 1940 by Bill Finger. Veidt also starred in other silent horror films such as The Hands of Orlac (1924), another film directed by Robert Wiene, The Student of Prague (1926) and Waxworks (1924) where he played Ivan the Terrible.
Veidt also appeared in Magnus Hirschfeld's film Anders als die Andern (Different from the Others, 1919), one of the first films to sympathetically portray homosexuality, although the characters in it do not end up happily. He had a leading role in Germany's first talking picture, Das Land ohne Frauen (Land Without Women, 1929).
He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s and made a few films, but the advent of talking pictures and his difficulty with speaking English led him to return to Germany. During this period he lent his expertise to tutoring aspiring performers, one of whom was the later American character actress Lisa Golm.
Known For
Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad
Jaffar (archival footage)
2008
The Many Faces of Dracula
Self (archive footage)
2000
Universal Horror
(archive footage)
1998
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
Self (archive footage)
1974
Above Suspicion
Hassert Seidel
1943
Casablanca
Major Heinrich Strasser
1943
Nazi Agent
Otto Becker / Baron Hugo von Detner
1942
All Through the Night
Franz Ebbing
1942
The Men in Her Life
Stanislas Rosing
1941
Whistling in the Dark
Joseph Jones
1941
A Woman's Face
Torsten Barring
1941
Escape
General Kurt von Kolb
1940
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Self
1940
Contraband
Capt. Andersen
1940
The Thief of Bagdad
Jaffar
1940
The Spy in Black
Captain Ernst Hardt
1939
The Chess Player
Le baron de Kempelen
1938
Tempête sur l'Asie
Erich Keith
1938
Dark Journey
Baron Karl Von Marwitz
1937
Under the Red Robe
Gil de Berault
1937
King of the Damned
Convict 83
1935
The Passing of the Third Floor Back
The Stranger
1935
Bella Donna
Mahmoud Baroudi
1934
Jew Süss
Josef 'Jew Süss' Oppenheimer
1934
Wilhelm Tell
Gessler
1934
The Wandering Jew
Matathias / The Unknown Knight / Dr Matteos Battadios
1933
I Was a Spy
Commandant Oberaertz
1933
F.P.1
Maj. Ellissen
1933
The Only Girl
Marquis de Pontignac
1933
Rome Express
Zurta
1932
The Black Hussar
Captain Hansgeorg von Hochberg
1932
Rasputin, Demon of the Women
Grigori Rasputin
1932
Congress Dances
Prince Metternich
1931
The Other Side
Hauptmann Stanhope
1931
The Congress Dances
Fürst Metternich
1931
The Night of the Decision
1931
The Man Who Committed the Murder
Oberst Marquis de Sévigné
1931
The Love Storm
Kingsley
1930
The Great Passion
Himself
1930
The Last Company
Hauptmann Burk
1930
The Last Performance
Erik the Great
1929
Das Land ohne Frauen
Dick Ashton
1929
The Movie City of Hollywood
Self
1928
The Man Who Laughs
Gwynplaine / Lord Clancharlie
1928
Laws of Love: Innocently Outlawed!
1927
A Man's Past
Paul La Roche
1927
The Beloved Rogue
King Louis XI
1927
Napoleon
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade
1927
The Flight in the Night
Count di Nolli, Heinrich IV
1926
The Student of Prague
Balduin, Student
1926
Liebe macht blind
1926
Should We Be Silent?
Paul Hartwig, Maler
1926
Two Brothers
Wenzel Schellenberg / Michael Schellenberg
1926
Impetuous Youth
Renées Vater
1926
The Wife's Crusade
Der Staatsanwalt
1926
The Ingmar Inheritance
Hellgum
1925
Le Comte Kostia
Comte Kostia
1925
Schicksal
1925
Husbands or Lovers
Der Liebhaber, ein Dichter
1924
Waxworks
Ivan the Terrible
1924
The Hands of Orlac
Paul Orlac
1924
The Film in the Film
Self
1924
Don Carlos und Elisabeth
Don Carlos
1924
Wilhelm Tell
Hermann Gessler
1923
Paganini
Niccolo Paganini
1923
Glanz gegen Glück
1923
Lucrezia Borgia
Cesare Borgia
1922
The Indian Tomb, Part II: The Tiger of Eschnapur
Ayan, Majarajah of Eschnapur
1921
The Indian Tomb, Part I: The Mission of the Yoghi
Ayan, Majarajah of Eschnapur
1921
Lady Hamilton
Lord Nelson
1921
Landstraße und Großstadt
Raphael, der Geiger
1921
Christian Wahnschaffe II: Escape from the Golden Dungeon
Christian Wahnschaffe
1921
Der Leidensweg der Inge Krafft
1921
Die Liebschaften des Hektor Dalmore
Hektor Dalmore
1921
Liebestaumel
Jalenko
1921
Journey into the Night
Der Maler
1921
Menschen im Rausch
Professor Munk
1921
Das Geheimnis von Bombay
Tossi
1921
Desire: The Tragedy of a Dancer
Ivan
1921
The Count of Cagliostro
Minister
1920
Christian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand
Christian Wahnschaffe
1920
Manolescu's Memoirs
Manolescu
1920
Evening – Night – Morning
Brilburn - Maud's brother
1920
Moriturus
Wilmos, sanatorium director
1920
The Head of Janus
Dr. Warren
1920
Künstlerlaunen
1920
Kurfürstendamm
The devil
1920
Die Augen der Welt
Johannes Kay
1920
Patience
Sir Percy Parker
1920
Die Nacht auf Goldenhall
1920
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Cesare
1920
The Merry-Go-Round
Petre Karvan
1920
Figures of the Night
The clown
1920
Eerie Tales
Der Tod / Various Other Roles
1919
Wahnsinn
Bankier Lorenzen
1919
Prinz Kuckuck
Carl Kraker
1919
Prostitution II
Alfred Werner
1919
Die Okarina
1919
Different from the Others
Paul Körner
1919
Peer Gynt - 2. Teil: Peer Gynts Wanderjahre und Tod
1919
Around the World in 80 Days
Phineas Fogg
1919
Prostitution
Alfred Werner
1919
Die Japanerin
1919
Opium
Dr. Richard Armstrong Jr.
1919
Nocturno der Liebe
Frederic Chopin
1919
Die Mexikanerin
Dr. von Dossen
1919
Opfer der Gesellschaft
1919
Jettchen Geberts Geschichte. 2. Henriette Jacoby
Doktor Köstling
1918
The Story of Dida Ibsen
Erik Norrensen
1918
Es werde Licht! 4. Teil: Sündige Mütter
Kramer
1918
Colomba
Henryk von Rhyn
1918
Jettchen Geberts Geschichte. 1. Jettchen Gebert
Doktor Köstling
1918
Diary of a Lost Woman
Dr. Julius
1918
Not of the Woman Born
Satan
1918
Das Dreimäderlhaus
Schober
1918
Das Rätsel von Bangalor
Dinja
1918
Fear
Indian Priest
1917
Der Spion
Steinau
1917
Wenn Tote sprechen
Richard von Worth
1917
Der Weg des Todes
1917