Conrad Veidt
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.
Acted in
Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad
2008
as Jaffar (archival footage)
The Many Faces of Dracula
2000
as Self (archive footage)
Universal Horror
1998
as (archive footage)
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
1974
as Self (archive footage)
Above Suspicion
1943
as Hassert Seidel
Casablanca
1943
as Major Heinrich Strasser
Nazi Agent
1942
as Otto Becker / Baron Hugo von Detner
All Through the Night
1942
as Franz Ebbing
The Men in Her Life
1941
as Stanislas Rosing
Whistling in the Dark
1941
as Joseph Jones
A Woman's Face
1941
as Torsten Barring
Escape
1940
as General Kurt von Kolb
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
as Self
Contraband
1940
as Capt. Andersen
The Thief of Bagdad
1940
as Jaffar
The Spy in Black
1939
as Captain Ernst Hardt
The Chess Player
1938
as Le baron de Kempelen
Tempête sur l'Asie
1938
as Erich Keith
Dark Journey
1937
as Baron Karl Von Marwitz
Under the Red Robe
1937
as Gil de Berault
King of the Damned
1935
as Convict 83
The Passing of the Third Floor Back
1935
as The Stranger
Bella Donna
1934
as Mahmoud Baroudi
Jew Süss
1934
as Josef 'Jew Süss' Oppenheimer
Wilhelm Tell
1934
as Gessler
The Wandering Jew
1933
as Matathias / The Unknown Knight / Dr Matteos Battadios
I Was a Spy
1933
as Commandant Oberaertz
F.P.1
1933
as Maj. Ellissen
The Only Girl
1933
as Marquis de Pontignac
Rome Express
1932
as Zurta
The Black Hussar
1932
as Captain Hansgeorg von Hochberg
Rasputin, Demon of the Women
1932
as Grigori Rasputin
Congress Dances
1931
as Prince Metternich
The Other Side
1931
as Hauptmann Stanhope
The Congress Dances
1931
as Fürst Metternich
The Night of the Decision
1931
The Man Who Committed the Murder
1931
as Oberst Marquis de Sévigné
The Love Storm
1930
as Kingsley
The Great Longing
1930
as Himself
The Last Company
1930
as Hauptmann Burk
The Last Performance
1929
as Erik the Great
Das Land ohne Frauen
1929
as Dick Ashton
The Movie City of Hollywood
1928
as Self
The Man Who Laughs
1928
as Gwynplaine / Lord Clancharlie
Laws of Love: Innocently Outlawed!
1927
A Man's Past
1927
as Paul La Roche
Napoleon
1927
as Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade
The Beloved Rogue
1927
as King Louis XI
The Flight in the Night
1926
as Count di Nolli, Heinrich IV
The Student of Prague
1926
as Balduin, Student
Liebe macht blind
1926
Should We Be Silent?
1926
as Paul Hartwig, Maler
Two Brothers
1926
as Wenzel Schellenberg / Michael Schellenberg
Impetuous Youth
1926
as Renées Vater
The Wife's Crusade
1926
as Der Staatsanwalt
The Ingmar Inheritance
1925
as Hellgum
Le Comte Kostia
1925
as Comte Kostia
Schicksal
1925
Husbands or Lovers
1924
as Der Liebhaber, ein Dichter
Waxworks
1924
as Ivan the Terrible
The Hands of Orlac
1924
as Paul Orlac
The Film in the Film
1924
as Himself
Don Carlos und Elisabeth
1924
as Don Carlos
Wilhelm Tell
1923
as Hermann Gessler
Paganini
1923
as Niccolo Paganini
Glanz gegen Glück
1923
Lucrezia Borgia
1922
as Cesare Borgia
The Indian Tomb, Part II: The Tiger of Eschnapur
1921
as Ayan, Majarajah of Eschnapur
The Indian Tomb, Part I: The Mission of the Yoghi
1921
as Ayan, Majarajah of Eschnapur
Lady Hamilton
1921
as Lord Nelson
Landstraße und Großstadt
1921
as Raphael, der Geiger
Christian Wahnschaffe II: Escape from the Golden Dungeon
1921
as Christian Wahnschaffe
Der Leidensweg der Inge Krafft
1921
Die Liebschaften des Hektor Dalmore
1921
as Hektor Dalmore
Desire
1921
as Ivan
Liebestaumel
1921
as Jalenko
Journey into the Night
1921
as Der Maler
Menschen im Rausch
1921
as Professor Munk
Das Geheimnis von Bombay
1921
as Tossi
The Count of Cagliostro
1920
as Minister
Christian Wahnschaffe I: Weltbrand
1920
as Christian Wahnschaffe
Manolescu's Memoirs
1920
as Manolescu
Evening - Night - Morning
1920
as Brilburn - Maud's brother
Moriturus
1920
as Wilmos, sanatorium director
The Head of Janus
1920
as Dr. Warren
Künstlerlaunen
1920
Kurfürstendamm
1920
as The devil
Die Augen der Welt
1920
as Johannes Kay
Patience
1920
as Sir Percy Parker
Die Nacht auf Goldenhall
1920
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
1920
as Cesare
Der Reigen - Ein Werdegang
1920
as Petre Karvan
Figures of the Night
1920
as The clown
Eerie Tales
1919
as Der Tod / Various Other Roles
Wahnsinn
1919
as Bankier Lorenzen
Prinz Kuckuck
1919
as Carl Kraker
Prostitution II
1919
as Alfred Werner
Die Okarina
1919
Different from the Others
1919
as Paul Körner
Peer Gynt - 2. Teil: Peer Gynts Wanderjahre und Tod
1919
Around the World in 80 Days
1919
as Phineas Fogg
Prostitution
1919
as Alfred Werner
Die Japanerin
1919
Opium
1919
as Dr. Richard Armstrong Jr.
Nocturno der Liebe
1919
as Frederic Chopin
Die Mexikanerin
1919
as Dr. von Dossen
Opfer der Gesellschaft
1919
Jettchen Geberts Geschichte. 2. Henriette Jacoby
1918
as Doktor Köstling
The Story of Dida Ibsen
1918
as Erik Norrensen
Es werde Licht! 4. Teil: Sündige Mütter
1918
as Kramer
Colomba
1918
as Henryk von Rhyn
Jettchen Geberts Geschichte. 1. Jettchen Gebert
1918
as Doktor Köstling
Diary of a Lost Woman
1918
as Dr. Julius
Not of the Woman Born
1918
as Satan
Das Dreimäderlhaus
1918
as Schober
Das Rätsel von Bangalor
1918
as Dinja
Der Spion
1917
as Steinau
Wenn Tote sprechen
1917
as Richard von Worth
Fear
1917
as Indian Priest
Der Weg des Todes
1917