Conrad Veidt

Person

Conrad Veidt

Acting January 22, 1893

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. Ca…

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Known for

Popular titles

Casablanca

Casablanca

8.1 1943 Movie
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

7.9 1920 Movie
The Thief of Bagdad

The Thief of Bagdad

7.1 1940 Movie
The Man Who Laughs

The Man Who Laughs

7.3 1928 Movie
Napoleon

Napoleon

7.8 1927 Movie
The Hands of Orlac

The Hands of Orlac

6.9 1924 Movie
A Woman's Face

A Woman's Face

6.8 1941 Movie
All Through the Night

All Through the Night

6.7 1942 Movie
Waxworks

Waxworks

6.4 1924 Movie
The Spy in Black

The Spy in Black

6.4 1939 Movie
Different from the Others

Different from the Others

7.1 1919 Movie
Above Suspicion

Above Suspicion

6.2 1943 Movie

Photos

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Biography

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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.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 2011
    Vito

    Movie Self (archive)

  2. 2008
    Visual Effects: The Thief of Bagdad

    Movie Jaffar (archival footage)

  3. 2000
    The Many Faces of Dracula

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  4. 1998
    Universal Horror

    Movie (archive footage)

  5. 1974
    The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute

    Movie Self (archive footage)

  6. 1943
    Above Suspicion

    Movie Hassert Seidel

  7. 1943
    Casablanca

    Movie Major Heinrich Strasser

  8. 1942
    Nazi Agent

    Movie Otto Becker / Baron Hugo von Detner

  9. 1942
    All Through the Night

    Movie Franz Ebbing

  10. 1941
    The Men in Her Life

    Movie Stanislas Rosing

  11. 1941
    Whistling in the Dark

    Movie Joseph Jones

  12. 1941
    A Woman's Face

    Movie Torsten Barring

  13. 1940
    Escape

    Movie General Kurt von Kolb

  14. 1940
    A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

    Movie Self

  15. 1940
    Contraband

    Movie Capt. Andersen

  16. 1940
    The Thief of Bagdad

    Movie Jaffar

More credits
  1. 1939
    The Spy in Black

    Movie Captain Ernst Hardt

  2. 1938
    The Chess Player

    Movie Le baron de Kempelen

  3. 1938
    Tempête sur l'Asie

    Movie Erich Keith

  4. 1937
    Dark Journey

    Movie Baron Karl Von Marwitz

  5. 1937
    Under the Red Robe

    Movie Gil de Berault

  6. 1935
    King of the Damned

    Movie Convict 83

  7. 1935
    The Passing of the Third Floor Back

    Movie The Stranger

  8. 1934
    Bella Donna

    Movie Mahmoud Baroudi

  9. 1934
    Jew Süss

    Movie Josef 'Jew Süss' Oppenheimer

  10. 1934
    Wilhelm Tell

    Movie Gessler

  11. 1933
    The Wandering Jew

    Movie Matathias / The Unknown Knight / Dr Matteos Battadios

  12. 1933
    I Was a Spy

    Movie Commandant Oberaertz

  13. 1933
    F.P.1

    Movie Maj. Ellissen

  14. 1933
    The Only Girl

    Movie Marquis de Pontignac

  15. 1932
    Rome Express

    Movie Zurta

  16. 1932
    The Black Hussar

    Movie Captain Hansgeorg von Hochberg

  17. 1932
    Rasputin, Demon of the Women

    Movie Grigori Rasputin

  18. 1931
    The Other Side

    Movie Hauptmann Stanhope

  19. 1931
    Congress Dances

    Movie Fürst Metternich

  20. 1931
    The Night of the Decision

    Movie General Gregori Platoff

  21. 1931
    The Man Who Committed the Murder

    Movie Oberst Marquis de Sévigné

  22. 1930
    The Love Storm

    Movie Kingsley

  23. 1930
    The Great Desire

    Movie Himself

  24. 1930
    The Last Company

    Movie Hauptmann Burk