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- Actor
- Producer
Ben Cross was born Harry Bernard Cross on December 16, 1947, in London, England. He was the son of Catherine (O'Donovan), a cleaning woman, from Keelraheen, Dunmanway, Ireland, and Harry Cross, an English doorman and nurse. He began acting at a very young age and participated in grammar school plays -- most notably playing "Jesus" in a school pageant at age twelve.
Ben left home and school at age 15 and worked various jobs, including work as a window washer, waiter and carpenter. He was master carpenter for the Welsh National Opera and property master at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham, England. Driven by his desire to be an actor, Ben accepted and overcame the enormous challenges and obstacles that came with the profession. In 1970, at age 22, he was accepted into London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) -- the alma mater of legendary actors such as Sir John Gielgud, Glenda Jackson and Sir Anthony Hopkins.
Upon graduation from RADA, Ben performed in several stage plays at Duke's Playhouse where he was seen in "Macbeth", "The Importance of Being Earnest", and Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman". He then joined the Prospect Theatre Company and played roles in "Pericles", "Twelfth Night" and "Royal Hunt of the Sun". Ben also joined the cast in the immensely popular musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and played leading roles in Peter Shaffer's "Equurs", "Mind Your Head" and the musical "Irma La Douce" -- all at Leicester's Haymarket Theatre.
In 1976, Ben's debut screen appearance came when he went on location to Deventer, Holland, to play Trooper Binns in Joseph E. Levine's World War II epic A Bridge Too Far (1977), which starred a very famous international cast -- namely Dirk Bogarde, Sir Sean Connery, Sir Michael Caine and James Caan. In 1977, Ben became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in the premier of "Privates on Parade" as Kevin Cartwright and played Rover in a revival of a Restoration play titled "Wild Oats".
Ben's path to international stardom began in 1978 with his extraordinary performance in the musical "Chicago" in which he played Billy Flynn, the slick lawyer of murderess Roxie Hart. During his performance in this musical, he was recognized and recommended for a leading role in the multiple Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire (1981). The major success of Chariots of Fire (1981) opened the doors to the international film market. Ben followed up Chariots of Fire (1981) with strong and successful performances, most notably in the Masterpiece Theatre miniseries The Citadel (1983), in which he played a Scottish physician, Dr. Andrew Manson, struggling with the politics of the British medical system during the 1920s, and his performance as Ash Pelham-Martyn, a British cavalry officer torn between two cultures in the Home Box Office miniseries The Far Pavilions (1984). During the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, Ben appeared in a commercial for American Express with Jackson Scholz, a sprinter for the 1924 American Olympic team whose character was featured in the film Chariots of Fire (1981). In 1986, he subsequently replaced James Garner as the featured actor endorsing the Polaroid Spectra camera. Ben was also featured in GQ Magazine as one of the annual "Manstyle" winners in January 1985, followed by a featured photo shoot in March 1985.
Having stuck by his desire to choose quality roles over monetary potential, Ben enjoyed long-term success in the film industry, for over 40 years. He played several outstanding roles including his portrayal of Solomon, one of the most fascinatingly complex characters of the Bible, in the Trimark Pictures production Solomon (1997). Other outstanding roles included his Barnabus in the MGM remake of the miniseries Dark Shadows (1991); Sir Harold Pearson in the Italian production Honey Sweet Love... (1994); Ikey Solomon in the Australian production The Potato Factory (2000); and his role as Rudolf Hess in the BBC production Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial (2006).
Ben was a director, writer and musician, as well. Among many of his original works is the musical "Rage" about Ruth Ellis, which was performed in various regional towns in the London area. He also starred in it and played the role of the hangman. Ben's first single as a lyricist was released by Polydor Records in the late 1970s and was titled "Mickey Moonshine". Other works include "The Best We've Ever Had" and "Nearly Midnight", both written by Ben and directed by his son, Theo Cross. In addition, the original soundtrack for "Nearly Midnight" was written, produced and performed by his daughter, Lauren Cross. These works were performed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2002 and 2003, respectively. "Square One", directed by Ben, was performed at the Etcetera Theatre in London in 2004.
Ben resided all over the world, including London, Los Angeles, New York, Southern Spain, Vienna and Sofia. He was familiar with the Spanish, Italian and German languages and enrolled in a course studying Bulgarian. When he was not filming, he wrote music, screenplays and articles for English language publications. Ben Cross died at age 72 of cancer on August 18, 2020 in Vienna, Austria.- Actor
- Soundtrack
John Banner, who achieved television immortality for his portrayal of the Luftwaffe POW camp guard Sergeant Schultz in the TV series Hogan's Heroes (1965), was born on Tuesday, January 28th, 1910 in Vienna., which in 1938 was then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The 28-year-old Banner, who was Jewish, was forced to flee from his homeland to avoid being captured after the Anschluss (union) between Nazi Germany and Austria. This occurred while he was engaged in a tour of Switzerland with an acting company. Unable to return to Austria due to Hitler's anti-Semitic policies of persecution, Banner emigrated to the United States of America as a political refugee.
Soon after reaching the United States, John Banner, who knew nothing of the English language, was hired to be a Master of Ceremonies to a musical revue. He had to learn his lines phonetically. The total immersion paid off in that he rapidly picked up English. His accent and "Nordic" look ironically meant that Banner was typecast in several films as Nazis during the 1940s. He survived the war portraying the same villains who were murdering every member of his family, who had been left behind in Austria. All of them perished in concentration camps; his biological parents and all of his siblings perished.
At the time of his emigration to the US, John Banner weighed a trim 180 pounds. He eventually added another 100 pounds to become the chubby character actor America would come to know and love in regular appearances in movies and on TV. He specialized in foreign-official types, such the his role as Soviet Ambassador in Fred MacMurray's comedy movie, Kisses for My President (1964).
In 1965, Bing Crosby Productions cast Banner as "Sergeant Schultz", in the wartime comedy television sitcom, Hogan's Heroes (1965). The show debuted on Friday evening, September 17th, 1965, on CBS channels. The series was a take-off on Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 (1953), although with much more humor and less drama. The bumbling Dutch uncle who Banner portrayed was a continent apart from the wickedly evil Nazis he had portrayed during World War II. Spectacularly inept as a guard of Allied prisoners of war, Sergeant Schultz was prone to ignoring the irregularities that transpired in the fictional Stalag 13, bellowing firmly, "I know nothing! I see nothing! Nothing!!!"
John Banner enjoyed the role but demurred when accused of portraying a "cuddly" Nazi. He told TV Guide, "I see Schultz as the representative of some kind of goodness in every generation."
Banner and Werner Klemperer (who portrayed the equally comical and bumbling "Colonel Klink", and who, like Banner, was a Jewish refugee who had escaped Hitler's reach), co-starred with the series' leading actor, Bob Crane, in The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968), a bizarre movie "comedy" about a defecting East German athlete. The picture bombed and the trio went back to turning out the highly popular series without losing too much pride or momentum.
After the cancellation of Hogan's Heroes (1965) in 1971, Banner was signed for another TV show set in the past. The Chicago Teddy Bears (1971), which was set during the Prohibition era. Banner's "Uncle Latzi" was a close cousin of Schultz, but lightning did not strike twice and the series was canceled after only 13 episodes in a three month season.
John Banner died on his 63rd birthday, Sunday, January 28th, 1973, in his hometown and country of Vienna, Austria. His 63 year (including 16 Leap Days) lifespan consisted of 23,011 total days, equaling 3,287 weeks and 2 days.- Gorgeous and appealing brunette knockout Herta-Maria Perschy was born on September 23, 1938, in Eisenstadt, Burgenland, Austria. Maria moved to Vienna at age 17 to study acting at the prestigious Max Reinhardt Seminar. After finishing her education in Vienna, Perschy moved to Germany for further training and began her career acting in German comedies in the mid-'50s (her teacher, 'Suzi Nicoletta', helped Perschy get a contract at Bavaria Film Studios). She went on to act in an eclectic array of movies in such genres as drama, horror, Western and action/adventure, made in Europe and the US. Maria was usually cast in sexpot roles in her English-language films. She was nominated for the Golden Laurel Award for Top Female New Face in 1964. In 1971 she suffered a burn injury while filming a movie in Spain; she underwent several operations and then resumed her career. In 1977 she moved to Los Angeles and was married to a writer, who committed suicide in 1983. In 1985 she moved back to her native Austria and continued to act in both plays and TV series.
Maria Perschy died from cancer at age 66 on December 3, 2004; she was married twice and was survived by a daughter. - Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Curd Jürgens (commonly billed as "Curt Jurgens" in anglophone countries) was one of the most successful European film actors of the 20th Century. He was born Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens on December 13, 1915, in Solln, Bavaria, in Hohenzollern Imperial Germany, a subject of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Of Franco-German parentage, Jürgens -- who was born during the closing days of the second year of the First World War -- would abandon the country of his birth after the end of World War II: Jürgens became an Austrian citizen in 1945 and lived part-time in France.
Jürgens entered the journalism profession after receiving his education, and married Louise Basler, an actress. Basler, the first of his five wives, encouraged him to switch careers and become an actor. He learned his new profession on the Vienna stage, which retained his loyalty even after he became an global film star. Jürgens was sent to a concentration camp for "political unreliables" in 1944, due to his anti-Nazi opinions. It was this experience in Nazi Germany that led him to become an Austrian citizen after the war.
His appearance in The Devil's General (1955) ("The Devil's General" (1955)), established him as a star of German cinema, and his role as Brigitte Bardot's older lover in Roger Vadim's ...And God Created Woman (1956) (And God Created Woman (1956)) made him an international star. Always interested in multilingual European actors with good looks and talent, Hollywood beckoned the 6' 4" Jürgens, casting him in The Enemy Below (1957) as a WWII German U-boat commander in a duel with American destroyer commander Robert Mitchum. He constantly was in demand to play Germany military officers (e.g., The Longest Day (1962), the most expensive black-and-white film ever made) -- indeed, his last role was as "The General" in the miniseries Smiley's People (1982) -- and Germanic villains (e.g., "Cornelius", the cowardly and treacherous trading company representative, in Lord Jim (1965)) for the rest of his life. One of his most famous roles in the English-language cinema was as the James Bond villain, "Karl Stromberg", in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977); it was Moore's favorite Bond film.
Jürgens considered himself primarily a stage actor and often performed on the Vienna stage. Though the world knew him as a cinema actor, he also directed several films and wrote several screenplays and an autobiography, "Sixty and Not Yet Wise" (1975). His death from a heart attack in 1982 in Vienna was front-page news across Austria and Germany.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
As a nine-year-old boy, Leon Askin recited a 17-stanza eulogy for Emperor Franz Josef in front of the city hall in Vienna's 9th District. Little did the son of a salesman know then that he would one day be the student of Max Reinhardt and Louise Dumont, and discover Jura Soyfer while directing the political cabaret "ABC". Emigration brought him into contact with even more 20th-century luminaries: in 1938 he met Erwin Piscator, the founder of the school of Epic Realism, and worked with him for the next 30 years. On the set of Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three (1961), Wilder once exclaimed, "Here comes my professional!" Askin, who was often cast as the "funny villain", performed alongside Richard Burton, Doris Day and James Cagney. It is not merely exposure to big stars that distinguishes Leon Askin, though. He captured the hearts of critics and audiences with his impressive stage performances of "Faust" and "Shylock" on Broadway, which he also directed, and "Othello" in Hamburg. In addition, Askin made TV history as Gen. Burkhalter in the series Hogan's Heroes (1965).- Actress
- Additional Crew
Marisa Mell was born on 24 February 1939 in Graz, Austria. She was an actress, known for Danger: Diabolik (1968), The Great Swindle (1971) and Under Siege (1980). She was married to Henri Tucci. She died on 16 May 1992 in Vienna, Austria.- Actor
- Producer
Popular leading man in 1940's Hollywood who, with his suave demeanor, exotically handsome looks and well-modulated voice, was first called upon to portray mysterious or villainous characters. Soon he would be teamed with other "exotics" (e.g. Maria Montez and Sabu) in a series of escapist adventures, filmed in glorious Technicolor and set in lands of fable, which proved most popular with movie audiences of the World War II years. But with the end of the war, his career (like that of Montez) would decline. He ultimately returned to his city of birth to pursue opportunities in commercial photography.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Georg Wilhelm Pabst is considered by many to be the greatest director of German cinema, in his era. He was especially appreciated by actors and actresses for the humane way in which he treated them. This was in contrast to some of his contemporaries, such as Arnold Fanck, who have been characterized as martinets.- Actress
Ulla Jacobsson was an International Swedish Actress and became world-famous with the film One Summer of Happiness (1951) (English title: "One Summer of Happiness", German title: "Sie tanzte nur einen Sommer") and Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) ("Smiles of a Summer Night"), which Zarah Leander made as a musical in Vienna and also the Swedish version in Stockholm. She became better known in the UK for her part of the daughter of a missionary (played by Jack Hawkins) in Zulu (1964). She married an Austrian doctor and lived in Vienna, where she died of cancer in 1982.- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart grew up in Salzburg under the regulation of his strict father Leopold who also was a famous composer of his time. His abilities in music were obvious even when Mozart was still young so that in 1762 at the age of six, his father took him with his elder sister on a concert tour to Munich and Vienna and a second one from 1763-66 through the south of Germany, Paris and London. Mozart was celebrated as a wonder child everywhere because of his excellent piano playing and his improvisations.
In 1769 he became the concertmaster of the Archbishop and was knighted by the Pope in Rome. Working in Salzburg he nevertheless travelled around Europe to meet other composers and orchestras. But in 1781 after a dispute with the Archbishop he left Salzburg and went to Vienna where he married Constanze Weber from Mannheim. In Vienna he also started his friendship with Joseph Haydn and a time of many work pieces. In the last year of his life, for example, he wrote one of his masterpieces, "Die Zauberflöte". Although some of his operas were successful he could not make money from this and died in poverty at the age of 36, having even on his last day worked on a "Requiem". He was buried in a communal grave which could not be precisely identified years later.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Helmut Qualtinger was born on 8 October 1928 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor and writer, known for The Name of the Rose (1986), Der Paukenspieler (1971) and End of the Game (1975). He was married to Vera Borek and Seidler, Leomare. He died on 29 September 1986 in Vienna, Austria.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Hungarian-born Karoly Vidor spent the First World War as a lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian infantry. Following the armistice, he made his way to Berlin and worked for the German film company Ufa, as editor and assistant director. In 1924, he emigrated to the U.S. and, for several years, earned his living as a singer in Broadway choruses and (at one time) with a Wagnerian troupe. While little detail is extant of this period in his career, it enabled him to accumulate the means with which to finance his own project: an experimental short film entitled The Bridge (1929). On the strength of this, he was signed by MGM to co-direct his first feature film The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932). For the remainder of the decade, Vidor worked with relatively undistinguished material at various studios, notably RKO (1935) and Paramount (1936-37). In 1939, he joined Columbia, where he remained under contract until 1948.
Vidor's career is something of an enigma. Never a particularly prolific filmmaker, his output has been variable. It includes a good-looking, but decidedly stodgy romance, The Swan (1956) (starring Grace Kelly in her penultimate screen role); and the interminably dull remake of A Farewell to Arms (1957). On the other side of the ledger is the lavish showbiz biopic of singer Ruth Etting, Love Me or Leave Me (1955), for which Vidor elicited powerhouse performances from his stars Doris Day and James Cagney. Frank Sinatra, also, gave one of his best performances as nightclub entertainer Joe E. Lewis, descending into alcoholism in The Joker Is Wild (1957). Other Vidor standouts are Ladies in Retirement (1941), a gothic Victorian thriller, tautly directed and maintaining its suspense, despite a relatively claustrophobic setting (among the cast, as Lucy the maid, was actress Evelyn Keyes, who became Vidor's third wife in 1944). Finally, two Rita Hayworth vehicles, the breezy musical Cover Girl (1944), and Vidor's principal masterpiece, the archetypal film noir Gilda (1946). This cleverly plotted, morally ambiguous tale of intrigue and ménage-a-trois was one of Columbia's biggest money-earners to date.
Some of the wittier dialogue in "Gilda" was voiced in re-takes, long after primary filming had been completed. The same applies to the two main musical numbers, the show-stopping "Put the Blame on Mame", and "Amado Mio". Yet, under Vidor's direction, all the dramatic and musical elements blended perfectly. The film has an undeniably electric atmosphere, largely due to the chemistry between the three leads. When the same material was later re-worked as Affair in Trinidad (1952) (with a bigger budget), that chemistry was notably absent.
In 1948, Vidor fell out with studio boss Harry Cohn, taking him to court for alleged verbal abuse and exploitation. He wanted out of his contract. Having just married Doris Warner, daughter of Warner Brothers president Harry M. Warner, Vidor sensed opportunities in working at a more prestigious studio. Cohn wasn't going to let him go quietly. It was pretty much all over, when actor Steven Geray testified, that he had himself been on the receiving end of invective at the hands of Vidor on the set of "Gilda". Glenn Ford, who thought Vidor opportunistic, then went on the stand, relating, that Cohn routinely used foul language on everyone around him, rather than aiming at any individual in particular. The fact that Vidor was not the easiest man to get along with, became evident during filming of the Liszt biopic Song Without End (1960). Both his stars (Dirk Bogarde and Capucine) found him to be ill-tempered and erratic. However, since Vidor died before the film was completed (George Cukor taking over), other factors may have played a part. In the final analysis, for "Gilda" alone, Charles Vidor deserves a niche in Hollywood heaven.- Music Department
- Composer
- Additional Crew
Beethoven was the child of a Flamian musician family and became a member of the electoral orchestra of Bonn in 1783. In 1787 he studied at Mozart's in Vienna and in 1792 he moved all to Vienna becoming a student of Joseph Haydn. The Vienna High Society loved him as a piano player as well as as composer. In 1802 his deafness became serious making Beethoven a real eccentric until his death in 1827.- Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Karl Welunschek was born on 26 May 1955 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor and director, known for Crooks (2024), Volksvernichtung oder Meine Leber ist sinnlos (2000) and Der teure Johann (1977). He died on 14 April 2023 in Vienna, Austria.- Sieghardt Rupp was born on 14 June 1931 in Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria. He was an actor, known for A Fistful of Dollars (1964), Weininger's Last Night (1990) and Das Feuerschiff (1963). He was married to Gotlinde Rupp. He died on 20 July 2015 in Vienna, Austria.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
A portly, somewhat grubby and bohemian-looking character star, Hugo Haas was one of the most celebrated Czech actors back in the 30s, a comic star who only grew in stature as he delved creatively into writing, directing and producing. The Nazi invasion forced him to leave his beloved country and come to the United States. Like a fish out of water, he had to start small. Beginning as an announcer on US broadcasts to the Eastern Europe underground, he also offered his talents as a narrator of propaganda films.
After the war, Haas revitalized his acting career with flashy, thick-accented support roles, often as a slick, seedy villain in lavish costumers. He enjoyed a certain amount of popularity and with the money he made, he began financing his own independent films in the 50s, taking total creative control with almost a Svengali-like obsession.
This time around, however, there was little of the adulation he had reaped so easily back in his homeland. With such lurid titles as Pickup (1951), Thy Neighbor's Wife (1953), and Bait (1954), these vehicles smacked hard of sensationalism and he and his films were generally dismissed. Many were badly acted and obviously cheap and cheesy in production values. A recurring "Blue Angel"-styled theme appeared in many of Hugo's starring vehicle whereas an older respectable man was seduced and ruined by the charms of a much younger hussy (blonde, busty bombshells such as Cleo Moore, Beverly Michaels, and (former "Miss Universe") Carol Morris.
Haas' reputation was so tainted by these so-called vanity projects that he was quickly dubbed the "foreign Ed Wood", which was unfair given his earlier reputation. Haas was planning to return to his native land in 1968 when the Russians seized control. Profoundly disheartened and depressed by the current state of affairs in his country, the homesick actor, who also suffered from an asthmatic condition, died shortly after of heart failure. He should be better remembered today than he is. He is solid proof that Hollywood has a way of sometimes robbing a person of his artistic creativity or integrity.- Actor
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- Composer
To paraphrase the Beatles, one could say that, like Michelle and Ma Belle, Peter Alexander and Music are words that go together well, for the Austrian entertainer (musician, singer and actor) was associated with music from cradle to tomb. Born in Vienna in 1926, the son of a banker and his wife, Peter Alexander Neumayer (his full name) entered the world of music courtesy of his grandfather who owned a music store in Pilsen. The boy was only five when he joined the Vienna Boys' Choir. And as Peter Alexander had another passion, acting, it is no wonder that he became a... singing actor ! But all in due time: In his early twenties, the young man first started studying medicine. Naturally he soon realized he was on the wrong track and changed for drama studies at the Reinhard-Seminar in Vienna. After graduating he appeared in several plays and even played in a cabaret. At the same period, Peter Alexander's love for music resurfaced and he recorded his first songs in 1951. Success was on the cards as several of his songs became big hits. He even won the German Song Contest in Munich in 1952. From then on, Peter Alexander, who had played in the theater, but never in films, started working for the big screen. Actually, his first appearances were brief and he was always billed as a singer, a dancer, a musician or himself. But his being a star of song gradually implied a star actor status. As a matter of fact, Peter Alexander soon got top-billed, and in dozens of light comedies, which attracted millions of German-speaking spectators. In such films as Ich bin kein Casanova (1959), Die Abenteuer des Grafen Bobby (1961) and nearly all the others, Alexander was not what can be called a character actor embodying a a different role in each of those films, but he was invariably the charming, well-bred, joyful man, fond of "Festlicher Stimmung" (festive mood) and Lust (good laughs), often named Peter, in short, close to the kind of guy he was in real life. Of course, all this had nothing much to do with art and if Peter Alexander's name is still remembered fondly by the older generation in Austria and Germany, it must be recognized that he has not left any imprint in film history. Peter Alexander was synonymous with a joyful time meant for immediate consumption and that was that. An exception though: 'Wolfgang Liebeneiner' qv)'s Schweik's Years of Indiscretion (1964), in which for once he did not play a nice guy close to who he was, but 'Jaroslav Hasek''s well-known "hero", the prototype of the dumb soldier who drives his superiors crazy. Peter Alexander 's portrayal of this archetypal character was just excellent and it makes you regret that the comedian was not offered more demanding roles during the two decades when he was at the top of his career. After 1972, as commercial German cinema was spiraling down into the abyss, Peter Alexander left his film career to devote himself to TV shows and, of course, to songs, songs, songs . He died in early 2011 at the age of 84. History does not record whether.. he sang his last words!- Actress
- Soundtrack
Christiane Hörbiger descended from a famous dynasty of thespians, one of three siblings born to the Austrian acting couple Paula Wessely and Attila Hörbiger. She was also a niece of the equally renowned character actor Paul Hörbiger. Educated in Vienna, Christiane graduated from a commercial school with a diploma and seemed to be destined for an apprenticeship as a confectioner. When that fell through, her parents had little choice but to grant her wish to become an actress. She duly made her film debut at the age of 16, billed as Christel Wessely-Hörbiger, co-starring with her father in the bucolic Heimatfilm Der Major und die Stiere (1955). A brief attendance at the Max Reinhardt Academy then followed and was rounded off with dance and singing tuition under the auspices of Alma Seidler. From 1959 to 1966, Hörbiger developed her acting skills on the classical stage, first in Heidelberg and later as an ensemble member of the famed Vienna Burgtheater. In addition to guest appearances in Munich and Salzburg, she had regular engagements at the Pfauenbühne in Zurich between 1967 and 1985, in plays by, among others, Schiller, Molières and Shakespeare. Her wide repertoire on stage and screen included anything from unhappy lovers to prim widows, from careworn or depressed mothers to elegant, wealthy dowagers or down-to-earth spouses, and, latterly, grandmothers.
Hörbiger's first breakthrough on the screen came via television, co-starring with Willy Millowitsch in the series Donaug'schichten (1965) (as the daughter of a cook and amateur sleuth involved in various criminal cases). Her role as a countess in Das Erbe der Guldenburgs (1987), a sprawling family saga sometimes described as Germany's answer to Dallas (1978), introduced her to an even wider audience. She was also the eponymous heroine of Julia - Eine ungewöhnliche Frau (1999), as a Viennese barrister who takes a job as a provincial district judge with resulting consequences to both her professional and private life. Her few big screen appearances included the Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated satire Schtonk (1992), which lampooned the Hitler Diaries hoax of 1983 and was a nod to Charles Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940). For her role as Herman Goering's willful (but fictitious) grandniece Freya von Hepp, Hörbiger was awarded a Bambi Film Prize in 1992.
Until her retirement in 2019, Christiane Hörbiger continued to make prolific appearances in TV films and as an occasional series guest star. She was often referred to as the preeminent Grand Dame of German television. In 2003, Hörbiger became a founding member of the Deutsche Filmakademie. A strong advocate of racial tolerance and equality, she was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to Austria that same year. Hörbiger was married twice: her first husband (divorced) was the director Wolfgang Glück, her second the Swiss journalist Rolf R. Bigler. Until her passing in November 2022, she had resided variously in Zurich and in the spa town of Baden bei Wien.- Peter Simonischek was born on 6 August 1946 in Graz, Austria. He was an actor, known for Toni Erdmann (2016), The Interpreter (2018) and Sapphire Blue (2014). He was married to Brigitte Karner and Charlotte Schwab. He died on 29 May 2023 in Vienna, Austria.
- Werner Krauss was born on 23 June 1884 in Gestungshausen, Sonnefeld, Bavaria, Germany. He was an actor, known for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Paracelsus (1943) and Robert Koch: The Battle Against Death (1939). He was married to Liselotte Graf, Maria Bard and Paula Saenger. He died on 20 October 1959 in Vienna, Austria.
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Paul Hörbiger was born on 29 April 1894 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was an actor and producer, known for The Third Man (1949), Three Girls Around Schubert (1936) and The Gypsy Baron (1954). He was married to Josefa Gettke. He died on 5 March 1981 in Vienna, Austria.- Hedwig Bleibtreu was born on 23 December 1868 in Linz, Upper Austria, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was an actress, known for The Third Man (1949), Der Spieler (1938) and Pygmalion (1935). She was married to Alexander Roempler and Peter Petersen. She died on 24 January 1958 in Vienna, Austria.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Being the son of a violinist Vivaldi started playing the violin himself early in his life. In 1703 he became priest and in 1716 the director of a conservatory of the church in Venice. Being a famous violinist he gave concerts all over Europe also composing a lot of violin concerts and other string works. There is not much information about his life only that he died in poverty in Vienna.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Ady Berber was born on 4 February 1913 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor and producer, known for Der Mörder mit dem Seidenschal (1966), Dr. Mabuse vs. Scotland Yard (1963) and The Return of Dr. Mabuse (1961). He was married to Anna Berber. He died on 3 January 1966 in Vienna, Austria.- Heinz Reincke was born on 28 May 1925 in Kiel, Germany. He was an actor, known for Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein (1977), The Country Doctor (1987) and Geschichten aus der Heimat (1983). He was married to Elfi Petsch, Erni Mangold and Herta Maria Gessulat. He died on 13 July 2011 in Vienna, Austria.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
German Romantic composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg in 1833 and died in Vienna, Austria in 1897. A perfectionist, he often compared himself unfavorably to composers such as Beethoven and ended up destroying many compositions without their ever being heard. While basically conservative, he showed musical growth throughout his four symphonies and occasionally borrowed wilder folk themes, such as in his Hungarian Dances, and he explored a vast range of human emotion in his Violin Concerto.
Although he never married, much of his later life involved a seemingly unending devotion to Clara Schumann, widow of composer Robert Schumann - both of whom were long-time friends to Brahms.- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Schubert was musically educated at the "Hofkapelle" in Vienna where he sang as a boy but then had to quit in order to help his father at school. Four years later, he became an independent composer and was destined to live in poverty from then onwards. Having an introverted personality, Schubert played his songs mostly amongst a couple of friends who shared his romantic passion. Within his short life Schubert composed many pieces of music, including eight symphonies.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
David Cameron was born on 21 January 1933 in Camberwell, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Robot Jox (1989), Mrs. Dally (1966) and Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). He was married to Gerlinde Bernhard, Dorothea 'Pumpi' Gräfin v. Lamberg, Hildegard Knef and Shirley Cameron. He died on 7 August 2012 in Vienna, Austria.- Actor
- Director
- Additional Crew
Helmuth Lohner was born on 24 April 1933 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor and director, known for The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990), Die schöne Lügnerin (1959) and Frau Warrens Gewerbe (1960). He was married to Elisabeth Gürtler, Karin Baal, Susanne Cramer and Ricarda Reinisch. He died on 23 June 2015 in Vienna, Austria.- Leopoldine Konstantin was born on 12 March 1886 in Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Notorious (1946), Lola Montez (1918) and Die Insel der Seligen (1913). She was married to Geza Herczeg and Alexander Strakosch. She died on 14 December 1965 in Hietzing, Vienna, Austria.
- Arthur Schnitzler was born on 15 May 1862 in Vienna, Austrian Empire [now Austria]. He was a writer, known for Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Late Fame and The Affairs of Anatol (1921). He was married to Olga Gussmann. He died on 21 October 1931 in Vienna, Austria.
- Gustav Diessl was an Austrian artist, film and stage actor. He studied art, painting and sculpture in Vienna. From 1921 he worked in Berlin as an actor for G.W. Pabst in his silent film, "Abgründe" (1928). In 1929 he played in The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929) ("The White Hell of Pitz Palu"). After that he became famous in USA, but returned to Germany after making only one film in Hollywood. He also played in Italian films. After a short-lived first marriage, he cohabited with Camilla Horn for a couple of years, but in 1938 he married opera star Maria Cebotari, with who he had two sons; one of them lives today in England and the other one in New Zealand. Gustav Diessl died, much too young,in Vienna.
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Gustav Mahler is largely considered one of the most talented symphonic composers of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. His musical output comprised mainly of symphonic and song cycles requiring mammoth orchestras and often choruses. Sadly, Mahler never experienced popularity as a composer during his lifetime, not nearly as much as Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, or even Tchaikovsky, but his talents as interpretive artist on the conductor's podium earned him many accolades and prestigious assignments as music director to famous orchestras. Mahler was born in Kaliste, Bohemia on July 7, 1860, to a distillery manager father and a homemaker mother. Gustav was the second of twelve children, of which five died in infancy and three others did not live to mature adulthood. The constant conflicts between Gustav's domineering and abusive father and his weak mother helped to shape his compositional style, always reflecting on the struggle between good and evil, happy and sad, strong and weak, etc. Mahler showed musical talent at an early age, and by the age of eight years, he was already composing music influenced by military marches played at the nearby barracks. His parents eagerly encouraged his music studies, sending him to private tutors and ultimately to the Vienna Conservatory (1875-1878). Mahler's studies at the Conservatory got off to a slow start, but the final year at school was marked with him winning several composing awards. After graduation, for want of paying composing work, Mahler instead started conducting, typically directing light operas at second-rate orchestras. His insistence on complete artistic control of the entire production, from the stage costumes to the dramatic routines to how each and every note in the opera was played, earned him few friends among the orchestral players and performers but many positive reviews from critics. It was during these ten years after graduation from the Conservatory in which Mahler really began serious orchestral composing. Works written during this time included Das Klagend Lied (1880), Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) (1884), and his First Symphony (1888). It must be noted that Mahler conducted the premieres of each of his orchestral works. However, the premiere of his First, in Budapest in November 1889, was deemed a critical failure, since the audience was unaccustomed to the sound of this complex, modern work. Yet the First is perhaps his most approachable symphony, containing many Austrian Lieder themes and simple melodies. And, still, with a performance time of 55 to 60 minutes, it is his shortest symphony! Failures of Mahler the composer did not daunt Mahler the conductor, as his successes with the operas of Mozart, Wagner, and even some brand new works from Tchaikovsky earned him a reputation as a brilliant interpretive artist. Still, Mahler persevered, composing the Second Symphony (1892), a mammoth work of five movements requiring a full orchestra, female choral soloists, two choirs, an offstage brass band, and a pipe organ. His Third Symphony (1896) took this one step further, a six movement symphonic journey typically taking one hour and forty minutes to perform. During this time, Mahler was busy conducting orchestras and opera companies in Kassel (1883), Prague (1885), Leipzig (1886), Budapest (1888), Hamburg (1891), and Vienna (1894), but it was the musical director position at the Vienna Court Opera that he was aiming for. First, he had to overcome some family problems (both his parents died within months of each other, a younger brother fled to the United States, and another younger brother committed suicide), but, more importantly, Mahler's Jewish faith stood in the way of his career goal (Vienna was largely anti-Semitic during this time). To accommodate, he accepted a Roman Catholic baptism, and was promptly appointed musical director of the Vienna Hofoper Court Opera. Mahler's tenure at the Hofoper was tumultuous yet productive; he composed his Fourth Symphony (1901), thereby completing what many music historians agree wraps up his "Early Symphonies." His Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Symphonies (1903, 1904, 1905 respectively), all purely orchestral, make up his intermediate works. Although these works are increasingly modern and complex, they still contain some wonderful lyrical passages, especially the divinely beautiful Adagio from his 5th. Also, during this time he married Alma Schindler (a composer of fair talent herself), and they had two daughters, Maria (born 1902), and Anna (born 1904). Still, as director of The Hofoper, Mahler brought new high standards of performance unmatched anywhere else in the world. 1907 brought three tragic events to Mahler's life (ironically foreshadowed by the three "hammer blows" present in the Finale of his 6th Symphony): First, he was forced to resign from the Hofoper in somewhat acrimonious circumstances (chiefly disagreements as to what artistic direction he wanted to take the Hofoper), second, the diagnosis of the valve defect in his heart, and third, the death of his elder daughter (of Scarlet Fever). But by this point in his career Mahler had reached worldwide popularity as an orchestral and operatic conductor, and new work was not difficult to find. But it was composing that fueled his passions; The Eighth Symphony (1908) began the final series of Mahler's works. The Eighth is another work of Biblical proportions; a standard performance requires a full orchestra with enlarged brass and woodwind sections, eight soloists (three sopranos, two altos, a tenor, baritone, and bass), two full mixed choirs, a children's choir, several "unconventional" orchestral instruments (guitars, a harmonium, a piano, and a celesta), and, again, a pipe organ. Mahler disliked the alternate title bestowed upon this symphony, A Symphony of a Thousand, but indeed, during the premiere (in Munich in 1910), over one thousand performers were present. Amazingly, this lengthy and difficult work (only two movements but requiring 80-90 minutes to perform), was a huge success at its premiere; in attendance were many famous musicians, businesspeople, and royal families. Concluding Mahler's final works were Das Lied von der Erde (1908), the Ninth Symphony (1909), and an unfinished Tenth Symphony (1911), all of which he did not live to see or hear performed. The completed portions of the Tenth contain references to how Mahler lamented his crumbling marriage (by this time Alma was having an affair) yet it is considered perhaps the most pure form of Mahler's music (it contains many elements of modern 20th Century music). It was during concluding a winter season of conducting the New York Philharmonic Society in the spring of 1911 in which the heart condition diagnosed four years earlier caught up with Mahler; he traveled back to Austria to spend his final days near his family. He died late in the evening of May 18. Mahler's legacy took a long time to mature. His music, although complex and full of vivid imagery, failed to become popular in musical circles until fifty years after his death; it was primarily the efforts of Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, and, more recently, Simon Rattle , who have introduced the works of Mahler to many. Mahler himself declared, "My time will come."- Stunts
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bennie E. Dobbins was born on 16 November 1932 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for The Running Man (1987), First Blood (1982) and Weird Science (1985). He died on 5 February 1988 in Vienna, Austria.- Music Department
- Composer
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Johann Strauss (or Johann Strauss son), one of Austrian music's most famous names who studied music secretly against his father's will, later became the leader of his father's band and the indisputable "waltz king"; his waltz 'On the Beautiful Blue Danube', is the main theme in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
He was born Johann Sebastian Strauss on October 25, 1825, in Vienna, Austria. His father was the composer Johann Strauss Sr. Young Johann Strauss studied music secretly with his father's first violinist in the Strauss orchestra. He was reprimanded by his father who wanted him to be a banker. He continued studies of counterpoint, harmony, and violin, and concentrated fully on a career as a composer at the age of 17, when his father left the family.
Young Strauss made his debut at the Dommayer's Casino in Hietzing, the upscale district of Vienna. He became the rival of his father and gained popularity performing with his own orchestra. He took the side of revolutionaries when Vienna was racked up by the bourgeois revolution of 1848. He publicly played La Marseillaise and was hauled up by the Viennese authorities. That caused him denial of position of the Hofballmusikdirektor (Royal Ball Music Director). His career continued after the death of his father in 1849, which allowed the merger of two Strauss orchestras under the baton of Johann Strauss.
Strauss took his united orchestra on extensive tours in Austria, Germany, Poland, Italy, France, and Britain. Russian Tsar Alexander II commissioned Strauss to play at Pavlovsk, the royal suburb of St. Peterburg. There was the opening of a new railway and a landmark concert hall for Russian aristocracy. Strauss also accepted commissions to play for the Grand Prince Michael in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1853, when the commissions became too much to be handled, his mother persuaded younger brother Joseph to take over the helm of the Strauss Orchestra. Strauss eventually toured and concertized to an exhaustion and was confined to a sanatorium to recuperate as he was suffering from neuralgia. He was married three times and had complications with the Catholic Church which refused to grant him a divorce. Strauss had to change his religion and nationality in order to get married to the woman he loved; he became a citizen of German Duchy of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. After that he became free to marry his third wife Adele, who encouraged his creative talent in his later years.
Johann Strauss was the most sought after composer of dance music in the second half of the 19th Century. His influence is felt in the music of the operetta maestro Franz Lehár and other composers. Among his admirers were Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss and other prominent composers. Strauss wrote Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), Wiener Blut (The Viennese Blood), and other popular operettas. His exquisite waltzes: The Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Wood, Man only Lives Once, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, and many other waltzes made Johann Strauss the indisputable "waltz king" of the 19th century. He died of pneumonia on June 3, 1899, in Vienna, and was laid to rest in the cemetery of Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Hilde Krahl was born on 10 January 1917 in Brod, Austria-Hungary [now Slavonski Brod, Croatia]. She was an actress, known for Das Glas Wasser (1960), No Greater Love (1952) and Träumerei (1944). She was married to Wolfgang Liebeneiner. She died on 28 June 1999 in Vienna, Austria.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Wolf Albach-Retty (1906-1967) was one of those actors full of charm, presence and wit the Ausrian and German cinema of yore knew the secret for. That he became an actor comes as no surprise considering that his mother, Rosa Albach-Retty, was a star of the Viennese stage. Of course, Magda Schneider, the woman he married in 1936, was an actress. And logically indeed they begot another famous actress by the name of ... Romy Schneider. Unfortunately, being Romy's father is probably Wolf Albach-Retty's greatest claim for glory, for despite his acting talents he privileged - lock, stock and barrel - commercial cinema, opting for romance films, superficial musicals and mediocre comedies which pleased the crowds but did not make film history. Too bad because his acting talents would have been welcome in the world of Max Ophüls, Wolfgang Liebeneiner or Helmut Käutner, among others. His theater career was much more satisfactory, notably his acclaimed performances in plays by Athur Schnitler.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Karlheinz Hackl was born on 16 May 1949 in Vienna, Austria. He was an actor and director, known for Sophie's Choice (1982), Tatort (1970) and Radetzkymarsch (1994). He was married to Maria Köstlinger and Brigitta Furgler. He died on 1 June 2014 in Vienna, Austria.- Birgit Doll born in Vienna, Austria, was an actress and a theatre director. After graduating from high school in 1974, Birgit Doll began studying German literature and theatre. She switched to the Max Reinhardt seminar where she completed her acting training. She made her film debut in Christopher Hampton's "Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald" (1979) directed by Maximilian Schell. Through her 35 years of theatre and in film she worked with recognized directors as Ingmar Bergman, Michael Haneke, Peter Patzak and Otto Schenk. She was engaged by many of the great German speaking theatres in Europe. Birgit Doll appeared in 40 feature films and television productions. In the autumn of 2015 she suffered a stroke and died on October 26th.
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- Director
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Theo Lingen was born on 10 June 1903 in Hanover, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for M (1931), The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and Till Eulenspiegel: Wie Eulenspiegel sich einmal erbot, zu fliegen (1936). He was married to Marianne Zoff. He died on 10 November 1978 in Vienna, Austria.- Actor
- Writer
- Editor
Ernst Jacobi was born on 11 July 1933 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor and writer, known for The White Ribbon (2009), The Tin Drum (1979) and Hamsun (1996). He died on 23 June 2022 in Vienna, Austria.- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Antonio Salieri was born in 1750 into a prosperous Italian family of merchants. He studied harpsichord and violin from an early age, and after the death of his parents, continued his music studies in Venice. His talent was noticed by Viennise composer Florian Grassman, who invited him to Vienna, where Salieri remained for the rest of his life. Salieri was only 24 when Emperor Joseph II appointed him the court composer in 1774. The same year he met his wife, Therese von Helfersdorfer, and they went on having eight children.
Salieri held the post of Imperial Royal Kapellmeister from 1788-1824 and also was elected the president of the society of musical artists in Vienna. He wrote 43 Italian-style operas, ballet music, orchestral music including a Birthday Symphony, 2 piano concertos, cantatas, arias, and sacred music. His operas were successful in Paris and Vienna and earned him European recognition as a composer and conductor. Salieri's elevated social standing in Vienna was equal to his celebrity status as a musical artist. He was a teacher of many composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl Czerny, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Franz Schubert, and Franz Liszt. Salieri also taught the Mozart's son Franz Xaver. Salieri promoted and conducted Mozart's symphony in G minor in 1791.
There is too little factual evidence of any treacherous activity against Mozart. There are also no facts in support of the charges of poisoning. In 1771 Mozart lost a job to Salieri, who was preferred by the Princess of Wurtemberg for having a good reputation as a teacher. A year later Mozart once again failed to be hired as the Princess's music teacher. Also Mozart blamed Salieri for the failure of his opera premiere. Mozart's father, Leopold, wrote,-"Salieri and his tribe will move heaven and earth to put it down". Poet Alexander Pushkin dramatized the subject in his play "Mozart and Salieri" (1830). There was also the eponymous opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov that initiated a trend of exaggerating a rivalry that was actually provoked by Mozart's whining. Respectfully, Milos Forman expressed the fictional nature of his 'Amadeus (1984)' ; based on the play by Peter Shaffer. Stigmatization of Salieri's image in the public's perception rests upon the inevitable realization that artists are not created equal.- Louise Martini was born on 10 November 1931 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress, known for Der Fall Mata Hari (1966), Madame Sans-Gêne - Die schöne Wäscherin (1968) and Blick von der Brücke (1967). She was married to Heinz Wilhelm Schwarz and Bill Grah. She died on 17 January 2013 in Vienna, Austria.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Willi Forst was born on 7 April 1903 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor and director, known for Bel Ami (1939), Operette (1940) and Vienna Blood (1942). He was married to Melanie. He died on 11 August 1980 in Vienna, Austria.- Susanna Kubelka was born in September 1942 in Linz, Upper Austria, Austria. She was an actress, known for Tatort (1970), Vienna Crime Squad (2005) and The Paris Poetry Circle (2014). She died on 5 May 2024 in Vienna, Austria.
- Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel was born on 5 April 1900 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. She was an actress, known for Cabaret (1972), Der Mörder Dimitri Karamasoff (1931) and The Odessa File (1974). She was married to Berthold Viertel. She died on 24 December 1994 in Vienna, Austria.
- Ida Krottendorf was born on 5 April 1927 in Ebreichsdorf, Austria. She was an actress, known for Die Möwe (1963), Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder - Eine Chronik aus dem Dreißigjährigen Krieg (1965) and Auf der grünen Wiese (1953). She was married to Klausjürgen Wussow and Ernst Stankovski. She died on 23 June 1998 in Vienna, Austria.
- Paul Richter was born on 1 April 1895 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for The Ringer (1932), Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922) and Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924). He was married to Elisabeth Hölzl and Aud Egede-Nissen. He died on 30 December 1961 in Vienna, Austria.
- Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (18 August 1830 - 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 2 December 1848 until his death. From 1 May 1850 to 24 August 1866 he was also President of the German Confederation. He was the longest-reigning ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as the longest-reigning emperor and seventh-longest-reigning monarch of any country in history
- Music Department
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Haydn had a hard childhood: at six years old he had to work as a boy singer in a choir and after his voice broke he had to earn his money by playing dance music and serving as a butler. Becoming famous for his compositions Haydn was employed as "Kapellmeister" by Fuerst Esterhazy in Eisenstadt in 1761. For thirty years he served him and composed his pieces for the pleasure of the aristocrats; his musicians used to call him "Papa Haydn" as he was caring for them and was socially engaged. After the death of Esterhazy Haydn moved to Vienna leaving it only twice for London where he composed his "London symphonies".