Joseph Schildkraut

Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor.[1] He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film The Life of Emile Zola (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Otto Frank in the film The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and a Primetime Emmy for his performance as Rabbi Gottlieb in a 1962 episode of the television series Sam Benedict.

Joseph Schildkraut
Joseph Schildkraut in 1953
Born(1896-03-22)22 March 1896
Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria)
Died21 January 1964(1964-01-21) (aged 67)
New York City, U.S.
Burial placeHollywood Forever Cemetery
OccupationActor
Years active1915–1964
Spouse(s)
Elise Bartlett
​
​
(m. 1923; div. 1930)​

Marie McKay
​
​
(m. 1932; died 1962)​

Leonora Rogers
​
​
(m. 1963; his death 1964)​
Parent(s)Rudolph Schildkraut
Erna Weinstein

Early life

Schildkraut was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Erna (née Weinstein) and stage (and later motion picture) actor Rudolph Schildkraut.[2] His family was Jewish.[3]

In 1910 he accompanied his father on his tour to the USA and returned to Europe in 1913. He began stage training with Max Reinhardt in Berlin shortly afterward, and began his career on the stages of Germany and Austria before transitioning to film. Schildkraut moved to the USA in 1920 and appeared in many Broadway productions. Among the plays in which he starred was a notable production of Peer Gynt.[4]

Career
Joseph Schildkraut with opera singer Maria Olszewska in 1932
Joseph Schildkraut in Stars of the Photoplay

In 1921, Schildkraut played the title role in the first American stage production of Ferenc Molnár's Liliom, the play that would eventually become the basis for Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel.[5][6] He then began working in silent movies, although he did return to the stage occasionally.[7] He had early success in film as the Chevalier de Vaudrey in D. W. Griffith's Orphans of the Storm with Lillian Gish.[8] Later, he was featured in Cecil B. DeMille's epic 1927 film The King of Kings, as Judas Iscariot.[9] Schildraut's father Rudolf also appeared in the film.[10] Joseph Schildkraut also played a Viennese-accented, non-singing Gaylord Ravenal in the 1929 part-talkie film version of Edna Ferber's Show Boat.[10] The character as written in the 1929 film was much closer to Ferber's original than to the depiction of him in the classic Kern and Hammerstein musical play based on the novel as well as the 1936 and 1951 film versions of the musical, but the 1929 film was not a critical or box-office success.

Schildkraut received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Alfred Dreyfus in The Life of Emile Zola (1937).[4] He gained further fame for playing the ambitious duc d'Orléans in the historical epic Marie Antoinette (1938), opposite Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, John Barrymore and Robert Morley, and gave a notable performance as the villainous Nicolas Fouquet in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939).[11][12]

Schildkraut is perhaps best remembered today for playing the role of Otto Frank in both the original stage production and film version of The Diary of Anne Frank (1959).[4] He was also an active character actor and appeared in guest roles on several early television shows, including the Hallmark Hall of Fame, in which he played Claudius in the 1953 television production of Hamlet, with Maurice Evans in the title role.[13] Schildkraut also hosted and starred in Joseph Schildkraut Presents, a short-lived series on the DuMont Television Network from October 1953 to January 1954.[14]

In 1961, during the third season of The Twilight Zone, he made his first appearance on episode 9, "Deaths-Head Revisited".[15] He later played an elderly man in "The Trade-Ins" in season 3, episode 31 of the same show.[16] In 1963, he was nominated for a Best Actor Emmy Award for his performance in a guest starring role on NBC's Sam Benedict legal drama which starred Edmond O'Brien and Richard Rust.[17]

Personal life

Schildkraut was married three times. His first marriage was to actress Elise Bartlett in 1923; they divorced in 1931. He married Mary McKay in 1932, until her death on February 17, 1962. In 1963, Schildkraut married Leonora Rogers, who survived him.[18] Schildkraut died at his home in New York City of a heart attack. His father had died at the same age, also of a heart attack.[18]

For his contributions to the motion picture industry, Schildkraut has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6780 Hollywood Boulevard.[19] He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.[20]

Filmography

See also

References
  1. "Joseph Schildkraut".
  2. Parker, John (1916). Who's Who in the Theatre. 3. Pittman. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  3. "Joseph Schildkraut, Noted American Jewish Actor, Dead; Was 68". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 23 January 1964. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  4. "Joseph Schildkraut - Hollywood Star Walk". Los Angeles Times.
  5. League, The Broadway. "Liliom – Broadway Play – Original - IBDB".
  6. "Carousel (1956) - Screenplay Info - TCM.com".
  7. "Joseph Schildkraut - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie".
  8. "New-York Times, 4 January 1922" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  9. "The King of Kings (1927) - Cecil B. DeMille - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  10. "Rudolph Schildkraut".
  11. "Marie Antoinette (1938) - W.S. Van Dyke - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie".
  12. "The Man in the Iron Mask - Joan Bennett".
  13. "Hamlet (1953)".
  14. "Joseph Schildkraut Presents".
  15. "The Twilight Zone".
  16. "The Trade-ins (1962)".
  17. "Nominees/Winners".
  18. "Joseph Schildkraut, Actor, Dies". The New York Times. January 22, 1964. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  19. "Walk of Fame Stars-Joseph Schildkraut". Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on April 3, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  20. Spencer, Thomas E. (1998). Where They're Buried: A Directory Containing More Than Twenty Thousand Names of Notable Persons Buried in American Cemeteries, With Listings of Many Prominent People Who Were Cremated. Baltimore, Md.: Clearfield Co. p. 515. ISBN 9780806348230.

Further reading
  • Joseph Schildkraut, My Father and I, as told to Leo Lania, New York 1959.
Archives at
LocationLibrary of Congress
SourceRudolph and Joseph Schildkraut scrapbooks, 1867-1964
How to use archival material


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