The Man Who Laughs
Uncredited Photographer The Actor Conrad Veidt, Berlin c.1925
Conrad Veidt was a very popular actor in the early days of German film. That era sadly coincided with the time the nazis were rising to power. When the nazis took state power in 1933, they rapidly began a purge on Jews in influential positions in the media. All actors had to sign a declaration of their rasse, or race, by which was really meant whether or not they were Jews. Veidt was not a Jew, he was a Lutheran by birth, of German stock, although he was irreligious. However, to show solidarity with his friends in the film industry, with other victimized innocents and with his wife, a Hungarian Jew, he declared on his official form that he was a Jew. This rendered him unemployable in Germany and he emigrated to Britain shortly thereafter. Conrad Veidt, who starred in such significant films as Robert Wiene’s “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1921), and Paul Leni’s “The Man Who Laughs,” (1928) is most well known to American audiences for his role as Col. Strasser in Michael Curtiz’ “Casablanca” (1942).
Uncredited Photographer The Actor Conrad Veidt, Berlin c.1925
Conrad Veidt was a very popular actor in the early days of German film. That era sadly coincided with the time the nazis were rising to power. When the nazis took state power in 1933, they rapidly began a purge on Jews in influential positions in the media. All actors had to sign a declaration of their rasse, or race, by which was really meant whether or not they were Jews. Veidt was not a Jew, he was a Lutheran by birth, of German stock, although he was irreligious. However, to show solidarity with his friends in the film industry, with other victimized innocents and with his wife, a Hungarian Jew, he declared on his official form that he was a Jew. This rendered him unemployable in Germany and he emigrated to Britain shortly thereafter. Conrad Veidt, who starred in such significant films as Robert Wiene’s “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1921), and Paul Leni’s “The Man Who Laughs,” (1928) is most well known to American audiences for his role as Col. Strasser in Michael Curtiz’ “Casablanca” (1942).